| Cleaners,
sanitizers and preservatives are
not the same thing. Cleaners may leave your equipment bright and
clean but not sanitary enough to use for home brewing. Some sanitizers
work as preservatives but some preservatives don't sanitize. As an
aside, there is a difference between sanitizing and sterilizing.
What most home brewers have to aim for is sanitation: keeping the population
of spoilage organisms as low as possible. Sterilization, on the other
hand, is tough to achieve. A good rule of thumb is this: if you can
keep your equipment looking, smelling, and feeling clean at all times you'll
have fewer problems keeping everything sanitized. Rinse out bottles
and carboys as soon as they are empty. Store beer equipment with
a little chlorine solution in it and wine making equipment with a little
sulfite solution. But don't mix the two solutions; dangerous gases
can be produced. If you get tired of scrubbing and sanitizing, just
remember 90% of all failures in home beer and wine making can be attributed
to lapses in sanitation. |
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