CLEANING, STERILISING, SANITISING?

[trucker5774]

Which one(s) are we doing? I regularly see people "correcting" others on their phrasing when they say sterilise and are told ......you mean sanitise. Where are the lines drawn? Does anyone actually sterilise.............what's this section of the forum called?

[Jim]

Cleaning: we should all do that to anything that contacts the beer. It just removes the muck.

Sanitising: That's what we do when we use bleach, Chempro, Starsan, Peracetic etc. This kills some of the bacteria and wild yeast on the equipment and supresses the growth of the rest, and it's all you really need for normal brewing.

Sterilisation: Very rare; an example is baking a container in the oven for half an hour (or whatever it is) to completely (to all intents and purposes) kill all bacteria on it. This is only needed for specialist purposes such as culturing yeast.

At least that's how I understand it....

[boingy]

In the old days, most brewers and wine makers called it sterilisation but in "modern speak" it was actually sanitisation. Milton tablets are still described by the manufacturer as sterilising tablets.

I don't think it really matters what you call it as long as you do it. As Jim says, yeast culture and stuff needs more stringent treatment than normal brewing.

[trucker5774]

Jim, as you say, that's pretty much how I understand it. Ive seen this popping up fairly regularly and together with the differences between brewers and wine makers. Although this "sport" of ours is pretty straight forward, there are loads of issues for newcomers to get their heads around.................hopefully one less now

[Wolfy]

Which one(s) are we doing? I regularly see people "correcting" others on their phrasing when they say sterilise and are told ......you mean sanitise. Where are the lines drawn? Does anyone actually sterilise.............what's this section of the forum called?

I sterilize my agar-slants and small sized starters in a pressure cooker, everything else is sanitized with bleach and/or StarSan.

Cleaning: we should all do that to anything that contacts the beer. It just removes the muck.

Sanitising: That's what we do when we use bleach, Chempro, Starsan, Peracetic etc. This kills some of the bacteria and wild yeast on the equipment and supresses the growth of the rest, and it's all you really need for normal brewing.

Sterilisation: Very rare; an example is baking a container in the oven for half an hour (or whatever it is) to completely (to all intents and purposes) kill all bacteria on it. This is only needed for specialist purposes such as culturing yeast.

At least that's how I understand it....

That's my understanding too, however I do blame the name of this forum: "Board index ‹ Gear ‹ Cleaning and Sterilisation" for much of the confusion.
I suspect many (new) people just go by what they see there and hence say 'serialisation' when they really mean 'sanitation'.

[Jim]

...... however I do blame the name of this forum: "Board index ‹ Gear ‹ Cleaning and Sterilisation" for much of the confusion.
I suspect many (new) people just go by what they see there and hence say 'serialisation' when they really mean 'sanitation'.

You know, you're absolutuley right!

EDIT: Have a look at the name of the forum now!

[trucker5774]

...... however I do blame the name of this forum: "Board index ‹ Gear ‹ Cleaning and Sterilisation" for much of the confusion.
I suspect many (new) people just go by what they see there and hence say 'serialisation' when they really mean 'sanitation'.

You know, you're absolutuley right!

EDIT: Have a look at the name of the forum now!

Well done , Jim ...............I guess Wolfy wasn't as subtle as my original post

[Wolfy]

EDIT: Have a look at the name of the forum now!

Thankyou.

Well done , Jim ...............I guess Wolfy wasn't as subtle as my original post

LOL.
It still took you to bring the topic up, it had been bugging me for a while, but I never had the chance to be unsubtle before.

[trucker5774]

Power to the people!!!

[sparky Paul]

EDIT: Have a look at the name of the forum now!

Shouldn't it be sanitisation?


I think sanitation means something slightly different...

[trucker5774]

EDIT: Have a look at the name of the forum now!

Shouldn't it be sanitisation?


I think sanitation means something slightly different...

I must admit, I thought of toilets! I believe either is acceptable

[sparky Paul]

I must admit, I thought of toilets! I believe either is acceptable

I think you may find the definitions are different.

Sanitation is the act dealing with human waste, or the application of sanitary measures to protect public health.

[trucker5774]

I must admit, I thought of toilets! I believe either is acceptable

I think you may find the definitions are different.

Sanitation is the act dealing with human waste, or the application of sanitary measures to protect public health.

I just looked at the first one which came up http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sanitation

[sparky Paul]

I thought the words meant different things, but maybe you're right...

...what do I know.

I just thought I'd stumbled across a plumbing forum...

[trucker5774]

I thought the words meant different things, but maybe you're right...

...what do I know.

Don't you mean "watt" do you know