Sunday, February 9, 2014

Understanding What A Brewery Sanitizer Does

By Marcie Goodman


The brewing fraternity always subscribe to the notion that good brewing is seventy per cent cleaning. This implies that a beer batch is only as good as the cleaning agent. Therefore, after cleaning the brewing equipments the next important activity is sanitization. This is achieved by use of an agent called a brewery sanitizer. Most are chemical in nature and they do ensure that no foreign organism exists in the wort.

It is clear that sanitization requires much attention for the whole process to be successful. Any chance that other microorganism can dwell in the wort together with yeast should be eradicated. The wort solution is a good environment for bacteria to live and reproduce. They therefore end up spoiling the beer batch by giving it off flavors. Bacteria will not only be hidden in the fermentor but also in other brewing equipments like the funnel and siphon. Therefore, making it necessary to sanitize all items.

Several sanitizers exist for home brewers and manufactures. The most used by both types of brewers is Iodophor, which is a compound of iodized salt. The practice of using salt solution as a disinfectant has a long history in most cultures. By mixing a few ounces of iodophor with water, the resulting solution is a potent mix for bacteria and other microorganism. A salt solution interferes with cells metabolism and eventually causes death to an organism.

Iodophor adds up the list as a very effective disinfectant.Iodophor is iodine based and just a few grams of it mixed with five gallons of water can successfully sanitize equipments with a ten minute soak. The solution usually has a faint brown color that can be used as measure of its effectiveness. If this color fades then it indicates that iodine levels have dropped. It is important to use the correct amount of iodophor because using excess amounts will leads to unwanted beer flavoring.

Chlorine bleach is also a sanitizer that is commonly used by both sets of brewers. It is cheap and easily available therefore making it popular. Its results are also outstanding as most beer batches come out with a few hitches. However, it need not be the last decontaminator used as it is very corrosive. Other sterilizers have to be used after it in order to maintain the beer quality.

A high temperature in the form of moist heat is the best sanitizer in term of killing all microorganisms present. Moist heat is generated inside pressure cookers with no outlet to decompress its inside chambers. Since moist is easily dispersible like a gas, it reaches out to every part that bacteria could be hidden.

The most effective chemical disinfectant is hydrogen peroxide. It exterminates bacteria in ten minutes by changing their cell composition. In the case where chlorine bleach is used, it is used to rinse the surfaces in order to get rid of the destructive properties of chlorine.

The most experienced home brewers know what brewery sanitizer to pick. They also know how to interchange it severally depending on how often they use a certain equipment to produce batches. Therefore, a case of producing off taste beer is not a problem they encounter.




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