What is this in my bottles?

[Dunkelbrau]

Well, I've never been able to get krausen off with starsan so Im sure its not a cleaner, I'll leave that job to things that just dissolve it without me having to scrub my fermenting buckets. Sodium percarbonate may be an effective sanitiser, but it has to break down into sodium carbonate (something I wouldn't add after cooling wort as it will increase my sodium content and also alkalinity in the wort) and water before we can rack on top of it, and starsan becomes ineffective when we add wort to the dregs.

From what I've read about starsan and the active ingredients, it not only kills a high level of bacteria but kills all aerobic, anaerobic, gram positive and negative bacteria, yeasts and spores (as long as it is mixed correctly, another reason people should have a pH meter or test strips).

So viruses and prions can be present, but regarding anything that can infect our wort, it is effectively sterile.

 

[antiphile]

Hi again Dunkelbrau

You, of course, are absolutely right. I know I'm anally retentive, and you were talking in brewing terms and I'm certainly not going to argue with your post.

My only defence is that I'd hate to think that someone with insufficient experience/knowledge might want to transfer what is suitable for brewing into other areas where sterilisation is critical (ear piercing, tattooing etc). I certainly wasn't trying to offend or pick a fight, and I'm really glad you didn't take it that way, but it's not all that easy when I'm bordering on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder!

Thanks mate and it's time I relaxed and had another beer. Cheers
Phil

 

[n87]

Well, I've never been able to get krausen off with starsan so Im sure its not a cleaner

i use a drop of starsan in the bottom of my brew pot after every batch.

give a good rinse
put 10mm water in the bottom of the pot and a drop or 2 of starsan
leave a couple of minutes
hit it with paper towel, and SHINEY!

it may not be designed as a cleaner.... but it doesnt stop its ability in the correct situation
chocolate or toothpaste can polish metal too!

 

[mofox1]

START using a brush?!?!?!? You mean you haven't used one before now?? Man, that's a lay-down you've got dirty bottles with infections just waiting to happen.

Soak everything in hot Perc., then scrub the shit out of your bottles, then soak 'em again in cold perc. Rinse, then hit them with Starsan or the like.

If you cap them with squares of al-foil after you've given them that regime, they should be good to just fill straight-up when you do your next batch.

NEVER, EVER skimp with the cleaning/sanitation mate. You'll waste good beer otherwise.

During summer, I process all my bottles with a similar regime (any idiot can stick their hands in freezing water during winter!!) & have never had a problem.

It's just getting into the habit of being anally-retentive about cleaning/sanitation. It pays dividends down the track.

Never thought about capping with foil... good tip! I usually wait till I've got a whole box worth, clean & dry them, and then lay some cling wrap over all the bottles once they're in the box (I found it too fiddly to cling wrap individual bottles).

Still hit them with star san immediately before bottling. I think I'd only trust them "ready to go" if they had been sealed after autoclaving.

AHB would make a stack off you if they start chaging per punctuation mark!

 

[storeboughtcheeseburgers]

Well, I've never been able to get krausen off with starsan so Im sure its not a cleaner, I'll leave that job to things that just dissolve it without me having to scrub my fermenting buckets. Sodium percarbonate may be an effective sanitiser, but it has to break down into sodium carbonate (something I wouldn't add after cooling wort as it will increase my sodium content and also alkalinity in the wort) and water before we can rack on top of it, and starsan becomes ineffective when we add wort to the dregs.

From what I've read about starsan and the active ingredients, it not only kills a high level of bacteria but kills all aerobic, anaerobic, gram positive and negative bacteria, yeasts and spores (as long as it is mixed correctly, another reason people should have a pH meter or test strips).

So viruses and prions can be present, but regarding anything that can infect our wort, it is effectively sterile.

Yeh thats what I meant - starsan is not good for big clumpy build ups. But I reckon elbow grease + a non coarse sponge and then star san is pretty good sanitisation. At least as far as homebrew goes.

Boiling water is my favourite 'sanitiser' followed by starsan for good measure when it comes to bottles. Elbow grease followed by sodium perc (oxyper) is my favourite 'cleaner' for fermenters as it does the work for you - Always do a rinse/star san squirt inside the tap, the tap thread and throughout the interior/lid of fermenter also.

I don't use bottle brushes - they're rooted after 1-2 uses and are awkward as hell to use. If you are rinsing your bottles after use in hot/boiling water (or some people put in dishwasher) your bottles, starsan squirt around the edges and a few squirts on the lip - you should be good to go for bottling.

Hops are also a natural antibacterial during the brewing process. The sun is also a natural 'sanitiser' supposedly, however no conclusive evidence has provided this is so.

 

[GalBrew]

UV light kills microbial life. Used in many industrial and scientific applications. The sun produces quite a bit of UV.

 

[stm]

I've found that Napisan products (sodium perc?) are quite good for soaking your bottles in (after a quick rinse to rinse the obvious gunk). They come up very clean and shiny after another rinse. Then it's just a quick squirt with Starsan sanitiser immediately before bottling. No elbow grease or boiling water etc.

 

[Weizguy]

Aha! But have you had infections???

Going absolutely ANAL about cleaning & sanitation will save a lot of heartache.

Like I said, I do a massive clean/sanitation during summer & have never had a problem all year-round. I have about 600 bottles, 20x 18-20L kegs, 5x 45L kegs & a few other sundries. If it works for me on that scale, it'll work for you.

Anal cleaning! Isn't that called an enema? or just a tangent?

I also have 15 or so Cornie kegs and thousands (literally thousands) of bottles. I like to have the kegs ready to go and don't care if I have to clean the bottles. I have enough bottles to be able to throw them in the recycler if I don't have much success cleaning them.

Always sanitise before bottling and drip dry upside down onto a clean towel, tea towel or paper towel.

Those bottles in the OP are grubby (and harbouring bugs if the beer gets extra carbonation with storage).

 

[HBHB]

Good points! I tend to just wash them with boiling water and then sanitise them just before bottling. Perhaps I should start using a brush.

Give them a soak for a few days with a teaspoon of Pink Stain Remover per bottle. Crack the plastic handle off the bottle brush, stick it in a cordless drill and go to town on them.

 

[michaeld16]

The brush in the cordless is one of the best things I was told when starting out. Cleaned thousands of bottles this way with zero elbow grease. And anything that makes cleaning bottles easier is bloody tops