Ok, I like this blogger a lot…but I am not sure if I can fully trust what he is saying here! At least not yet…
These are two questions I have after reading this, and I’m trying to find science behind dispelling the ‘way I have always done it’ (a folly of many-a-homebrewer).
1.) Anyone used for cleaning and sanitizing? The latter step, I do like Beer Simple’s explanation: we are dealing in probabilities here in brewing, and in all probability, nothing that we don’t want to survive CAN survive in a bath of OneStep.
2.) Anyone else trust it to ‘magically’ clean surfaces without mechanical cleaning (scrubbing)?
I do have to say, I believe in Oxyclean quite a bit. That stuff will dissolve just about anything that has collected on a surface.
I used One Step many years ago. I found it to be kinda “jack of all trades, master of none”. I didn’t feel the cleaning or sanitizing was up to dedicated products. I use Craftmeister oxygen and alkaline wash for cleaning, and Star San and BTF Iodophor for sanitizing these days. FWIW, the Craftmeister oxygen cleans better and dissolves and rinses more easily than Oxiclean.
I’ve been using OneStep exclusively for 10 years. Never had an infection, and it works pretty well during clean up. I also use it with a vinator (pump sprayer) to sanitize bottles.
That being said, my long-shelved beers do start to decay faster than I’d like, which may have to do with cleanliness, but I’m not sure on that. They don’t taste spoiled, just not fresh.
I like using OneStep for cleaning carboys, because of it’s non-rinse nature. It’s a milder cleaner than PBW or OxiClean, but in my experience has generally worked well. Depending on the application, I may use OneStep (mildest, but no-rinse), OxiClean (cheapest and more powerful) or PBW (most powerful).
Whatever cleaner I use, I always sanitize with StarSan.
For me he lost credibility when he said there is no place for bleach in brewing. Bacteria can create a biofilm inpenetrable by cleaners, thus causing more infected batches. Bleach will take care of the biofilm and infection! I would still rinse and sanitize but there is a place for it.
Remember folks, anyone can start a blog and it doesn’t necessarily mean they know the entire score of the game.
I once found a dead mouse in a carboy that hadn’t been used in a few years. It had been in there for quite a long time, as all that was left was a pile of fur and bones. Bleach took care of it!
I have to confess that I’m super impatient. Even when cleaning. Cleaning a carboy is torture for me. I’ve never been able to soak in PBW longer than ten minutes before pulling out the brush. If something really did work in “minutes” I’d be all over it.
Sorry to hear it! But I’ve never made any claims to advanced scientific knowledge (and, in fact, I actively encourage those who DO have that info to correct me!).
All I can say is that in almost a decade of brewing and a few hundred batches using nothing but OneStep (in one step), I’ve never had a fault that I could connect to contamination. And I also have the data to show that I’m not seeing flavor stability issues, either: competition scores on my beer don’t drop significantly until we get past 13 months!
Again, I’m not saying I’m “right,” I’m just saying that it might be worth considering. For everyone who tells me that it can’t possibly do the job, I get lots of people who tell me they’ve had the same experience I have.
Believe me, I don’t take much personally! I just like to make sure everyone knows that I’m not putting it out there like I’m some kind of authority - just a guy sharing (what I think are pretty reasonable and well-supported and demonstrably successful) ideas about brewing : )
