Sanitation Question

Hopefully, in 6 months I will figure it out myself ...until then, start looking/picking up some staples 2nd hand...CO2 tank, regulator, cornies, etc...no hurry...you'll know a deal when you see it.

 

No...a simple refrigerator and picnic taps would work (caveman style)

 

You need some way to keep the kegs cold if you want to be able to pour a pint any time you want.

 

I've had poor results with this method. The water doesn't always go into the bottle and just cleans the outside. If you have anything on the inside of the bottle, it's still waiting for you when the bottle is done with the cycle.

CO2 only really works at a cooler temperature. You get into beer line lengths, inner diameters sizes, temperatures, and pressure. It's a wild equation that is much more practical around 32F than 70F

 

That's why I only sanitize in the the dishwasher. All the gross material needs to be removed first just like when you prepare bottles for star San. The steam in the dishwasher is sufficient to kill the invisible microbes.

 

Except there's no section in "how to brew" on those stupid 3-piece red spigots that need to be torn apart to clean/sanitize thoroughly. PBW soak + starsan soak was not enough in my limited experience.

 

untighten the spigot, pull apart everything and sanitize. a norious area for bad crud to hide. i just use very hot waterr myslef.

note; one washer goes on the outside and one washer goes on the inside. hand tighten but be craeful not to snap the shank, it's just plastic. it does need to be very tight though r it will leak, drip drip drip. however if you torque it like a lug nut you can deform the gasket and that will leak too.
easy, huh? test your rebuild with water before you dump wort into the bucket. unless you think its ok to put your filthy stinkin hands inside your bottling bucket to perform some last minute surgery...

yeah, i'm not the only one who knows of this i am sure.
Cheers

 

I don't think it's meant to disassemble into 3 pieces. Not easily anyway. I boiled mine to soften the plastic and pulled it apart with pliers.

I've since switched to the 2-piece $0.99 all white ones and have never looked back. I also store my spigots in starsan filled tupperware b/c aint nobody got time for infections.

 

I think you are right that the beginning is the biggest chance, for the reason you specify. But if you are good about process, it is minimal. Plus, you should be pitching a good bit more yeast than there are wild beasties; the yeast will outcompete them.

My only obvious infection came from a bottling mistake. I didn't use a sanitizer. Every bottle was a gusher and over time the beer became thin-bodied and lost flavor. I have had some other ocassional gushers, but this was the only batch that really was lost to infection. So maybe bottling IS the right answer. It is vulnerable because there is a lot of surface area to sanitize. However, it has been years since I had a gusher, so it can be done with no problems when proper care is taken to clean thoroughly and then sanitize.

 

Dude you should work for fox news. I am absolutely terrified and its not even my beer. :runs out to buy starsan by the barrel: