I've watched many videos about making alcohol and I like CS Mead and More over everyone else. The audio and video quality is some of the best. They don't attempt to lead you into possibly believing something is true, before they get the results. If they are making a guess or assumption and the end results may be the opposite, they make that very clear. They are entertaining too. I have no complaints. However, I encourage everyone else to continue making videos on brewing/fermenting related content or to start making videos if you are just waiting for someone to encourage you. Even though these 2 are great, a wide variety of content makers will always be best for everyone. Just like our tastes, some people will prefer the opposite of what I prefer, so don't give up and lets all enjoy ourselves.
@@FusionDeveloper well said!! 🎊🎉🌟 I'm a huge CS fan, one of the biggest reasons is because when I first fell down the brewing rabbit hole, Brian was one of the only creators to actually answer my questions in the comments and very quickly too. I learned so much from the videos but, no matter how many videos there are, there's always that one thing and having a quick and personalized answer is so helpful.
Thank you, thank you, THANK you for taking the time to dedicate a video to this most necessary step in the brewing process. There are an awful lot of brew channels out there, but they are happy to let novices struggle along with sanitizing, and that's cost a lot of people their batch.
FYI, you are my 'go-to' Mead authorities. This is good because you keep things simple and relatable. This was bad because I started brewing before you finished your first Sack Mead. Using Lalvin EC-1118 (for it's temperature tolerance), I used 4# honey/gallon, expecting ~18% alcohol and some residual sweetness. I got 2 failures, one salvage, 2 moderate successes, and 6 slow ferments that I'm still hoping will turn out okay in time. Having seen what you learned from your first Sack Mead, I now know why I'm having trouble - we're learning together. I also learned on my own that too much orange can lower Ph too much, and Fermaid K can save that. I'm not ready to try step-feeding, but Capsicumel sounds awesome! I'll be starting 2 gallons tomorrow, one with grocery store jalapenos, one supplemented with a few Thai peppers. I want you to know that Meade making is a very pleasing and satisfying hobby for me (even with failures), and the two of you have made it much less mystifying. Thank you. Very. Much!
So I got 5 one gallon carboys from an old lady down the street. She was using them as containers for water storage but she had forgotten them down in her basement around 30 years ago. So I was helping her clean her basement and I found them and she said I could have them. I live in northern Az where the water is hard, meaning there are a lot of dissolved solids in our water. Long story short, I emptied out the carboys and there were mineral deposits all in the carboy. Star san is Corrosive so I filled the carboys with a star san solution and let them sit. I emptied them out and filled them again and it took care of the problem. Just FYI if your trying to figure out how to get mineral deposits out of your carboy.
It might actually be worth just getting some hydrochloric acid be very careful and if you Splash yourself don't freak out just wash it off and you'll be fine it really doesn't take much and just dilute with distilled water 5 to 1 ratio by the way will get you a fairly mild solution that will be more than enough to eat away any of that just rinse out and it'll be fine hydrochloric acid is the same acid as our stomach acid don't be too spooked by it
I used OneStep for my first 6-7 brews, it worked fine. It does the opposite of StarSan by making the water basic, rather than acidic. It comes in a powder, you need hot water to dissolve it quickly, and I ended up rinsing with hot water afterwards. Stuff dries really fast. As far as cost goes, it was around $8 for 8 ounces. StarSan, like the bottle in your video, can be bought for about $16 and will last so much longer. It's a better investment.
Because most food-grade plastics are self lubricating, the sanitizer will draw out ethylene's from the plastics if over exposed. Thanks to you both for the information you pour out to us in every video.
I use to boil eveything and finally after 2 years of brewing i got to buy my first Star San ! And now i know how to use it ! Thanks you both have been very helpful !! Cheers happy brewing
Washing soda makes taking labels of bottles suuuuper easy. Just let them soak in warm water with some soda and the labels literally just fall off. Depending on the type of label, sometimes you don't even need to wipe off the adhesive. For the others, a quick wipe with a damp rag removes any residual adhesive. Washing soda can be found at Walmart for like 3 or 4 bucks for a big box. It's made by Arm & Hammer and looks just like their baking soda box. Amazon has it too but they charge a lot more. Btw, love your videos! 😀
I've been told plain salt works as well, though I haven't tried it yet - still have a bottle of Goo Gone to use up, which works great. I've reused several 750ml liquor bottles. Only Jack Daniels gave me trouble - bottle broke while corking. Even with cap threads, liquor bottles look fine once corked, and corks are MUCH cheaper than bottles ;-)
I love Star Sans, but not just for brewing. I bring a little spray bottle with me when I go camping or to festivals. It’s a great way to sanitize kitchen equipment
I make a 5 gal batch of starsan using DISTILLED water. Using distilled water, will keep it from going cloudy and keep the ph stable, I will use that same batch of star san for 4-5 brew/bottling days.
I can see that. I make up a gallon or two most times and dump afterward. However, I also tend to toss everything in there while I'm working so there's more crud floating around. It's like $0.15 a gallon for Star San solution for me even with filtered water, so I just make more when I need to.
When we do our canning we place a clean tea towel in the pot when we boil our Mason jars and canning supplies. We feel it keeps the shifting to a minimum and less rattling of the jars
Once upon a time, I used diluted bleach as a sanitizer. I didn't get it all out, but my wine did ferment. It gave my wine a ... vodka like flavor. I felt I should share this as a why to avoid using bleach. I do use star san now.
Before I sanitize, I wash everything in powdered alkaline brewers wash. Then sanitize. I have an 8oz bottle. It shows 1/4 and 1/2 oz. Different size containers different measurements. Also I have a lot of filters. Spa, pool and cleanable drinking water filters go into the wash before I dump the wash. Speed cleaning it is. And the cleaning water shows it works. Rinse with water and it's ready for service.
StarSan is my favorite sanitizer, but I often find I need something else as a cleanser in order to remove more stubborn material. I've used OneStep and PBW, which are excellent cleansers, and am going to try Craftmeister's Alkaline Brewery Wash on the recommendation of my homebrew store.
Here is another sanitizer too add to the list; Peracetic acid (PAA). It's an organically approved sanitizer. I originally used this to sanitize food contact surfaces on a stonefruit packing line. Figured I'd give it a try. I successfully made a Hard cider and a jerkum with no mold issues. Check it out...
I rinse my jars or jugs out after I empty them with as hot of water as I can get from my tap and scrub them with a pipe cleaner I got from our local Brewing store. After that I let them dry and sit until I use them again, this goes for canning or making mead/cider. Before I reuse them I put them in Star San now that I bought a bottle! scrub them with my pipe cleaner just to make sure and then turn them out upside down on a towel. I basically do what you guys just said to do, I just read the instruction on Star San and did what it says to do there. I'd like to thank you guys for making your videos, because of you two I know for a fact the cider and mead I am starting in October will be my best yet.
That is a good practice to do with your fermenters! Also, thanks for your support, I see a lot of comments from ya! We appreciate it and the feedback and interaction is inspiring!
Yah, I've used star san after watching you guys, and follow a lot of your recommendations. I've made a pyment mead, a cyser sack mead, the regular grape juice wine, and currently working on a yellow watermelon mead with 2.5lbs of honey hoping that one comes out really good.
Bottle brushes are something I’ve got on the list to get probably in The next week or so. I’ve got a couple of re purposes swing top bottles i need to scrub out so that will help!
I use a product called iodophor (spellkng probably isnt right) its an iodine based sanitizer reccomended by my brew shop. Never thought about using an acid based san. I love yalls channel. Yall both seem like really awesome people.
When first getting started scored small bag of One Step Sanitizer, but have since acquired & use the Star San. Using SS for larger production activities but have found the One Step very handy for making smaller usually 1 Gal batches for sanitizing B4 taking 2nd or more SPGR readings. IMHO its worth having both types available. Measuring 1 Tblsp/1 Gal One Step easier than tryna do ML of the SS.
@@CitySteadingBrews ? Checked...Package sez...cleaner not sanitizer! Hmnnn bought it searching for home brewing sanitizers. So guess I'm lucky the Cider literally just racked has no off flavors, finished at .992 / 10.72 ABV, actually tastes great even dry dry. Google foo'd Star San for 1 gal is a teaspoon or 6 ML. And found a measurer-er. Point taken sir! And add another thanks!
I have used the oxygen stuff, which is like oxyclean without the detergent component. Never had problems with it, but you do have to really stir this into the water before use or you get granules in things.
You said the plastic equipments should be taken out after 5 minutes, because there will be a reaction with the sanitizing solution. However, as I understand, TRBOS is actually a plastic tub, and the solution stays there much longer than 5 minutes. So I guess the type of plastic used for it is safe. I like this setup, but I am not sure how can I find out the plastic I am going to buy will be safe to store the sanitizing solution for longer.
Good point. Our TRBOS seems to suffer no ill effect from prolonged contact. It's available on Amazon here: city-steading.com/product/trbos-the-red-bucket-of-sanitization/
May I suggest that you put your hydrometer into your test jar when in the sanitizer bath, it keeps it in the liquid and also protects it. Great video thank you.
Cleaning does not equal sanitizing. Oxy cleansers like PBW are for cleaning and helping to remove things stuck on and get it clean removing seen and unseen dirt. Sanitizing is the next level. Killing the unseen microbes. I typically use PBW the day before a brew, then starsan just before I use the items.
Some time ago, a friend and I were brewing beer. We sanitized the bottles with bleach and some water and then put it in the oven (with the mixture still inside)... there was a (small) explosion... Wish we'd new about this before XD In the end, we had to throw out the beer because it started smelling like a sewer in the brewing bucket... T_T
So I use star san too but I just fill my bucket up and than drop everything inside the pale ale bucket and clean them that way. Also I use boiling but you a electric kettle and pour the water into my stuff. BTW this video was very helpful thank you! I have been rising out my stuff with tap water after sanitizing it bc I didnt want bubbles. I was always afraid the left over sanitizer would kill my yeast.
I've used bleach as a sanitizer and tap water for most of my 15 years of brewing. As long as you rinse your vessels twice and mix the bleach up correctly at 200 parts per million, it will be fine. And tap water is actually better than distilled water as it has more minerals for the yeast. I've not had any problems with a stalled fermentation from using tap water either.
I never said I use distilled water.... we use filtered water. Just removed the chlorine. Glad you've not had any problems, but to me, with bleach you have to be so extra cautious, I just use Star San. There are as many sanitation methods as homebrewers, and as long as you make good clean brews, you're doing it right. :)
I just use the bleach cuz its super cheap and always available at just about any grocery store. I used it as a sanitizer in the food industry without any problems for many years [that's where I learned about it]. A sluggish start to a fermentation is usually due to badly stored or expired yeast and pitching it at the wrong temperature [too hot or too cold]. I do boil 1/3 to 1/2 of the water to dissolve the sugar and that probably gets out most of the chlorine. My city has some of the cleanest tap water in the USA. Different cities might have different levels of chlorine and other stuff to avoid, so I might just have been lucky.
how did you get it shipped to the Philippines? I tried buying star san from Amazon but they were unable to ship it due to hazardous materials are prohibited from international shipments
Using bleach, hot water is a no no. The chlorine evaporates pretty quickly above room temp. Maybe iodine based sanitizers such as starsan are not so heat sensitive.
Star San is acid based, not iodine. And yes, the chlorine evaporates, but if you can smell it at all, it can ruin your batch, either by killing yeast or an off flavor.
I had heard that if you use bleach, you should rinse it in hot water you had boiling for over 10 minutes just to be safe. Maybe that's a little faster than the canning method and less likely to crack your glass, but I'd be a little cautious about any bleach left over.
OMG I accidentally gave this video a thumbs down while actually wanting to give a thumbs up. I'm so sorry! A really helpful video, I got into brewing my own mead a few years ago, then last year I looked back into homebrewing. I used to wash everything I could thoroughly in the sink with washing up liquid, because I felt overwhelmed and didn't know where to start with the sanitization. Now I will sanitize everything properly. Luckily, I didn't have any problems with my brews, hope that continues. 😀
I was wondering the same thing. I line dry my towels so I'm wondering what a 'clean' towel constitutes. I'm preparing for my first mead brew and want it to go well.
There’s normally plenty if sanitizer liquid in them, since we lay the bottles and other gear straight from the tub. It’s good practice to be clean but you cannot be 100%. Just do the best you can.
Hi Brian and Derica. Do you have any special methods or suggestions for actually cleaning your utensils after you're done using them? Currently, I'm using PBW that I got from my local homebrew store, mostly because I've read you don't want to use dish soap for cleaning anything that will touch your brew. But there are somethings that I use for other kitchen stuff (funnel, measuring cups, etc) that I clean with dish soap. Just looking to see what other people do.
First let me just say how I love your videos. Thank you!! Question: in my area it’s almost impossible to find hand sanitizer or Isopropyl Alcohol because of Covid 19 virus. I have Five Star - Star san, can that be use as hand sanitizer? If yes what the best way to diluted with water for a small batch. Thank you.
Thank you for the video! Got an infection in my first batch - circular foam on the surface of the brew after racking. Is StarSan good to kill all that infection off my equipment?
Hey guys great videos! But I cannot get Star Sun where I live, so I wanted to know if I can use quaternary ammonium and what concentration? Thank you and greetings!!!
Thanks for your great work and sharing all this with us. I have two questions: 1- I'm using potassium metalbilsulfite as sanitization method, what are your thoughts on that? 2- for a cider brew on which I started at 1.092SG cold crashed it on the 11th date at 1.050 then added 1oz of sugar per gallon for natural carbonation and on day 12.5 I opened one swing cap bottle to check on it and it foamed out heavily for 3-5 seconds and decided to stop carbonation and follow to pasteurizing it, how do you know when carbonation is complete as this are a bit carbonated but not too much or at least not like a light beer. Thanks again and keep up with the excellent work.
1: Potassium Metabusilfite is not a sanitizer. 2: It's likely your brew was still fermenting when you tried to carbonated it. With a 1.092 OG and a 1.050 FG, it's likely not finished and you didn't need more sugar to carbonate it.
@@CitySteadingBrews on your ginger beer you also stopped fermanting before completion, what would be the difference from that? I think I have seen those two videos like 10 times to follow it precisly, did I missed something? Thanks so much for your help and super quick response.
It’s not meant to last forever. With each use it weakens. I don’t know that I would keep that much around all the time and reuse it. It’s pretty cheap to make a 3-5 gallon batch, use it for a brew day then just get rid of it and make fresh next time.
Hi! Here where I live (Portugal) it can be very difficult to find Star San in the market. But I've heard that Potassium Metabisulfite can be used as a sanitizing solution. What information can you give me about this? Is it a viable alternative? How can it be used? By the way, I love your videos!!! 😉
Oh and i think i figured out how if you get too clean you actually get dirty! As my lady would say, sometimes i end up sweating like a damn beast from over doing it. ;)
LOL, not where I was going but funny. My thought was, if you eliminate all the possibility of anything unclean, you become vulnerable to dirt and bacteria that much more. For instance.... there's a higher rate of allergies among people today than just a few decades ago. When I was a kid, we played in the dirt, made mud pies and ate questionable things. Today's kids don't do that. We built up our immune systems... today, not so much. So they are so clean, they're dirty.
C.S.- I completely agree. I believe this concept unfortunately extends and applies to the mental sanitation of 21st century American youth as well...;(
I am just getting started with my first homebrew from a kit I bought. The kit included a pack of Easy Clean (No Rinse Cleanser) and a pack of Potassium Metabisulfite. The kit instructions describe the Easy Clean as the equipment cleanser. My question is, can i just clean my equipment with dish soap, air dry, then use the Potassium Metabisulfite to santize before brewing? Secondly, for second and future brews is cleaning with dish soap then sanitizing with StarSan (after using the provided sanitizer in kit) the way to go?
I believe you're meant to use the cleanser, the metabisulfite is not something we ever use really. It's t can help a bit though for sanitizing. We just wash with soap and water then use Star San. That is the best way imho.
You’ve probably already answered this, but how do you sanitize the towels you use at your workstation? I’ve heard you say it’s been sanitized, but I’ve never heard you say how you did it. Or maybe I simply missed it.
I just drained it then I ran some of my RO water through it to rinse the bubbles out. As long as you're using good filtered water with low parts per million there shouldn't be any issues with bacterial growth. I mean, if you're Brewing the drink with this water what's wrong with rinsing it out with it.
After watching City Steading videos intently for the past week, is this the origin of The Red Bucket of Sanitation? Also is patreon still the preferred subscription thing or should I use the thing on your website?
How likely is my brew that does NOT seem to be getting started a result of using star sans treated equipment BEFORE allowed to dry off? Temperature of the brew starting off was just over 60F but was put in a 76F room immediately after, so......a little cool but not terrible. Using Lalvin 71B. Can't think of anything else I did that could have done this. Also, I dry pitched the yeast so I can't be sure it was good to start. Maybe just add more yeast after I pitch it first?
Normally how i clean and santize homebrew equipment, in particular the fermenting buckets and carboys is by first cleaning them with fairy liquid (dish soap) and an oxi cleaner (sodium percorbonate). I rinse this off with a hose and then dry it out and then add some filtered water to it and add a few campden tablets or starsan to keep it cleaned and prevent mould. When i go to use the fermentation buckets and carboys and any other equipment i then sanitize them with a spray bottle made up with white distilled vinegar, citric acid and either starsan or metabisulphite. Spray it all over amd leave it on for about 5 minutes and then drain and let air dry. Done this all the time with no contamination of my brews by chemicals or microbes.
Try a wine theif - protects the hydrometer and simplifies sanitization and measurement. Its like a bottle wand big enough for the hydrometer. Less fuss, quicker readings, quicker cleanup. What's not to like?
There is so much information about sanitizing yet I cannot find anything about why you should sanitize. What is the reason for sanitizing opposed to just cleaning? I am also pondering why I cannot sanitize in my dishwasher on just the rinse cycle and put it on heat dry? I have had plastic melt in my dishwasher. It must be hot enough.
Cleaning won't remove some of the bacteria and fungi that can infect a brew. Your dishwasher will not sanitize as well as Star San, or boiling. They may melt plastic, but they don't really get that hot. Many microbes survive well past boiling point.
My 10 minute research on this shows it's a weaker version of Star San. So much so that they can't call it a sanitizer! Also, seems more expensive. Same cost per ounce, but you need 2 ounces per 4 gallons as opposed to 1 ounce per 5 gallons. The bubbles don't bother me so much, so I'll stick with Star San!
City Steading ok here in Sweden Saniclean cost 15,80 usd for 475ml and Starsan cost 22,65 for 457ml but as you say you must add more Saniclean to get right/same mixture as Starsan. Cheers 🍺🍺
@@bsbhomebrew For starsan I make up an old 23l fermenter full and then once I have sanitised demijohns or other fermenting vessels I pour it back into the old fermenter. It's not a never-ending resource but I would say that I would do say a couple of 5G beer batches and say a half a dozen of 1-gallon wines with just the one batch. I suppose you could do more but I just like to make up a new batch every so often. On this basis then I would say that Starsan is value for money. If you are just doing 1 batch at a time it could get expensive. Additionally, there are some microbes that are resistant to acid-based sanitisers so every so often you should sanitise with an alkali based sanitiser such as VWP or PBW instead of Star San.
Thanks for the video now I feel like a dummy I used to put Star San and the bucket first and then filled up with water to make sure it was all mix up and I was always stuck with more bubbles than liquid I will from now on start putting it in After I filled the bucket
I suppose if you used double TRBOS and put clean water in one to just rinse off the item, then place it in the sanitation bucket you would keep it very clean and could reuse it. But that seems more trouble than it's worth unless you have a container you could close and a good place to store it.
A little late here but just doing my first brew.no problem I worked as a chef so. I can manage this .something to add to the knowledge file....hot water has contaminates like hydrocarbons and carbonic acid due to the heating process which produces condensate.and because of the sediment in hot water tanks.I learned this from a plumber who was installing a new tank.so as a retired chef and a new brewer I would suspect hot water from your tap to be somewhat undesirable for brewing or ? What have you.after talking with others who have had filers in brewing this may account for something.
Do you have to be careful about using a "clean" towel due to residual detergent? I've always been told to use paper towels, but don't care to use that many of them. Also, how far in advance due you sanitise before making your mead? Thank you so much!!!
We just wash our towels. These are only used for brewing as you see. Never had a problem. We sanitize just before use with anything that touches the brew.
I use citric acid (L ascorbic acid) from a natual source you can get a huge bucket of it on amazon for $50. Plus very versatile obviously you can eat it its whats on sour cany, its just vitamin C after all which you know as a crucial vitamin good thing to stock up on for many reasons never had a contamination👍
Hello, I have a question (which may have been answered at some point). So you've noted that Star San might be eroding your plastic if left in solution for too long. But in other videos that you have when it comes to the airlock for fermenting you mentioned being able to use it or a cheap alcohol of choice. I was just wondering if by having Star San in there, if it could be causing damage to the airlock?
I sanitized my carboy with star San bust there was a ton of suds and I tried leaving it dry and it didn't go away so I rinsed it with bottle water. Do you think it will be fine
Nope, the world will now come to an end. Yeah, should be alright. Try not to make so much suds though. Add Star San to the water, not water to the Star San and don't let the water gurgle out of the carboy, pour gently. If you rinse with water there is a chance some pathogens in the water get back into your carboy.
@@CitySteadingBrews I'm making 2 batches of my first brew and I kinda rushed things and rinsed out with water out of desperation. I have tub I hope to use and how much solution (properly mixed) should I pour into my carboy for a swash. I assume when I pour the solution into my carboy don't shake it vigorously and I should just gently let the solution coat all of the surfaces right? I'm asking a lot but I'm a total newbie, I assume I should pour my apple juice right after I've reached that drying point right? Kind regards, Dan
@@CitySteadingBrews If someone wants to rinse it out how about boiling the water for 10 minutes first? Tap water or bottled water can both and often do have various microbes in them. I was making home brew beer many years ago and I was under the impression that if there were a few foreign microbes in the wort, once the yeast took off it resulted in a microbial gentrification :)
I used PBW thinking it was a sanitizer. Do you think my brew is ruined (1 gallon mead, 1kg honey with black tea, raisins and half an orange rind, k1-v1116 yiest)? I'm 2 days in and it's bubbling away nicely. I'm thinking it's fine, I figure I should be able to tell if it tastes weird when it's done.
No, PBW is reasonably good at sanitation. Now, if it becomes infected, you will know. It will smell bad, look bad, taste bad, etc. Even with poor sanitation or none, it's a CHANCE of infection, not a guarantee.
can star san kill yeast? my question is when I hydrate my yeast in a cup of warm water, i first clean that cup with starsan but will not rinsing that out and then pouring in the water and yeast leave too high of a concentrate of starsan that it could possibly kill the yeast? or should i star san the cup and rinse it out a couple of tiems?
Dump out the solution, let it drain, and you should be fine. Don't rinse things you sanitized, as you can introduce bacteria all over again. Star San SOLUTION isn't strong enough to kill yeasts that I am aware of.
Yep, star san wont hurt your yeast in small concentrations. Pro tip: if you sanitize something and then rinse it, you have just re-contaminated that item with any bacteria that could be in the water
How are you cleaning the table beforehand, can I use star San with a paper towel on the surface to clean it? I looked around on Google but couldn't find anything.
So a water question. Are you using tap water? We have chlorine in our tap water, does that effect the sanitation process? Or do I need to buy distilled?
I'm gonna admit something. I watched this video to find out how to make 1 ounce fill that receptacle on the bottle. It was filled when I first opened it last week to make my 1st mead. I did all kinds of shakin' before I watched this vid.
Never used it, but I do hear that it's right up there with Star San for usage. It's supposedly slightly more effective, but also more toxic. How much? I couldn't tell you.
I’m getting ready to start my very first batch of wine using a kit. I am not sure on what type of water to use I have decent well water or should I buy distilled or spring water?
Okay I have another two questions. Because you say you have noticed plastic changes if it soaks a while I wonder if it will mess with plastic if the Star San solution just sits on it for a while when drying? I make a whole spray bottle and use when needed but this means the solution stays in the plastic spray bottle for weeks. Is that bad?
I haven't even hit 30 seconds and I'm already in love with both these individuals
Awww, thanks!
I've watched many videos about making alcohol and I like CS Mead and More over everyone else.
The audio and video quality is some of the best.
They don't attempt to lead you into possibly believing something is true, before they get the results. If they are making a guess or assumption and the end results may be the opposite, they make that very clear.
They are entertaining too.
I have no complaints.
However, I encourage everyone else to continue making videos on brewing/fermenting related content or to start making videos if you are just waiting for someone to encourage you. Even though these 2 are great, a wide variety of content makers will always be best for everyone. Just like our tastes, some people will prefer the opposite of what I prefer, so don't give up and lets all enjoy ourselves.
Welcome to the rabbit hole! Probably the best brewing vids out there
@@FusionDeveloper well said!! 🎊🎉🌟
I'm a huge CS fan, one of the biggest reasons is because when I first fell down the brewing rabbit hole, Brian was one of the only creators to actually answer my questions in the comments and very quickly too. I learned so much from the videos but, no matter how many videos there are, there's always that one thing and having a quick and personalized answer is so helpful.
They got me to wana start making mead they are the best
The hot water in the sink makes removing food from plate easier. Its not to kill bacteria. Grease becomes solid at room temperature.
Thank you, thank you, THANK you for taking the time to dedicate a video to this most necessary step in the brewing process. There are an awful lot of brew channels out there, but they are happy to let novices struggle along with sanitizing, and that's cost a lot of people their batch.
Glad it was helpful!
FYI, you are my 'go-to' Mead authorities. This is good because you keep things simple and relatable. This was bad because I started brewing before you finished your first Sack Mead. Using Lalvin EC-1118 (for it's temperature tolerance), I used 4# honey/gallon, expecting ~18% alcohol and some residual sweetness. I got 2 failures, one salvage, 2 moderate successes, and 6 slow ferments that I'm still hoping will turn out okay in time.
Having seen what you learned from your first Sack Mead, I now know why I'm having trouble - we're learning together. I also learned on my own that too much orange can lower Ph too much, and Fermaid K can save that. I'm not ready to try step-feeding, but Capsicumel sounds awesome! I'll be starting 2 gallons tomorrow, one with grocery store jalapenos, one supplemented with a few Thai peppers.
I want you to know that Meade making is a very pleasing and satisfying hobby for me (even with failures), and the two of you have made it much less mystifying. Thank you. Very. Much!
So I got 5 one gallon carboys from an old lady down the street. She was using them as containers for water storage but she had forgotten them down in her basement around 30 years ago. So I was helping her clean her basement and I found them and she said I could have them. I live in northern Az where the water is hard, meaning there are a lot of dissolved solids in our water. Long story short, I emptied out the carboys and there were mineral deposits all in the carboy. Star san is Corrosive so I filled the carboys with a star san solution and let them sit. I emptied them out and filled them again and it took care of the problem. Just FYI if your trying to figure out how to get mineral deposits out of your carboy.
Nice! Good story too. Thank you.
We're also in Arizona, S.Arizona where it's worse, around Tucson. So that is a very good hint to read, thank you.
It might actually be worth just getting some hydrochloric acid be very careful and if you Splash yourself don't freak out just wash it off and you'll be fine it really doesn't take much and just dilute with distilled water 5 to 1 ratio by the way will get you a fairly mild solution that will be more than enough to eat away any of that just rinse out and it'll be fine hydrochloric acid is the same acid as our stomach acid don't be too spooked by it
Very helpful to know!
where i live in texas we have very hard water to get a reverse osmosis device it will save your coffee maker lol
I used OneStep for my first 6-7 brews, it worked fine. It does the opposite of StarSan by making the water basic, rather than acidic. It comes in a powder, you need hot water to dissolve it quickly, and I ended up rinsing with hot water afterwards. Stuff dries really fast. As far as cost goes, it was around $8 for 8 ounces. StarSan, like the bottle in your video, can be bought for about $16 and will last so much longer. It's a better investment.
Because most food-grade plastics are self lubricating, the sanitizer will draw out ethylene's from the plastics if over exposed. Thanks to you both for the information you pour out to us in every video.
good job , i love watching you 2 do this kind of stuff, your both down to earth and fun people
Oh the water plunky sound, you guys spoil me. Such a satisfying sound
I think that's just gonna be a running joke.
I use to boil eveything and finally after 2 years of brewing i got to buy my first Star San ! And now i know how to use it ! Thanks you both have been very helpful !! Cheers happy brewing
Washing soda makes taking labels of bottles suuuuper easy. Just let them soak in warm water with some soda and the labels literally just fall off. Depending on the type of label, sometimes you don't even need to wipe off the adhesive. For the others, a quick wipe with a damp rag removes any residual adhesive. Washing soda can be found at Walmart for like 3 or 4 bucks for a big box. It's made by Arm & Hammer and looks just like their baking soda box. Amazon has it too but they charge a lot more. Btw, love your videos! 😀
Good tip! Thanks!
I've been told plain salt works as well, though I haven't tried it yet - still have a bottle of Goo Gone to use up, which works great. I've reused several 750ml liquor bottles. Only Jack Daniels gave me trouble - bottle broke while corking. Even with cap threads, liquor bottles look fine once corked, and corks are MUCH cheaper than bottles ;-)
i been home brewing 35 years and have only used bleach with never a issue. i bought some of this to try it. thanks for this video
I believe it, but... Star San is less risky :)
I love Star Sans, but not just for brewing. I bring a little spray bottle with me when I go camping or to festivals. It’s a great way to sanitize kitchen equipment
You two would be fun to have a drink with! Thanks for the always good info.
You guys are my go-to for getting smarts poured into my brain about brewing. Thanks for this!
You are welcome!
Thank you for this. I was doing this in a small bowl. Im going to use a home depot bucket.
I make a 5 gal batch of starsan using DISTILLED water. Using distilled water, will keep it from going cloudy and keep the ph stable, I will use that same batch of star san for 4-5 brew/bottling days.
I can see that. I make up a gallon or two most times and dump afterward. However, I also tend to toss everything in there while I'm working so there's more crud floating around. It's like $0.15 a gallon for Star San solution for me even with filtered water, so I just make more when I need to.
When we do our canning we place a clean tea towel in the pot when we boil our Mason jars and canning supplies. We feel it keeps the shifting to a minimum and less rattling of the jars
This is such a great idea. It's our kind of idea, so simple and effective. I'm stealing it :)
That's a great trick
Once upon a time, I used diluted bleach as a sanitizer. I didn't get it all out, but my wine did ferment. It gave my wine a ... vodka like flavor. I felt I should share this as a why to avoid using bleach. I do use star san now.
Before I sanitize, I wash everything in powdered alkaline brewers wash. Then sanitize. I have an 8oz bottle. It shows 1/4 and 1/2 oz. Different size containers different measurements.
Also I have a lot of filters. Spa, pool and cleanable drinking water filters go into the wash before I dump the wash. Speed cleaning it is. And the cleaning water shows it works.
Rinse with water and it's ready for service.
Thank you for this video! Just got some Star San and have begun sanitizing my containers, etc. to make Kombucha!
Thanks- I found this video thanks to your comment. I guess I should have searched first, but I appreciate your help.
Glad I could help 🤓
StarSan is my favorite sanitizer, but I often find I need something else as a cleanser in order to remove more stubborn material. I've used OneStep and PBW, which are excellent cleansers, and am going to try Craftmeister's Alkaline Brewery Wash on the recommendation of my homebrew store.
I use oxieclean
Here is another sanitizer too add to the list; Peracetic acid (PAA).
It's an organically approved sanitizer.
I originally used this to sanitize food contact surfaces on a stonefruit packing line. Figured I'd give it a try. I successfully made a Hard cider and a jerkum with no mold issues. Check it out...
I rinse my jars or jugs out after I empty them with as hot of water as I can get from my tap and scrub them with a pipe cleaner I got from our local Brewing store. After that I let them dry and sit until I use them again, this goes for canning or making mead/cider. Before I reuse them I put them in Star San now that I bought a bottle! scrub them with my pipe cleaner just to make sure and then turn them out upside down on a towel. I basically do what you guys just said to do, I just read the instruction on Star San and did what it says to do there.
I'd like to thank you guys for making your videos, because of you two I know for a fact the cider and mead I am starting in October will be my best yet.
Thanks for your support, and happy brewing!
That is a good practice to do with your fermenters! Also, thanks for your support, I see a lot of comments from ya! We appreciate it and the feedback and interaction is inspiring!
Yah, I've used star san after watching you guys, and follow a lot of your recommendations. I've made a pyment mead, a cyser sack mead, the regular grape juice wine, and currently working on a yellow watermelon mead with 2.5lbs of honey hoping that one comes out really good.
Awesome, thanks for watching!
Anxiously awaiting a review of watermelon mead...
How did the watermelon turn out? Im curious...
Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for.
You're welcome!
Bottle brushes are something I’ve got on the list to get probably in The next week or so. I’ve got a couple of re purposes swing top bottles i need to scrub out so that will help!
I use a product called iodophor (spellkng probably isnt right) its an iodine based sanitizer reccomended by my brew shop. Never thought about using an acid based san. I love yalls channel. Yall both seem like really awesome people.
Thanks! Derica is Awesome, I'm Aweful... kidding. Maybe. Anyway, I was handed a bottle of Star San by a homebrewer and never looked back.
We are awesome people, just ask, we'll tell ya.
When I asked about sanitizer, I was handed a bottle of Star San, and the rest is history.
When first getting started scored small bag of One Step Sanitizer, but have since acquired & use the Star San. Using SS for larger production activities but have found the One Step very handy for making smaller usually 1 Gal batches for sanitizing B4 taking 2nd or more SPGR readings. IMHO its worth having both types available. Measuring 1 Tblsp/1 Gal One Step easier than tryna do ML of the SS.
The only thing to watch for is that One Step is not actually a sanitizer.
@@CitySteadingBrews ? Checked...Package sez...cleaner not sanitizer! Hmnnn bought it searching for home brewing sanitizers. So guess I'm lucky the Cider literally just racked has no off flavors, finished at .992 / 10.72 ABV, actually tastes great even dry dry. Google foo'd Star San for 1 gal is a teaspoon or 6 ML. And found a measurer-er. Point taken sir! And add another thanks!
That StarSan is amazing
I have used the oxygen stuff, which is like oxyclean without the detergent component. Never had problems with it, but you do have to really stir this into the water before use or you get granules in things.
Hot water in dish washing is not for killing bacteria. Hotter water will help loosen food stuck on dishes.
Hot water helps suds form. Not super necessary for star san but it is helpful for soapy applications.
You said the plastic equipments should be taken out after 5 minutes, because there will be a reaction with the sanitizing solution. However, as I understand, TRBOS is actually a plastic tub, and the solution stays there much longer than 5 minutes. So I guess the type of plastic used for it is safe. I like this setup, but I am not sure how can I find out the plastic I am going to buy will be safe to store the sanitizing solution for longer.
Good point. Our TRBOS seems to suffer no ill effect from prolonged contact. It's available on Amazon here: city-steading.com/product/trbos-the-red-bucket-of-sanitization/
Awesome Awesomeness I needed This 🌷🌷🌷
Bleach makes me sick so I use star San on every thing. Works great. Good video
Love the shirts as always great video again.
Thanks!
Thank you!
May I suggest that you put your hydrometer into your test jar when in the sanitizer bath, it keeps it in the liquid and also protects it. Great video thank you.
We do!
@@CitySteadingBrews appologies
Clean tea towel at the bottom of the pot will stop the bouncing my grandmother would do that when canning
Cleaning does not equal sanitizing. Oxy cleansers like PBW are for cleaning and helping to remove things stuck on and get it clean removing seen and unseen dirt. Sanitizing is the next level. Killing the unseen microbes. I typically use PBW the day before a brew, then starsan just before I use the items.
What happens if you don't sanitize? Does it mess up fermenting or do you risk some thing nasty growing in your wine? Doesn't the alcohol kill germs
You risk infections. Alcohol won’t kill everything.
@@CitySteadingBrews my wife says it's gonna kill me !
Sorry but she’s wrong.
@@CitySteadingBrews lol
plz can you teach me how to make non alcohol beer to alcohol
Some time ago, a friend and I were brewing beer. We sanitized the bottles with bleach and some water and then put it in the oven (with the mixture still inside)... there was a (small) explosion... Wish we'd new about this before XD In the end, we had to throw out the beer because it started smelling like a sewer in the brewing bucket...
T_T
So I use star san too but I just fill my bucket up and than drop everything inside the pale ale bucket and clean them that way. Also I use boiling but you a electric kettle and pour the water into my stuff. BTW this video was very helpful thank you! I have been rising out my stuff with tap water after sanitizing it bc I didnt want bubbles. I was always afraid the left over sanitizer would kill my yeast.
Yeah, don't rinse, just let it all drain off. If you add other water, you "might" be adding more bacteria and microorganisms.
Love this!
I've used bleach as a sanitizer and tap water for most of my 15 years of brewing. As long as you rinse your vessels twice and mix the bleach up correctly at 200 parts per million, it will be fine. And tap water is actually better than distilled water as it has more minerals for the yeast. I've not had any problems with a stalled fermentation from using tap water either.
I never said I use distilled water.... we use filtered water. Just removed the chlorine.
Glad you've not had any problems, but to me, with bleach you have to be so extra cautious, I just use Star San. There are as many sanitation methods as homebrewers, and as long as you make good clean brews, you're doing it right. :)
I just use the bleach cuz its super cheap and always available at just about any grocery store. I used it as a sanitizer in the food industry without any problems for many years [that's where I learned about it]. A sluggish start to a fermentation is usually due to badly stored or expired yeast and pitching it at the wrong temperature [too hot or too cold]. I do boil 1/3 to 1/2 of the water to dissolve the sugar and that probably gets out most of the chlorine. My city has some of the cleanest tap water in the USA. Different cities might have different levels of chlorine and other stuff to avoid, so I might just have been lucky.
I had to buy Star san from Amazon and shipped it to my place in the Philippines. 😁
how did you get it shipped to the Philippines? I tried buying star san from Amazon but they were unable to ship it due to hazardous materials are prohibited from international shipments
@@noonbreak5276 that was a year ago. Liquid shiipment restrictions might have changed.
@@reydelacalzada4747 okay then, I managed to buy stellar san instead don't know what are the difference but I'm giving it a try
Perfect, Thank you!!
Love your Firefly shirt!!
You guys are legends
Using bleach, hot water is a no no. The chlorine evaporates pretty quickly above room temp. Maybe iodine based sanitizers such as starsan are not so heat sensitive.
Star San is acid based, not iodine. And yes, the chlorine evaporates, but if you can smell it at all, it can ruin your batch, either by killing yeast or an off flavor.
I had heard that if you use bleach, you should rinse it in hot water you had boiling for over 10 minutes just to be safe. Maybe that's a little faster than the canning method and less likely to crack your glass, but I'd be a little cautious about any bleach left over.
OMG I accidentally gave this video a thumbs down while actually wanting to give a thumbs up. I'm so sorry! A really helpful video, I got into brewing my own mead a few years ago, then last year I looked back into homebrewing. I used to wash everything I could thoroughly in the sink with washing up liquid, because I felt overwhelmed and didn't know where to start with the sanitization. Now I will sanitize everything properly. Luckily, I didn't have any problems with my brews, hope that continues. 😀
You can change it, lol.
@@CitySteadingBrews I already have changed it. I felt really bad but I'm glad that it's ok.
no worries!
So this is TRBoS I've been hearing so much about haha
Yup!
Great videos!
Do you do anything special to the towel that you lay your equipment on?
I was wondering the same thing. I line dry my towels so I'm wondering what a 'clean' towel constitutes. I'm preparing for my first mead brew and want it to go well.
There’s normally plenty if sanitizer liquid in them, since we lay the bottles and other gear straight from the tub. It’s good practice to be clean but you cannot be 100%. Just do the best you can.
Good video guys, thank you:)
Hi Brian and Derica. Do you have any special methods or suggestions for actually cleaning your utensils after you're done using them? Currently, I'm using PBW that I got from my local homebrew store, mostly because I've read you don't want to use dish soap for cleaning anything that will touch your brew. But there are somethings that I use for other kitchen stuff (funnel, measuring cups, etc) that I clean with dish soap. Just looking to see what other people do.
We use soap and water... then sanitize before use. If you rinse properly, never a problem.
First let me just say how I love your videos. Thank you!!
Question: in my area it’s almost impossible to find hand sanitizer or Isopropyl Alcohol because of Covid 19 virus. I have Five Star - Star san, can that be use as hand sanitizer? If yes what the best way to diluted with water for a small batch. Thank you.
Will sanitizer hurt the sink or pipes and seals when finished and poured down the drain ?
If you soak in it, I've heard from a few that it does. Pouring it down the drain when done shouldn't be so much of an issue.
that was fantastic, EXACTLY what I was hoping for! thanks. why the two open tops on the Star Sans bottle?
I have no idea why they do that system!
Thank you for the video! Got an infection in my first batch - circular foam on the surface of the brew after racking. Is StarSan good to kill all that infection off my equipment?
Hey guys great videos! But I cannot get Star Sun where I live, so I wanted to know if I can use quaternary ammonium and what concentration? Thank you and greetings!!!
I wouldn't use any ammonia derivative for something I was going to eat.
hello, great video. Actually I cant find star san in our country can show any other way of sanitizing for brewing. thanks.
Thanks for your great work and sharing all this with us. I have two questions:
1- I'm using potassium metalbilsulfite as sanitization method, what are your thoughts on that?
2- for a cider brew on which I started at 1.092SG cold crashed it on the 11th date at 1.050 then added 1oz of sugar per gallon for natural carbonation and on day 12.5 I opened one swing cap bottle to check on it and it foamed out heavily for 3-5 seconds and decided to stop carbonation and follow to pasteurizing it, how do you know when carbonation is complete as this are a bit carbonated but not too much or at least not like a light beer.
Thanks again and keep up with the excellent work.
1: Potassium Metabusilfite is not a sanitizer.
2: It's likely your brew was still fermenting when you tried to carbonated it. With a 1.092 OG and a 1.050 FG, it's likely not finished and you didn't need more sugar to carbonate it.
@@CitySteadingBrews on your ginger beer you also stopped fermanting before completion, what would be the difference from that? I think I have seen those two videos like 10 times to follow it precisly, did I missed something? Thanks so much for your help and super quick response.
Rodolfo Lemus we did. We checked the pressure every day. Yours happened fast I guess.
I have three 5 Gallon containers of Star San in my three brewing areas that I use over and over. Never fear the suds!
It’s not meant to last forever. With each use it weakens. I don’t know that I would keep that much around all the time and reuse it. It’s pretty cheap to make a 3-5 gallon batch, use it for a brew day then just get rid of it and make fresh next time.
Thanks for the info! How long does it take to airdry?
We just use them wet…
Hi! Here where I live (Portugal) it can be very difficult to find Star San in the market. But I've heard that Potassium Metabisulfite can be used as a sanitizing solution. What information can you give me about this? Is it a viable alternative? How can it be used?
By the way, I love your videos!!! 😉
I have never used it but just know that is what is used to halt fermentation so, not sure I would sanitize with it.
Awesome video, thanks!!!
Yeah! Its my favourite brewing duo! So informative for a cleaning video guys ;) :p :D
Oh and i think i figured out how if you get too clean you actually get dirty! As my lady would say, sometimes i end up sweating like a damn beast from over doing it. ;)
LOL, not where I was going but funny.
My thought was, if you eliminate all the possibility of anything unclean, you become vulnerable to dirt and bacteria that much more. For instance.... there's a higher rate of allergies among people today than just a few decades ago. When I was a kid, we played in the dirt, made mud pies and ate questionable things. Today's kids don't do that. We built up our immune systems... today, not so much. So they are so clean, they're dirty.
C.S.- I completely agree. I believe this concept unfortunately extends and applies to the mental sanitation of 21st century American youth as well...;(
I am just getting started with my first homebrew from a kit I bought. The kit included a pack of Easy Clean (No Rinse Cleanser) and a pack of Potassium Metabisulfite. The kit instructions describe the Easy Clean as the equipment cleanser. My question is, can i just clean my equipment with dish soap, air dry, then use the Potassium Metabisulfite to santize before brewing? Secondly, for second and future brews is cleaning with dish soap then sanitizing with StarSan (after using the provided sanitizer in kit) the way to go?
I believe you're meant to use the cleanser, the metabisulfite is not something we ever use really. It's t can help a bit though for sanitizing. We just wash with soap and water then use Star San. That is the best way imho.
You’ve probably already answered this, but how do you sanitize the towels you use at your workstation? I’ve heard you say it’s been sanitized, but I’ve never heard you say how you did it. Or maybe I simply missed it.
We don't actually sanitize the towels, they are kept just for brewing and washed. But, while using them, they do get plenty of sanitizer on them.
I just drained it then I ran some of my RO water through it to rinse the bubbles out. As long as you're using good filtered water with low parts per million there shouldn't be any issues with bacterial growth. I mean, if you're Brewing the drink with this water what's wrong with rinsing it out with it.
In theory, yeah... I just let them drain a while, usually does the trick.
After watching City Steading videos intently for the past week, is this the origin of The Red Bucket of Sanitation? Also is patreon still the preferred subscription thing or should I use the thing on your website?
I think it is?
We use our own VIP from our website :)
How likely is my brew that does NOT seem to be getting started a result of using star sans treated equipment BEFORE allowed to dry off? Temperature of the brew starting off was just over 60F but was put in a 76F room immediately after, so......a little cool but not terrible. Using Lalvin 71B. Can't think of anything else I did that could have done this. Also, I dry pitched the yeast so I can't be sure it was good to start. Maybe just add more yeast after I pitch it first?
Normally how i clean and santize homebrew equipment, in particular the fermenting buckets and carboys is by first cleaning them with fairy liquid (dish soap) and an oxi cleaner (sodium percorbonate). I rinse this off with a hose and then dry it out and then add some filtered water to it and add a few campden tablets or starsan to keep it cleaned and prevent mould.
When i go to use the fermentation buckets and carboys and any other equipment i then sanitize them with a spray bottle made up with white distilled vinegar, citric acid and either starsan or metabisulphite. Spray it all over amd leave it on for about 5 minutes and then drain and let air dry. Done this all the time with no contamination of my brews by chemicals or microbes.
We just wash and dip in Star San. No issues with contamination in years.
To protect my hydrometer, I put it in the graduated cylinder, and then put both in the Star San.
Me too.
Try a wine theif - protects the hydrometer and simplifies sanitization and measurement. Its like a bottle wand big enough for the hydrometer. Less fuss, quicker readings, quicker cleanup. What's not to like?
Thanks for the idea Armed, I wouldn't have thought of it, being a newbie!
There is so much information about sanitizing yet I cannot find anything about why you should sanitize. What is the reason for sanitizing opposed to just cleaning? I am also pondering why I cannot sanitize in my dishwasher on just the rinse cycle and put it on heat dry? I have had plastic melt in my dishwasher. It must be hot enough.
Cleaning won't remove some of the bacteria and fungi that can infect a brew. Your dishwasher will not sanitize as well as Star San, or boiling. They may melt plastic, but they don't really get that hot. Many microbes survive well past boiling point.
198°f is required for sterilizing
Brian, if water is boiling it is at 212 degrees F.
Depending on your altitude.
Hi! Do I have to wait for items to completely dry after sanitizing? Second question; can I close up my unused sanitized bottles for later use.
Nice video and I like that large bucket. Do you have one at your website???
They have been sold out forever 🤬
@@CitySteadingBrews Sad to hear so I’m gonna look for one that size.
Have you guys tried Saniclean? Almost like Star san, but less foam. I start use that from now on. Cheers 🍺
My 10 minute research on this shows it's a weaker version of Star San. So much so that they can't call it a sanitizer! Also, seems more expensive. Same cost per ounce, but you need 2 ounces per 4 gallons as opposed to 1 ounce per 5 gallons. The bubbles don't bother me so much, so I'll stick with Star San!
City Steading ok here in Sweden Saniclean cost 15,80 usd for 475ml and Starsan cost 22,65 for 457ml but as you say you must add more Saniclean to get right/same mixture as Starsan. Cheers 🍺🍺
@@bsbhomebrew For starsan I make up an old 23l fermenter full and then once I have sanitised demijohns or other fermenting vessels I pour it back into the old fermenter. It's not a never-ending resource but I would say that I would do say a couple of 5G beer batches and say a half a dozen of 1-gallon wines with just the one batch. I suppose you could do more but I just like to make up a new batch every so often. On this basis then I would say that Starsan is value for money. If you are just doing 1 batch at a time it could get expensive. Additionally, there are some microbes that are resistant to acid-based sanitisers so every so often you should sanitise with an alkali based sanitiser such as VWP or PBW instead of Star San.
Thanks for the video now I feel like a dummy I used to put Star San and the bucket first and then filled up with water to make sure it was all mix up and I was always stuck with more bubbles than liquid I will from now on start putting it in After I filled the bucket
I suppose if you used double TRBOS and put clean water in one to just rinse off the item, then place it in the sanitation bucket you would keep it very clean and could reuse it. But that seems more trouble than it's worth unless you have a container you could close and a good place to store it.
I just dump it. The amount used for a brew day is nothing.
A little late here but just doing my first brew.no problem I worked as a chef so. I can manage this .something to add to the knowledge file....hot water has contaminates like hydrocarbons and carbonic acid due to the heating process which produces condensate.and because of the sediment in hot water tanks.I learned this from a plumber who was installing a new tank.so as a retired chef and a new brewer I would suspect hot water from your tap to be somewhat undesirable for brewing or ? What have you.after talking with others who have had filers in brewing this may account for something.
I prefer filtered water tbh.
Do you have to be careful about using a "clean" towel due to residual detergent? I've always been told to use paper towels, but don't care to use that many of them. Also, how far in advance due you sanitise before making your mead? Thank you so much!!!
We just wash our towels. These are only used for brewing as you see. Never had a problem. We sanitize just before use with anything that touches the brew.
I use citric acid (L ascorbic acid) from a natual source you can get a huge bucket of it on amazon for $50. Plus very versatile obviously you can eat it its whats on sour cany, its just vitamin C after all which you know as a crucial vitamin good thing to stock up on for many reasons never had a contamination👍
It’s not sanitizer.
citric acid is not ascorbic acid. and neither of them is used for sanitization
Hello, I have a question (which may have been answered at some point). So you've noted that Star San might be eroding your plastic if left in solution for too long. But in other videos that you have when it comes to the airlock for fermenting you mentioned being able to use it or a cheap alcohol of choice. I was just wondering if by having Star San in there, if it could be causing damage to the airlock?
Haven’t seen it do that to airlocks. Difference in plastic maybe?
I sanitized my carboy with star San bust there was a ton of suds and I tried leaving it dry and it didn't go away so I rinsed it with bottle water. Do you think it will be fine
Nope, the world will now come to an end.
Yeah, should be alright. Try not to make so much suds though. Add Star San to the water, not water to the Star San and don't let the water gurgle out of the carboy, pour gently. If you rinse with water there is a chance some pathogens in the water get back into your carboy.
@@CitySteadingBrews I'm making 2 batches of my first brew and I kinda rushed things and rinsed out with water out of desperation. I have tub I hope to use and how much solution (properly mixed) should I pour into my carboy for a swash. I assume when I pour the solution into my carboy don't shake it vigorously and I should just gently let the solution coat all of the surfaces right?
I'm asking a lot but I'm a total newbie, I assume I should pour my apple juice right after I've reached that drying point right?
Kind regards,
Dan
Yep. You’re fine.
@@CitySteadingBrews If someone wants to rinse it out how about boiling the water for 10 minutes first? Tap water or bottled water can both and often do have various microbes in them.
I was making home brew beer many years ago and I was under the impression that if there were a few foreign microbes in the wort, once the yeast took off it resulted in a microbial gentrification :)
I used PBW thinking it was a sanitizer. Do you think my brew is ruined (1 gallon mead, 1kg honey with black tea, raisins and half an orange rind, k1-v1116 yiest)? I'm 2 days in and it's bubbling away nicely. I'm thinking it's fine, I figure I should be able to tell if it tastes weird when it's done.
No, PBW is reasonably good at sanitation. Now, if it becomes infected, you will know. It will smell bad, look bad, taste bad, etc. Even with poor sanitation or none, it's a CHANCE of infection, not a guarantee.
@@CitySteadingBrews Awesome! Thanks!
whenever i use starsan for carboys theres always a ton of large bubbles in it, should i let them disperse or just go ahead and put my brew in it?
Let them drain. They say you don't have to worry, but... they're bubbles... of acid solution... I let them drain off first.
can star san kill yeast? my question is when I hydrate my yeast in a cup of warm water, i first clean that cup with starsan but will not rinsing that out and then pouring in the water and yeast leave too high of a concentrate of starsan that it could possibly kill the yeast? or should i star san the cup and rinse it out a couple of tiems?
Dump out the solution, let it drain, and you should be fine. Don't rinse things you sanitized, as you can introduce bacteria all over again. Star San SOLUTION isn't strong enough to kill yeasts that I am aware of.
Yep, star san wont hurt your yeast in small concentrations. Pro tip: if you sanitize something and then rinse it, you have just re-contaminated that item with any bacteria that could be in the water
@@MikeP350 thank you!
This video is over a year old. We have changed our stance on this in the past few months after hearing from a yeast manufacturer.
How are you cleaning the table beforehand, can I use star San with a paper towel on the surface to clean it? I looked around on Google but couldn't find anything.
So a water question. Are you using tap water? We have chlorine in our tap water, does that effect the sanitation process? Or do I need to buy distilled?
We use filtered water.
I'm gonna admit something. I watched this video to find out how to make 1 ounce fill that receptacle on the bottle. It was filled when I first opened it last week to make my 1st mead. I did all kinds of shakin' before I watched this vid.
I've always used Iodophor, for sanitizing.
What do you think of that chemical?
This video is informative. I may be switching
to Star-san.
steve
I use that product and love it. Im no pro but ive never been let down.
Never used it, but I do hear that it's right up there with Star San for usage. It's supposedly slightly more effective, but also more toxic. How much? I couldn't tell you.
I’m getting ready to start my very first batch of wine using a kit. I am not sure on what type of water to use I have decent well water or should I buy distilled or spring water?
Dumb question time! How do you sanitize the towel that you set your supplies on to dry?
It's just a clean towel. As we pull things out of the Star San, they drain onto it.
4:44 hahaha Brian. She sure gave you the look of terror that you took that back. Hahaha. We saw that. The freeze look 😬.
Okay I have another two questions. Because you say you have noticed plastic changes if it soaks a while I wonder if it will mess with plastic if the Star
San solution just sits on it for a while when drying? I make a whole spray bottle and use when needed but this means the solution stays in the plastic spray bottle for weeks. Is that bad?
We haven’t noticed it affecting things to dry… but we never put it in spray bottles. We just mix a batch when we brew and dump it when we finish.
How quickly do you have to use the equipment so that it os still sanitized...in other words, how do you keep it sanitized until you use it. Thanks!
Good question.... I would say within an hour or two should be fine. Beyond that, could have something land on it.
So for how long can I use star san ? Is it ok to keep adding star san every month? Thanks
We make up a batch and dump it after each use.