What is the best way to sterilize things like dry hops, spices or fruit before putting them in the fermenter? Some stuff you can obviously boil. But boiling hops, say, would defeat the purpose of dry-hopping it seems. Yet adding straight dry hops to the fermenter seems like a good way to get contamination.
So, I'm pretty concerned about infections, seeing as my very first try ended in sauerkraut-smelling disappointment. I've got a gallon of quite sweet kiwi wine at about 16.5% ABV. The fermentation is now stopped by cold crashing followed by dose of Campden and potassium sorbate. However, the wine refuses to clear, so I was hoping to help it with some fining agents. Normally I assumed that I should add Campden tablets anytime I open the carboy to prevent infections. However, …
I'm very new to all this, but is my intent to brew an oaked apple maple acerglyn by slightly altering this recipe. My plan is to brew about five gallons--as per the recipe--but utilize an appropriate amount of campden tablets to preemptively sterilize the must 24 hours before pitching the yeast. However, this recipe calls for adding a quarter gallon of maple syrup before and ten days after pitching. What steps can I take to make sure that the second …
I am using Iodophor as my no rise sterilizer. Is this a safe sterilizer and because it doesn’t breakdown like other no rinse sterilizer won’t it affect the flavor profile of the beer?
Suppose I did not adequately rinse the sodium percarbonate solution from my fermenter/bottles. Could this a) make somebody ill or b) affect the flavour of the beer? When I left sodium percarbonate solution in my demijohn to soak for 20 minutes, a residue was left at the bottom (sodium carbonate?) which did not rinse out with water. In the end I resorted to white vinegar to get rid of it. a) Does his sediment pose any threat to health/flavour and …
For example has anyone done an experiment where they either didn't wash/sterilise any equipment including the fermenter, spoon, jugs, other etc or at most they just rinsed out the equipment with water. If so what were the results, did you get an infection, did you culture botulism, did it turn to vinegar or did it just have off flavours OR did it turn out fine. Cleaning stuff for brewing is a real pain and I do wonder how thorough you …
I have some old tablets what say Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate and 'Sterilising Tablets' on them and am wondering if these when diluted will be suitable to clean vessel/equipment before brewing?
Do I need to totally fill the bucket with sterilising solution before siphoning into it, or is a couple of pints and a swish around going to be ok? Thanks!
More of an open-ended question really, I've been using Vin Classe Sterilising powder and find it hard to tell if my 25 litre fermenters are properly sterile, I've had a few issues with wine going off quickly once bottled but this may be the glass rather than the fermenter at fault? I've just been using empty wine bottles to store a few bottles at a time and within 24 hours sometimes I've found the wine tastes a little off, would …
I've got 50 bottles to sterilize tonight but unfortunately have an extraordinarily small sink which can only fit 4 bottles at a time. The sterilizer I have (bruclens cleaner) requires everything to be soaked for 10 minutes so I was wondering... If I just made the sterilizer came in to contact with all of the bottle could I just leave it for 10 minutes before rinsing? This is similar to what the instructions say for cleaning the fermentation bucket. Is …
I have a Oatmeal Stout recipe that calls for 4 tsp/ 1 gram of Irish moss powder. The LHBS had Irish moss, but I wouldn't call it a powder. They're small flat pieces maybe the size of half a grain of rice. Should I pulverize it in a morter and pestle? I would assume this would make it more efficient. Or just measure out a 1 gram and not worry. If I use my (near impossible to sterilize) morter and …
I believe this is perhaps only one question, but there are a few different situations, namely to make a water/DME mixture for a starter, how long? to prime with a sugar water mixture, how long? to prime with gyle (4-6 week old wort from the boil), how long? I ask because I had been boiling for only a short period, a couple of minutes. I came across an EPA recommendation for 1 minute, or 3 minutes for high altitude (I …
The tap water where I live is filled with chlorine, flouride, some pretty bad elements such as arsenic, chromium, barium, etc. So I would like to purify my water with either reverse osmosis or distillation. This will remove all contaminates, but also any minerals the water had as well. I have been told that beer needs minerals, the lady at the brew store wasn't exactly clear as to why or what minerals. Several articles I have read, talk about adding …