Nalgene bottles

[Guest]

Jamil, if one practices good homebrewing level sanitation, any additional pick up of unwanted bacteria or yeast will be so minor that it wouldn't be worth the cost (autoclave) or time (pressure cooker). Next thing you know you'll be pushing glove boxes and hepafilter hoods for yeast ranching, neither which are necessary for a home brewer. The level of difference we're talking about here doesn't mean as much as aerating your wort or building a yeast starter. So yes, if I was retired and wealthy, I might consider sterilization, but then I'd probably just buy a gamma radiation system. It's much faster.

And Oz, I said sanitizing is important, not just to use the jar after a normal washing. How much of your beer handling equipment do you sterilize versus sanitize?

[Danno]

Ack, I wasn't logged in. T'was my post.

[Ozbrewer]

i sterilize everything

[Dogger Dan]

Not to be knob but unfortunatly this is a very sore point with me, kind of like a pet peeve if you will,

Unless you are shoving everything in an autoclave you are sanitising not sterilizing

By definition, sterilized is the abscence of any critter, sanitising allows some of their exsistance but at such low levels that they can't get going

Dogger

[Ozbrewer]

so are you saying an auto clave is the only way to sterilize??????

[jamilz]

any additional pick up of unwanted bacteria or yeast will be so minor that it wouldn't be worth the cost (autoclave) or time (pressure cooker).

If you're going to drink the beer in a week, then I'm with you.

However, there is no such thing as minor contamination in my book. That minor contamination quickly becomes a major contamination in short order.

I also hear lots of brewers claiming they have no problem with contamination and most of the time they're quite mistaken.

[Danno]

So you're advocating that all home brewers sterilize all of their equipment? That'll get people interested in the hobby! I and 99% of the other homebrewers in the world survive with sanitization. I'll even bet that 99% of medal winners in competitions do not sterilize.

[jamilz]

No, that is not what I'm saying. I was asked how I handled it and I described my process. I think the general idea of a forum is to discuss different view points and there doesn't need to be a winner or a loser.

Now, you may think that my process is overboard and not what you need. That is fine, you should make beer your way. I'm sure it turns out fine.

And I'm not saying all brewers should do any one thing. That is just ridiculous. However, if someone should say something like, "oh it doesn't matter if you get a bit of contamination in your beer" and I think otherwise, I'm going to state my opinion. I think it is important to explain the processes, options, costs and risks involved in various brewing choices.

Then, with knowledge and thought, people can decide to do what they like. It doesn't have to be done any specific way, as long as they're happy with the result. If not, hopefully they'll try different techniques instead of just leaving the hobby.

I don't see where that approach is so horribly controversial or are you just trying to stir something up?