The effect of hydrogen peroxide on yeast

I did search, but didn't get any proper answer. I have access to bleach and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and silver (Ag) ions (no star-san nor Iodophor).

I need to go with a no-rinse sanitizer. I've heard hydrogen peroxide can be a good choice. But the question is that the producer claims it can be effective up to several days, so if I dilute it in water and disinfect my carboy and stuff without rinsing, isn't it gonna ruin my yeast?

BTW, I can't wait for hours for the solution to break down completely.

Topic disinfecting sanitizer sanitation homebrew

Category Mac

1
answered at

Short answer:

Probably no problem. Chemical sanitizers will react with / be neutralized by all the organic material in the wort, leaving the yeast undamaged. But that doesn't necessarily mean you'll want the end result of that reaction in your beer.

tl;dr

Bleach is effective, and can work very quickly in a high concentrations*, but you'll want to rinse every bit of it away because chlorine-containing compounds can taste really bad.

Peroxides tend not to cause flavor problems because peroxides are naturally occurring compounds, but there are some other issues.

It seems that hydrogen peroxide without silver isn't very good against spores, so it would be similar to boiling (better or worse? IDK), unless you crank up the concentration*.

Hydrogen peroxide with silver seems to be more effective and used in the food industry, but rinsing is again recommended because you don't really want to ingest silver nitrate.

Peracetic acid is very popular, and effective at a safe & sane 0.2%, if you can get it.

If you can't get it, it will apparently form by mixing vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. I'm not sure if the reaction carries any risks, or what concentration you'll get. But I can say that if you throw a bottle cap in it, and the metal starts to dissolve in 10 minutes or so, you're in the ball park**.

*It will also attack metal/flesh and/or explode and/or give off hydrogen when used this way. **Don't do this without know some chemistry.

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