Do Crown Seals Need To Be Steralised?

[Adamt]

Polls are opinionated and don't necessarily yield a correct answer.

I, like others on this thread, generally throw my caps in a bowl of no-rinse out of habit. I have used caps fresh from a new packet without sanitising and would do it if I weren't in the habit.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

well I must have imagined the sanitiser baths on those bottling machines then ... I should get my eyes checked

But there is no need for a poll, Ashton Lewis answered the question indeed - its over cautious to sanitise your caps.

Yep it is - and I intend to keep on being overcautious with every single thing about my brewing. So over cautious people will sanitise them and the penalty they will pay is several seconds of their life. Less cautious (but obviously not unreasonably so) brewers wont sanitise them and trade those few second for a minute chance of infection.

Depends on what kind of a person you are

 

[Tyred]

hi.

i was just wondering if the crown seals need to be steralised?

i usually keep them in a cupboard so i assume that they are generally clean when i use them... first time i steralised them.. second brew i didn't ( turned out alright didnt have any off taste) third brew i was just wondering if i should.. should i steralise them in bleach or just pour boiling water over it?

thanks..

Stewills.

Going back to the original question. Caps do not need to be sterilized.

There is, of course, a difference between sterilize and sanitize.

Whether or not you sanitize them is a different matter and obviously there are different views on this.

It's your brew, it's your brewing technique, so you can decide on what you do.

 

[Zwickel]

What is your magic ingredient (cleaner)

cheers

darren

nothing magic Darren, just hot caustic soda, followed by hot citric acid, thats the ducks nuts

 

[SJW]

In a homebrew situation it would be almost imposible to steralize anything

 

[Adamt]

But somewhat easier to sterilise.

 

[Brewtus]

I sanitize but mostly because I use mostly reused soft drink caps to identify batches and cap about six stubbies to take to places where I don't wont to bring bottles back so throwing the crown seals in with the rest is easy. If it was all glass I probably would not bother. It is all risk management, waste a few moments and reduce the risk or take the risk. From the evidence here, it seems the risk is fairly low if you don't dunk.

 

[PostModern]

nothing magic Darren, just hot caustic soda, followed by hot citric acid, thats the ducks nuts

LOL. Hot caustic is all the non-sanitiser uses. There you go

 

[drtomc]

Reckon it's time for a poll on this, only way we're going to resolve it!

Ah, spoken like a true Wikian - long live the democratization of truth.

I'd say the anecdotal evidence is that it doesn't make a *big* difference - if it did there'd be exploding bottles all over the country, or indeed, the planet. On the other hand, if sanitizing your caps helps you to relax, not worry, and have homebrews, then that's great! Otherwise just relax, not worry, and have the homebrew.

T.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

I just cant understand the fuss about sanitising them -

The original post way, way, way back was actually about sterilising. Sanatising and sterilising are two completely different things for which I know Darren would have to agree

BYB

 

[Darren]

BYB,

Well sterilisation would be the ultimate wouldn't it?? I have always been happy to sanitise my lids when I have bottled.

Just for the record, if any of you get a chance to taste beers entered at a HB comp you will be surprised how many beers entered are actually badly infected (estimate 1/10).

Now whether this happens in the bottle or some people cannot taste when their beers are infected I don't know.

Something to to think about.

cheers

Darren

 

[petesbrew]

5 pages already!
Amazing, considering we all pretty much know the answer, depending on whether we could be arsed or not.

 

[kook]

For me, the bottom line is this- after bottling 10,000 bottles plus over 18 years without sanitising one cap and never a problem, somehow I doubt I`ll be changing anything. If things go wrong I`ll let you know but don`t hold your breath.

staggalee.

I've got to be honest - this amazes me when I hear brewers have been going for 18 years without a single bottle problem, regardless of their sanitation regime.

I can understand how large breweries do it (new bottles & strong sanitisers), but how have you managed it?

Infections manifest themselves in so many different ways, subtle flavour changes that in many cases people don't notice or presume it was something to do with that particular brew. So how do you do it? I'm presuming you use new bottles for every brew, but how are you sanitising them? Heat? Acid?

 

[Batz]

Do Crown Seals Need To Be Sterilized?

94 posts ! And I believe we all agree 'it's up to you'

I don't bottle very often anyone but when I did I sterilized my caps,and any bottling I do in the future I'll sterilize the caps as well.I does seem I could miss this step but hey,I sterilize my caps..and...

No chill
Don't skim
Make starters
Don't under let
use a braid manifold
filter sometimes
use polyclar sometimes
mash on the cooler side
keg
use a Valley Mill
use rain water

etc etc etc
Brewing a personal thing isn't it?

Batz

 

[sponge]

94 posts ! And I believe we all agree 'it's up to you'

.....

Brewing a personal thing isn't it?

Hit the nail on the head lad

 

[Weizguy]

QUOTE (Zwickel @ Sep 22 2008, 08:38 PM) *
....and no, I never sanitize anything of my gear, just clean it.

What is your magic ingredient (cleaner)

cheers

darren

Onya, Darren. I'm with you on this one. I have a suspicion that Zwickel's climate and microflora are different to ours in Oz, as well as the factors already mentioned. This is a fact, actually and not an opinion.

At my house, I have a rampant Acetobacter spp. that jumps into any beer that's left open and/or unattended for any short span of time.
I also know for a fact that my lhbs re-packages bottle caps from a package of about 10,000 (as I bought a parcel of 1000 recently). The environment at any lhbs is likely to contain dust from bugs that like to eat malt, as well as lacto bacteria from grain husks being milled (unless your lhbs doesn't stock grain, which is possible for small K&K retailers).

For me, it comes down to "common sense". That of course, means my own common sense, based on what I know about the environment in which my lids/caps are packaged. When bottling, I usually count my caps into a small sauce-pan or bowl and some just-boiled water is poured on top, and they sit until the water is cool enough to retrieve the caps, one by one, as they are placed onto bottles.

What this means, for those that need it spelled out for them (and many do...), is that you should use your own mind/brain to investigate what works for you in the environment in which you perform your beer packaging.

DO NOT rely on someone else's opinion. THINK for yourself, please!!!

This has been another Seth testimonial, for those who may be too lazy to think.

Oh, and regarding spelling things out..."steralising"?. Come on. Someone needs to use an online spell checker. At least an "s" was used in the middle of the word, instead of a "z". Also, that's a zed, not a zee.

As for bad/contaminated beer being entered into competitions, I have to agree that some people believe that homebrew always tastes that way. That's what makes it homebrew. Well, maybe it is, and that's why my hand-crafted beer is not homebrew. Same scale, better flavour. :lol:

BTW, Tony, with your recent series of bad beer, do you expect us to believe that none of your bottled beer has ever been contaminated. How can you tell? That comment is misleading, in the extreme

 

[staggalee]

I've got to be honest - this amazes me when I hear brewers have been going for 18 years without a single bottle problem, regardless of their sanitation regime.
So how do you do it? I'm presuming you use new bottles for every brew, but how are you sanitising them? Heat? Acid?

When I first started, I had 5 fermenters going at once, thus 25 gallons at a time, so I aquired hundreds of the old style heavy xxxx tallies, and still using them today.
As for sanitising prior to bottling, Tony {with the Colgate smile} told us years ago on Grumpy`s------ boil 2 jugs of water, line your bottles up and pour a few inches of boiled water into each, swirl and discard.
This assumes of course your bottles are clean to start with. Mine always are. Soon as they`re empty, rinsed 3 times under hot tap, onto bottle tree to drain, once dry a 50 mill. square of alfoil crimped over neck and into milk crate till bottling day.
Too easy.
{Thanks again Tony :beerbang: }

staggalee.

 

[sinkas]

hi all,
i have been brewing for about 18 years and have never sterilised my caps and have never detected an off beer. Maybe I have been lucky. However, it does make sense to add this to the process as everything else is sterilised. Why have a weak point in the process.

Maybe they were all off? :blink:

 

[trevc]

I've seen crown seal packaging that says to "Always sanitise caps before bottling". Not sure if the LHBS put it there, or what.

It's an easy step, and I like to do anything I can to look after my beer.


Edit: My current pack says "STERILIZE BEFORE USE". Funny

 

[drtomc]

Looks like this thread belongs not in "The Common Ground" but in "The Uncommon Ground", or possibly in "The Common Rant".

T.