Heiwashin wrote:Well it is an interesting topic. I've always wondered how much difference there is in changing to large scale brews. How much cleaning effort has to go into the pre production too. Seems like one wrong bacteria in your thing could wreck the flavor. If I wasn't moving all the time I think I'd try my hand at it.
Well, yes, getting the wrong microbes in there can do some strange (and sometimes rather unappetizing) things. It's not rocket science though; there are just a few simple rules:
- Anything pre-boil isn't a cause for concern. You obviously don't want patches of mold on your equipment because you didn't clean it after the previous batch, but any incidental microbes that get into the wort up front will be killed when you boil it.
- Anything that touches the wort or beer post-boil needs to be clean and sanitary. This means no residue (because microbes can hide in it), and a dunk (or spray) with an iodine- or acid-based food safe sanitizer, per manufacturer's directions. Before handling equipment that will touch the wort/beer, sanitize your hands too.
- Use plenty of healthy brewers yeast. Since beer isn't made in a sterile lab environment, some incidental contamination post-boil is inevitable. You want your own yeast to out-compete anything else that happens to fall into the wort (e.g. on airborne dust), so that the dominant flavors are the (desirable) ones produced by the yeast you've chosen.
- I don't return hydrometer samples to the batch, I drink them to see what the wort/beer tastes at each stage of the process. Not only is this educational, it eliminates a possible source of contamination (the hydrometer and its test flask).
- The acidic pH, hops, and alcohol in fermented beer are all natural preservatives, and the environment thus created precludes botulism and other really nasty pathogens. If it makes it past your nose, it's safe to take a sip; if the first sip doesn't make you want to spit it out, it's safe to drink the rest of the glass. Worst case if you really messed something up is a headache and/or a mild laxative effect... and the majority of those won't make it past the smell/sip test.
- It takes some pretty major screwups to make undrinkable beer. Odds are in your favor that your first batch will turn out just fine.
Heiwashin wrote:If it's any practice I once created 'something' by mixing used cooking oil and water with some nutrient bits in a thick liquor bottle. For months I watched something form a thick living colony plane on the line between water and oil. I never opened it to find out if it made a new fangled edible drink though. I just assumed it made a variety of death and threw it away.
That just sounds incredibly nasty. Rancid oil and... "something"... alive.
Tell that joke at a random party if you want to see what everyone looks like with raised eyebrows.
