For the most part, I use plastic buckets. But I do also have a Spiedel plastic tanks(60L) for doing larger batches. Originally I would also do smaller batches in this as well, but I find the smaller buckets a little easier to deal with most of the time - especially in a swamp cooler.
[quote=“Beersk”][quote=“grainbelt”][quote=“bunderbunder”]I don’t know if it’s proof, per se, but the reason I’m willing to believe it is that Star San hasn’t been certified as being able to sanitize such surfaces. I assume the folks in the labs might have some reason for that.
I qualify it with “technically” because practically speaking I don’t believe any of that really means anything. Star San’s only certified to kill 99% of germs. I’m pretty sure it’d take one hell of a scratch to protect enough bugs that the Star San only kills 98% of germs. And I’m also pretty sure that if it were necessary to kill as many bugs as possible then we’d be using disinfectants instead of sanitizers.[/quote]
Bugs will hide in scratches easily and are tough to sanitize on plastic stuff.[/quote]
Many bugs are too big to fit into those little scratches. You seen any ladybugs or crickets crawling around in your buckets?[/quote]
yeah there called, pedio, lacto and brett
THEY’RE bacteria, not bugs. I was just joking in my earlier post. Sarcarsm is lost on the interwebs.
jesus…
jesus…[/quote]
You said it, mahn!
No offense, but I’m gonna need some proof of that to overcome my own experience.
jesus…[/quote]
You said it, mahn!
[/quote]
Ha! My mind went there too. Awesome.
No offense, but I’m gonna need some proof of that to overcome my own experience.[/quote]
Denny you don’t brew a lot of sours? And why would breweries go to great extent to have certain different equipment for sour vs clean.
I have crossed sours and clean stuff with success but have also have cross contamination to on some older equipment.
I’m a plastic separator too (see my first post in this thread). But supposedly some of the sour bugs in beer are particularly hard to kill, and you’re definitely hitting your equipment with them pretty hard when you bring it into direct contact with any sort of thick microbial soup such as beer.
The bit that I have a hard time believing is that my beer’s going to asploded because random bugs if I ferment it in plastic buckets that haven’t been treated like they’re made of fine bone china.
[quote=“bunderbunder”]I’m a plastic separator too (see my first post in this thread). But supposedly some of the sour bugs in beer are particularly hard to kill, and you’re definitely hitting your equipment with them pretty hard when you bring it into direct contact with any sort of thick microbial soup such as beer.
The bit that I have a hard time believing is that my beer’s going to asploded because random bugs if I ferment it in plastic buckets that haven’t been treated like they’re made of fine bone china.[/quote]
I agree thing like auto siphons that get hair line cracks almost instantly are hard to keep sanitized when brewing sours. The no plastic shit is annoying.
[quote=“grainbelt”][quote=“bunderbunder”]I’m a plastic separator too (see my first post in this thread). But supposedly some of the sour bugs in beer are particularly hard to kill, and you’re definitely hitting your equipment with them pretty hard when you bring it into direct contact with any sort of thick microbial soup such as beer.
The bit that I have a hard time believing is that my beer’s going to asploded because random bugs if I ferment it in plastic buckets that haven’t been treated like they’re made of fine bone china.[/quote]
I agree thing like auto siphons that get hair line cracks almost instantly are hard to keep sanitized when brewing sours. The no plastic #### is annoying.[/quote]
Have you had infections due to this? I’m in Denny’s camp on this one; hard for me to accept that the bacteria are resistant to Star San unless someone has first hand proof of it.
[quote=“rebuiltcellars”][quote=“grainbelt”][quote=“bunderbunder”]I’m a plastic separator too (see my first post in this thread). But supposedly some of the sour bugs in beer are particularly hard to kill, and you’re definitely hitting your equipment with them pretty hard when you bring it into direct contact with any sort of thick microbial soup such as beer.
The bit that I have a hard time believing is that my beer’s going to asploded because random bugs if I ferment it in plastic buckets that haven’t been treated like they’re made of fine bone china.[/quote]
I agree thing like auto siphons that get hair line cracks almost instantly are hard to keep sanitized when brewing sours. The no plastic #### is annoying.[/quote]
Have you had infections due to this? I’m in Denny’s camp on this one; hard for me to accept that the bacteria are resistant to Star San unless someone has first hand proof of it.[/quote]
Contamination when crossing “soft” sour equipment with clean equipment. I have crossed some newer sour equipment with clean beers with success, but that has went the other way with more used equipment (more scratches)
I have never had contamination on just brewing clean beers.
Starn San is not a sterilizer it is a sanitizer.
Denny you don’t brew a lot of sours? And why would breweries go to great extent to have certain different equipment for sour vs clean.
I have crossed sours and clean stuff with success but have also have cross contamination to on some older equipment.[/quote]
No not a lot, but when I have, I’ve found that Oxiclean (or PBW) + bleach + StarSan = no problems. Obviously, those are in sequence, not all at once!
Denny you don’t brew a lot of sours? And why would breweries go to great extent to have certain different equipment for sour vs clean.
I have crossed sours and clean stuff with success but have also have cross contamination to on some older equipment.[/quote]
No not a lot, but when I have, I’ve found that Oxiclean (or PBW) + bleach + StarSan = no problems. Obviously, those are in sequence, not all at once![/quote]
I’m to lazy for bleach. Like I said I have crossed stuff with success so I beleive it can be done, but those bugs can easily hide in plastic scratches with the standard pbw soak and star san.
Carboys/buckets are usually not the problem, it is the racking canes/tubing.
6.5 gallon carboy’s, and a 66 gallon plastic pickle barrel.
Also want to try it Corny kegs.
I had a dent in a fermenter that became infected and resisted sanitizing. I have no proof that the dent harbored the infection (where did I leave that electron microscope?) But after three infected batches, then apparent cross contamination through my bottling wand, I followed convention and threw out all my plastic. Of course, I bought more plastic, it’s hard to do without. But one lost batch costs about as a new ale pail, autosiphon and wand, so why risk it?
plastic bucket
I did my first batch a few weeks ago in the plastic bucket and never racked to a glass carboy as I have been doing since I started brewing. I’m drinking one right now (Northern English Brown Ale) it is awesome and is as good as the Elevenses Ale. As of now I’m retiring my glass carboys (at lease for most of my brews)
