Going to try using dry oak chips in my secondary fermenter. How do you recommend sanitizing the chips before adding them?

Something crazy happened. Out of my last 8 batches of mead and beer 6 came out infected. I am cleaning my equipment with PBW and sanitizing with Starsan. I make my batches in the kitchen (both beer and meads). Using clean tools, always keep at most 3-4 days old bucket with starsan solution, and yet, get every 3 out of 4 batches infected. Does it mean that I got some nasty air bacteria in the air that lands into a …

I am trying to understand the nature of contamination in beer. I find it difficult to imagine (considering there are wild yeasts and moulds and micro-organisms in the air - aren't there?) a scenario where a beer is 100% free of contamination, or is this normally the case with a properly brewed batch? Or is it a case that when contamination is lower than some threshold we don't notice it and that beer is considered to not be contaminated? I …

So, apparently if you let tap water sit for a few days the chlorine will evaporate off but how can one safely expose the water to the the air without risk of contamination from airborne particles?

My two last batches got a sour/white wine taste to them (prior to bottling). The first one was a Hefeweizen fermented in my bucket. The taste was present from day 4 up to bottling a month later. In my memory, there was no film on the beer in the fermenter. The second one was a Brett Saison (WL Farmhouse Blend) fermented in my glass carboy. I tasted it yesterday after 3 weeks of fermentation and it had the same taste. …

Everyone learns during their first brewing experience that you have to carefully sanitize anything that touches your wort after the boil to avoid infection. What happens when wort gets contaminated? How do you identify a contamination, and what can be done about it? Can you discover it before you bottle? Does contamination mean losing the batch, or can you recover from it? If you can recover, how is the flavour of the beer affected? Is contamination a strong possibility if …

To preface, I have zero experience with homebrewing. I mainly am interested in these recipes specifically because they seem super simple and don't require any specialty equipment. I enjoy watching youtube channels such as Tasting History or Townsends, where they explore recipes from history. Occasionally they will do an episode on meads or ginger beers or other various alcoholic beverages in history. Example 1 Example 2 For obvious reasons, these recipes often have a distinct lack of sanitation. Or it …

I have this 15 Gallon stainless steel carboy, and cleaning it is always an adventure before I start my next fermentation. As luck would have it, removing the to rack means my carboy fits EXACTLY in my dishwasher. Can I just run the dishwasher with the heat sanitize cycle and some starsan pbw in the soap tray (To clean before sanitizing)? EDIT: After one of my responses (Be Careful with chlorine) I have a whole house filter, so I should …

I made a DIY CO2 system for my fish tank. I use fermentation for the CO2. 2 and a half weeks ago I filled a 2ltr soda bottle with water, 2 cups of demerara sugar and a tsp of bakers yeast. This wasnt intended for drinking (no sanitisation first etc) just for producing co2 as cheaply as possible. I came to change my mixture today and rather than just throw away whatever it is i'd fermented I thought i'd try …

tl;dr; I sanitized my mash pot, fermenter, and everything with water. Is it ruined? I'm two days into fermentation of a high gravity imperial stout, and the yeast is burping nicely. Due to a mix up between my wife and I, I just discovered that the star san spray bottle I used to sanitize everything was actually just water. Certainly this is not ideal, but is it dangerous? Should I let my brew ferment and see how it tastes, or …

I'm considering getting one of those "Therminator" style wort chillers as an upgrade to the coil. I plan on gravity feeding the wort through and pumping back into the kettle until my wort is nice and lukewarm. The specs seem impressive, but it also looks like this thing would be hell to clean, and a bit annoying to sanitize, and I can't help but think bits and pieces of hops would easily clog this thing. Am I being paranoid?

I had multiple successful wine brewing experiences without sanitizing the bucket with potassium metabisulfite. Is it really necessary? How often should I sanitize the bucket? I know potassium metabisulfite powder should not be breathe-in, and it is irritant to lungs and mucous membranes, so is it safe for human consumption? what will happen if the bucket is not fully dried? Thank you very much!

I have a jar of Sodium Metabisulfite which has been opened and used from. A volume of about 4 oz. is left and looks to be in good shape. I would want to use it to sanitize some equipment. Should I expect it to be effective after purchasing it after 10 years?

I'm new to brewing beer and want to keep a close eye on SG, but I'm mindful of the potential cost when taking several hydrometer readings. Assuming all my equipment is sterilised, is it OK to return the sample back to the fermenter, or should I err on the side of caution and discard it each time? For sake of completeness: my sterilisation process consists of soaking the cleaned equipment (hydrometer, wine thief, sample tube, etc) in warm water with …

tl;dr Do you know where to buy, food contact PAA in packaging ≤5kg and concentration ≤5% ? I was going to buy Peroxyacetic Acid that already have long history of use has been approved by EU, but it is next to unavailable in UK's professional online shops. Not many shop sells PAA that supposed to be used for food contact surfaces. But finding one smaller than 25kg is impossible! I would need only 500g or ml, considering the dilution., but …

I'm looking for a line cleaning socket for a Cornelius keg fitting. I've worked in the pub trade (UK) for more years than I care to remember so know how bars are set up and I am familiar with line cleaning etc. When I have performed line cleaning, there has always been a socket on the wall that I have connected the keg coupler too. does anyone know where I can find a wall socked for a Cornelius keg, ball …

I've always soaked my bottle caps in sanitizer before using, but a friend of mine suggested boiling (throw in the same pot with priming sugar) instead because the cooties can theoretically hide from the sanitizer solution but not from the heat. This makes intuitive sense, although one could debate whether the extra effectiveness has any practical measure. My question is what the downsides are (if any) of boiling the caps. Could a slight metallic taste be imparted? Weaker seal? Something …

I've recently tried extract brewing after all grain brewing. Strange I know, but I wanted to eliminate the mash part of the process to see if it help get rid of a off flavour (it did but that will be another question). I did a small batch so I boiled the whole batch, but I see in most recipes they tell you to do a small amount then add cold water before fermenting. This baffles me. Everything I read about …

Many batches ago I abandoned the sanitizing solutions sold (at ridiculous markups) from standard homebrew stores in favor of OxiClean Free. My logic at the time (being out of sanitizer, and at a grocery store) was that the active ingredient in OxiClean was sodium percarbonate, and the active ingredient in One Step was also sodium percarbonate. I haven't had a skunked batch yet, but inductive reasoning doesn't always lead you to the truth - so what is the general consensus …

As the coronavirus keeps spreading, I was wondering if we can use the sanitizers that we use in brewing for personal hygiene? I'm having difficulties finding sanitizers as everything is sold out here. Have any of you tested this?