How clean is enough?

[newbies13]

So I am new to home brewing, my first batch is in it's second stage of fermentation now.

My question though is about the cleaning and more specifically sanitizing of equipment. It seems to be a pretty standard theme across all brewing sites and videos that you must sanitize everything and nearly anything could ruin your beer. But then the guys saying this in videos are brewing... outside... or in a nasty garage next to their rusty cars, etc. and they all claim to have tasty beer with multiple carboys of it going constantly.

So my question is, how serious a risk is it really that your beer will go bad? The way everyone talks you would think they were making microchips, not beer.

One example I ran into was the lid for my containers, after sanitizing them I had no where to put them down, since I hadn't sanitized any tables to put them on, but then there is air circulation in my house, so how long would the surface stay sanitized!! ha

 

[adiochiro3]

It is a big deal. I'm careful about sanitization and lost a batch 2 weeks ago. Still don't know where it went wrong, but wrong it went (as is evidenced by tonight's first taste). My LHBS guy says I made a nice sour beer (I hate sours, and don't think there is anything "nice" about them at all!).

 

[hillybilly]

you will be fine get a spray bottle and fill it with sanitarizer spray on stuff before allowing it to touch your cooled wort

 

[SDbrewerJake]

Honestly you almost have to try to make your brew infected. I placed a bucket in a new garbage can full of water to keep the temperature consistent and totally got the spigot full of un sanitized water. Dug a unsanitized strainer through the brew to get floating sediment. Threw my bottles in a dish washer with no soap to sanitize. Didn't even sanitize my caps. Beer came out legit. If vikings could brew beer without star san and still make good batches... I'm sure we will be fine.

 

[newbies13]

That's my thinking as well Jake, assuming my first batch comes out I will relax a bit on my sanitization for next time. I don't think the hobby would be as wide spread if beer was easily so tainted. Especially the people who brew outside with all the bugs and trees and animals running around etc. haha

 

[woozy]

If vikings could brew beer without star san and still make good batches... I'm sure we will be fine.

Um, you ever tasted Viking beer? What on earth makes you think it wasn't revolting?

One word: Lutefiske.

 

[basilchef]

Um, you ever tasted Viking beer? What on earth makes you think it wasn't revolting?

One word: Lutefiske.

Ha.

 

[uxo]

I think some people exaggerate with it comes to sanitation. I dropped a bottle capper into my fermenter when bottling one time and nothing happened. My beer same out great even though I dunked my arm elbow deep to get the damn thing out.

I keep everything clean and sanitized of course. Just like I do when cooking.

I have also noticed that some people are anal when it comes to measurements. I don't understand that either. Something people on this forum stress me out with sanitation and exact measurements.

Some people won't even look into the fermentation bucket because they risk contamination.

 

[unionrdr]

Nasties can live in even small amounts of crud left where the spigot mounts to the fermenter or bottling bucket. In scratches in the plastic,etc. You have to get every part of the fermenter clean & free of any remnants of fermented gunk to prevent having the ideal place for nasties ti live. Not to mention sanitizing anything that touches the beer. It's just common sense really. Sure,you may get lucky & the beer'll be fine. But down the road if you get lazy with cleaning & sanitation,it'll bite you in the a$$ eventually.
As long as everything was clean & sanitized,& the fermenter is properly sealed,you're fine. That stuff normally can't get into it. If it goes bad,it was likely already in there.
And weighing out hops,grains,priming sugar etc is no different than cooking to a recipe. You have to get the amounts right if you want it to taste & look the way it was intended.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I think some people exaggerate with it comes to sanitation. I dropped a bottle capper into my fermenter when bottling one time and nothing happened. My beer same out great even though I dunked my arm elbow deep to get the damn thing out.

I keep everything clean and sanitized of course. Just like I do when cooking.

I have also noticed that some people are anal when it comes to measurements. I don't understand that either. Something people on this forum stress me out with sanitation and exact measurements.

Some people won't even look into the fermentation bucket because they risk contamination.

a lot of people find a recipe they like and want to re-brew the same recipe without any variations. it starts with precise measurements. and with the sanitation issue, I spent a lot of time & money on what I'm brewing. I sure don't want to risk an infection. i do agree some people tend to go overboard.

 

[jonnyp1980]

Everything that your beer comes in contact with should be sanitized simply put. If you sanitized your lid and put it on the counter facing down it should be sanitized....right side up should not be a problem if you forgot to clean it again. A lot of people go to the extreme sanitizing their equipment and that's good practice but as stated above anything your beer touches it should be cleaned.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Also, remember this: It's on the COLD side that things can turn sour (literally and figuratively). All the way through the boil, you can be moderately slack (my dogs walk by and sometimes shed dog hair.... you know where that's going. They're not allowed on the deck (where I brew) once I start cooling the wort.

MC

 

[mot]

It's very important. Why do you think breweries go through the pain staking process of it all.

People are tolerant to off flavors differently also. One beer someone thinks is fine may be horrible to another

 

[PackerfaninSanDiego]

all my beers have been brewed/bottled in the back yard, in the garage(door open) or in front of the garage, basically everything is outside. I live off a dusty gravel road have three dogs that like checking out what I'm doing. I hose off the concrete before my day starts as do the other working surfaces. I recently purchased one of those 10 x 10 ez-up canopies with one side blocked off with a side tarp to help block off any winds and or sunlight. I'm sure I do more than some and I'm sure others do more than what I do to protect the beer from getting any nasties in the wort. That being said, do what makes you happy, whether you brew inside or out or wear hair nets, booties and or rubber gloves. But yes most definetly, sanitize! What does an infected beer look or taste like?

 

[SDbrewerJake]

Um, you ever tasted Viking beer? What on earth makes you think it wasn't revolting?

One word: Lutefiske.

Revolting or not... I'm sure dudes beer will be fine. You were the first person to put my nerves at ease. Now I need to pay it forward.

 

[mikescooling]

IMHO, everything needs to be clean, so clean you would eat off it. Then you need to look at hot side and cold side. Everything hot side will get boiled. Everything cold side needs to sanitised with Star-san or the like. These are not hard and fast rules.

 

[newbies13]

Some people won't even look into the fermentation bucket because they risk contamination.

This is actually the exact reason for this thread, I saw someone warn against opening the bucket because you could breathe on the beer and ruin it.

It being my first batch I was worried about my fermentation because of low airlock activity, so I wanted to peek, but was worried about breathing on my beer. I did it anyway as that just sounded insane to me, but it made me wonder.

And to be clear I don't mean to say I can get away with not sanitizing, I am more concerned with the level of cleanliness I see some people talk about. The responses so far have eased my mind though, as you certainly want things to be sanitary, but breathing around my beer isn't going to run a high risk of ruining it.

 

[GrogNerd]

everything pre-boil needs to be clean

everything boil and after needs to be clean and sanitized

sterilization is not required

 

[davekippen]

Wish I could remember the youtube video about the guy who sanitized the inside of his rubber gloves before he put them on. Yes, rubber gloves while brewing.

smh

Just be smart. Clean everything like you would clean it in the kitchen. Sanitize everything on the cold size. No reason to go psychotic about it. I hear just as many "infected batch" story from guys who are hyper anal as I do from guys who are slobs. I think its more dumb chance than anything.

 

[mot]

Most important you can not sanitize something that is not clean

 

[25518]

Um, you ever tasted Viking beer? What on earth makes you think it wasn't revolting?

One word: Lutefiske.

Because they kept drinking it????

 

[GrogNerd]

Because they kept drinking it????

not really. some hardcores drink Sterno.

plus, the example he gives, Lutefiske, is further proof that just because something is disgusting doesn't stop people from putting it in their mouth

 

[Heavywalker]

I'm not sure why someone wouldn't want to sanitize, for the simple reason that it is not that difficult of a task.

First make sure everything is clean, which should be common sense.

Next dump some sanitizing solution into a bucket along with everything you are going to have touch your beer post boil, put a lit on it and give it a swirl then let it sit until you need it. For your fermenter do the same, and let it set until you need to use it.

It is really one of the less difficult tasks to do when making beer or wine.

 

[woozy]

This is actually the exact reason for this thread, I saw someone warn against opening the bucket because you could breathe on the beer and ruin it.

It being my first batch I was worried about my fermentation because of low airlock activity, so I wanted to peek, but was worried about breathing on my beer. I did it anyway as that just sounded insane to me, but it made me wonder.

Ah! Now you're talking!

You're getting into the "Geez, will you just leave it alone already? You're gonna break it" territory.

You open the fermenter, the seal's sticky so you jostle it and shake up the beer. You get a little suck-back. You put the lid to the the side and then realize oops, you just placed the lid on the unsanitized counter; better go get the starsan spritzer bottle. In the meantime you can't put the fermenter lid back on so you have to leave the fermenter gaping open as you rummage through the shelves directly above it looking for the starsan. You open the cupboard and things crash and tumble and the fermentor just four feet below sits there with its gaping opening and the dog comes in from the living and goes into shaking-dry-off position while you leap from the chair you are standing on shouting "nooo" while mud and dirt leap from the soles of your shoes and...

So the next day some naive stupid newbie posts on HBT and says "Well, gee. Can't I just open the fermentor a *little* bit and ... oh, maybe I need a reading and gosh I have to look and see what the krausen is doing.." so you write back "No! Leave it alone! You don't have to do *any* of that! Shut up and leave it alone, kid! You're going to get an infection!"

Bottom line is you really *should* be as clean as you reasonably can and you've got to develop good habits and you shouldn't take any short-cuts. But you shouldn't be afraid or paranoid of messing up either.. Developing the common sense habits and second guessing is hard. So as a beginner you *are* going to open the fermentor and place the lid on the unsanitized counter whereas a seasoned brewer would simply have a back-up system of good habits behind her. But over-thinking and avoidence and turning cleanliness into religious fervor probably isn't the wisest course.

 

[GrogNerd]

reasonably

entire thread boiled down and OP's question answered in one word

 

[SDbrewerJake]

My point was... We (home brewers) trip about... '' oh no I sneezed 5 feet away from my fermenter '' when really your first brew you are going to be anal just because all the brew tubers and infection forum's freak you out. When in perspective if beer was successfully made well before sanitation was ever in the picture... We will be fine given the worry is there and it's done properly.

 

[Cyclman]

I think this is one of those topics that depends on the brewer. Some brewers would prefer to brew in a home laboratory, get zero of the trub from the boil pot into the fermenter, sterilize everything, not rack a single hop cell into the fermenter, and follow the recipe to perfection, measuring to the miligram.

Others just kind of toss stuff into the brewpot, maybe a different extra hop here and there, make up a recipe without really planning it, toss in a yeast starter from a nine month old washed yeast, or pitch a dry packet into a 1080 beer.

Both make good beer, both are happy brewers.

Within reason, you should clean, within reason you should sanitize. I must say I have developed from a fairly casual brewer to a more and more exacting one. I now have learned to enjoy the preciseness of brewing.

But there are many stories of people doing very unsanitary things in error, beers came out fine. As with many brewing topics, I don't think there is a perfect / exact answer.

 

[techbrewie]

As long as you can attain consistent results without Contamination, it's clean enough.

 

[woozy]

Unfortunately, I have two infections under my belt (But what about all the times I *didn't* have an infection, what about them) so I can no longer be as cavalier as I'd like to be.

But, yeah, the "oh no! I didn't sanitize the inside of my StarSan container? Do I need to bury my beer in a toxic waste dump and move to a new house?" threads... I guess my feeling always was and still is (despite the two infections) "sheesh, guys, you did the best you could and what's done is done; all you can and should do now is step back and see what the whole situation looks like and in the *worst* case, wait and see what happens".

And, c'mon, it's just beer...