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Date: 17 Jun 2006 05:43:42
From: eric moore
Subject: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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I was at the local liquor store buying a bottle of the cheapest vodka
available (i use vodka in my airlocks) when i told the cashier this, he
asked why i didnt just buy everclear and cut it with distilled water. I
didnt really have an answer for him, but it got me thinking about the
possibilty of keeping some full strength everclear (190 Proof grain alcohol)
in a spray bottle for use as an emergency (i cant wait two minutes)
sanitzer. Would this work? and if so what would the contact time need to be?
Thank you for any input you can provide on this matter.
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Date: 17 Jun 2006 07:20:10
From: Wayne
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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eric moore wrote:
> I was at the local liquor store buying a bottle of the cheapest vodka
> available (i use vodka in my airlocks) when i told the cashier this, he
> asked why i didnt just buy everclear and cut it with distilled water. I
> didnt really have an answer for him, but it got me thinking about the
> possibilty of keeping some full strength everclear (190 Proof grain alcohol)
> in a spray bottle for use as an emergency (i cant wait two minutes)
> sanitzer. Would this work? and if so what would the contact time need to be?
> Thank you for any input you can provide on this matter.
>
>
The problem with this is that alcohol (or vodka) is not a sanitizer. It
does a poor job of killing bacteria. People get away with using it to
wipe down things because most bacteria will not grow in alcohol. Once
the alcohol evaporates or gets diluted enough, the bacteria can resume
growth. The stuff will work in airlocks because a volume of it can sit
for days and weeks without anything growing in it. Spraying it on
doesn't work because it all evaporates.
You are much better off with a spray bottle of StarSan for quick spot
sanitizing. Contact time is only about 30 seconds. For legal reasons,
5 Star has to list a contact time of 2 minutes, but the actual time
required is much less.
Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 14:00:44
From: Joel
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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Wayne <bugeaterbrewing@charter.net > wrote:
>eric moore wrote:
>> I was at the local liquor store buying a bottle of the cheapest vodka
>> available (i use vodka in my airlocks) when i told the cashier this, he
>> asked why i didnt just buy everclear and cut it with distilled water. I
>> didnt really have an answer for him, but it got me thinking about the
>> possibilty of keeping some full strength everclear (190 Proof grain alcohol)
>> in a spray bottle for use as an emergency (i cant wait two minutes)
>> sanitzer. Would this work? and if so what would the contact time need to be?
>> Thank you for any input you can provide on this matter.
>>
>The problem with this is that alcohol (or vodka) is not a sanitizer. It
>does a poor job of killing bacteria. People get away with using it to
>wipe down things because most bacteria will not grow in alcohol. Once
>the alcohol evaporates or gets diluted enough, the bacteria can resume
>growth. The stuff will work in airlocks because a volume of it can sit
>for days and weeks without anything growing in it. Spraying it on
>doesn't work because it all evaporates.
That's not strictly true. A 70% solution of ethyl alcohol is
a decent sanitizer, according to a food science professor I know.
I've also seen spray bottles of it used at commercial breweries
for spraying on various connectors, etc. While it doesn't kill
viruses and bacterial spores, it will kill anything that would be
worrisome to brewers. Plus, it's comletely food-safe.
That said, there are down sides. E.g., it's flammable, it
can take 5-10 minutes to kill everything of concern, etc.
As an aside, medical professionals use alcohol (isopropyl,
which admittedly is a bit more effective than ethyl) to sanitize
in applications that are quite a bit more critical than brewing.
--
Joel Plutchak
I'm looking California, but feeling Minnesota.
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Date: 17 Jun 2006 22:00:03
From: Warren Place
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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On Sat, 17 Jun 2006, eric moore wrote:
> I was at the local liquor store buying a bottle of the cheapest vodka
> available (i use vodka in my airlocks) when i told the cashier this, he
> asked why i didnt just buy everclear and cut it with distilled water. I
> didnt really have an answer for him, but it got me thinking about the
> possibilty of keeping some full strength everclear (190 Proof grain alcohol)
> in a spray bottle for use as an emergency (i cant wait two minutes)
> sanitzer. Would this work? and if so what would the contact time need to be?
> Thank you for any input you can provide on this matter.
Everclear would need to be diluted to about 70% ehtanol to be an effective
germicide. The contact time is about what you need for starsan. I prefer
starsan as ethanol tends to remove the sharpie marks I use to label kegs
and carboys.
Warren Place
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 09:48:14
From: bregent
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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In article <iEMkg.6959$lp.6305@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net >, eric moore
says...
>>i use vodka in my airlocks
I'm just curious why people do this. What benefit do you think it has over plain
tap water?
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 19:14:07
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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On 19 Jun 2006 09:48:14 -0700, <regent@dontspamme.newsguy.com > wrote:
> In article <iEMkg.6959$lp.6305@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>, eric moore
> says...
>>>i use vodka in my airlocks
>
> I'm just curious why people do this. What benefit do you think it has over plain
> tap water?
If it makes you feel better, I never really understood this either.
John.
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 17:28:59
From: Dick Adams
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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bregent <regent@dontspamme.newsguy.com > wrote:
> eric moore says...
>>> i use vodka in my airlocks
> I'm just curious why people do this. What benefit do you think
> it has over plain tap water?
Due to overflows, I now use blowoff tubes most of the time.
Previously I used rotgut vodka ($5/liter) in the airlock. I
read somewhere that this was a good idea for brewers using
spring water. When I stopped using spring water because I
couldn't tell the difference between it and tap water, I
started filling my air locks with very thin Iodophor.
Dick
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 19:14:50
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 17:28:59 -0000, <rdadams@smart.net > wrote:
> bregent <regent@dontspamme.newsguy.com> wrote:
>> eric moore says...
>
>>>> i use vodka in my airlocks
>
>> I'm just curious why people do this. What benefit do you think
>> it has over plain tap water?
>
> Due to overflows, I now use blowoff tubes most of the time.
> Previously I used rotgut vodka ($5/liter) in the airlock. I
> read somewhere that this was a good idea for brewers using
> spring water. When I stopped using spring water because I
> couldn't tell the difference between it and tap water, I
> started filling my air locks with very thin Iodophor.
I just fill mine with plain tap water.
John.
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Date: 20 Jun 2006 05:06:59
From: eric moore
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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My Reasoning was that it just had a little less hospitable environment with
the vodka than with tap water, sounds like star san or thin iodaphor
will do just as good a job, Thanks to the group for the info.
Cheers
Eric Moore
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Date: 27 Jun 2006 09:27:47
From: Denny Conn
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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bregent wrote:
> I'm just curious why people do this. What benefit do you think it has over plain
> tap water?
Yeah, I think the only people who are really into this are the ones who
haven't tried just doing it the easy way.....
---------- >Denny
--
Life begins at 60...1.060, that is.
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Date: 27 Jun 2006 12:12:12
From: Thomas T. Veldhouse
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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bregent <regent@dontspamme.newsguy.com > wrote:
> In article <iEMkg.6959$lp.6305@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>, eric moore
> says...
>>>i use vodka in my airlocks
>
> I'm just curious why people do this. What benefit do you think it has over plain
> tap water?
>
Temperature changes could cause air to flow in through the airlock and could
cause some of the airlock contents to end up in the beer. Having said that,
it is easily avoided by not over-filling the airlock in the first place.
--
Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 15:04:56
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 05:43:42 GMT, <skunkmilk@earthlink.net > wrote:
> I was at the local liquor store buying a bottle of the cheapest vodka
> available (i use vodka in my airlocks) when i told the cashier this, he
> asked why i didnt just buy everclear and cut it with distilled water. I
> didnt really have an answer for him, but it got me thinking about the
> possibilty of keeping some full strength everclear (190 Proof grain alcohol)
> in a spray bottle for use as an emergency (i cant wait two minutes)
> sanitzer. Would this work? and if so what would the contact time need to be?
> Thank you for any input you can provide on this matter.
This has come up before. If my memory is right, the contact time is
a lot longer than you would guess, something like 30 minutes. Alcohol
can be used as a sanitizer, but not the way most people think. IMO,
something like iodophor would be better.
John.
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 11:45:56
From: Scott L
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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bregent wrote:
> In article <iEMkg.6959$lp.6305@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>, eric moore
> says...
> >>i use vodka in my airlocks
>
> I'm just curious why people do this. What benefit do you think it has over plain
> tap water?
If the fermentation blows up into the airlock (and you don't fix it),
the airlock is now full of wort which will start growing funky things.
If the airlock is full of vodka or something similar, the chances of
turning your airlock into a biological experiment are much lower.
Unless the fermentation is so vigorous that it blows EVERYTHING out of
the airlock, which is definitely a possibility...
Scott
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 13:52:18
From: bregent
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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In article <1150742756.714438.304980@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com >, Scott L
says...
>
>bregent wrote:
>> In article <iEMkg.6959$lp.6305@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>, eric moore
>> says...
>> >>i use vodka in my airlocks
>>
>>I'm just curious why people do this. What benefit do you think it has over plain
>> tap water?
>
>If the fermentation blows up into the airlock (and you don't fix it),
>the airlock is now full of wort which will start growing funky things.
>If the airlock is full of vodka or something similar, the chances of
>turning your airlock into a biological experiment are much lower.
>
>Unless the fermentation is so vigorous that it blows EVERYTHING out of
>the airlock, which is definitely a possibility...
I'd bet that by the time krausen reaches the airlock, you'd of already had
enough CO2 blown through the airlock that all of the alcohol would have
evaporated.
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Date: 19 Jun 2006 19:16:54
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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On 19 Jun 2006 11:45:56 -0700, <scott-sp02@neuralnw.com > wrote:
> If the fermentation blows up into the airlock (and you don't fix it),
> the airlock is now full of wort which will start growing funky things.
> If the airlock is full of vodka or something similar, the chances of
> turning your airlock into a biological experiment are much lower.
>
> Unless the fermentation is so vigorous that it blows EVERYTHING out of
> the airlock, which is definitely a possibility...
It seems like the chances of it blowing off just enough to get foam into
the airlock but not enough to blow the liquid out of the airlock is pretty
slim. The airlock only holds an ounce or two. You'd have to blowoff
*exactly* that much, which sounds unlikely.
John.
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Date: 27 Jun 2006 12:08:54
From: Thomas T. Veldhouse
Subject: Re: Can EverClear Be used as a sanitizer??
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eric moore <skunkmilk@earthlink.net > wrote:
> I was at the local liquor store buying a bottle of the cheapest vodka
> available (i use vodka in my airlocks) when i told the cashier this, he
> asked why i didnt just buy everclear and cut it with distilled water. I
> didnt really have an answer for him, but it got me thinking about the
> possibilty of keeping some full strength everclear (190 Proof grain alcohol)
> in a spray bottle for use as an emergency (i cant wait two minutes)
> sanitzer. Would this work? and if so what would the contact time need to be?
> Thank you for any input you can provide on this matter.
>
Personally, I don't think that it would be very effective. 190 proof Vodka is
95% ethanol, which is very volatile and will evaporate in a few seconds. The
cost of vodka is more expensive than using a diluted solution of Starsan or
Idophor, so I would just stick to the more traditional and proven effective
sanitizers.
--
Thomas T. Veldhouse
Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
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