I’m a “newbie” and finally realized I’m supposed to sanitize after cleaning. However, I’ve brewed 10 times without a single bottle of spoiled beer.
I’ve been using PBW and cleaning thoroughly, but have never sanitized any of my equipment.
My last batch was the first in my 10-gal pot with a valve, so I’ve decided I better go buy some star-san and get with the program as the valve might not be as sample to clean as a pot without the valve.
Comments please.
All I can say is, start sanitizing
Bad sanitization doesn’t = infection, bad sanitization= greatly increased chance of infection. On any given batch if you pitch healthy yeast they have a great advantage, but eventually you will get infections with poorly sanitized equipment.
Another thing is that the infection may take a while to show up, or might not be obvious. If your bottled beer starts to become overcarbonated, then this is a telltale sign.
that said, I wouldn’t worry too much about the valve on your boil kettle. It’s going to get very very hot during the boil. but yes, clean then sanitize for best results.
This. IME, the brewing process is often more forgiving than we give it credit for but sanitizing is not something you want to overlook. You may get lucky for awhile, but it will catch up with you.
+2
Bad bugs will also build up on equipment, so new equipment may work OK, but after a while it will inoculate your wort fairly heavily.
Good point. Once you have them and you don’t sanitize forget it. And some bugs, even if outcompeted by yeast, flourish after the yeast becomes less active.
In my experience, Ales are the bigger problem in terms of sanitation concerns, as the colder lager beers don’t seem to be at a temperature that promotes a lot of bacterial issues and one typically pitches pretty large amounts of lager yeast. Even so, applying a good cleaner, then a thorough rinse and then a sanitizer should be standard protocol for all home brewers. Now with my sours, I want certain bugs in there…but that’s another story.
Cleaning is way, way, WAY more important than sanitizing. You simply can’t sanitize something dirty. Cleaning removes most germs. Sanitizing simply helps insure the cleaning process.
^^^ Totally agree.