The early days of homebrewing were simple. Laundry bleach was your sanitizer, and it was usually your cleanser as well, although you could always use some B-Brite if you wanted to get fancy. We’ve come a long way since then. Bleach is still available, but there are lots of other options to sort through. Picking the right one depends a bit on exactly what you need to do and weighing the tradeoffs.
Let’s take a look at the choices. We’ll start with cleansers because you have to clean everything before the sanitizer can do its job.
Cleansers
Bleach
Bleach is easily available, but make sure you use the “unscented” kind because you don’t want any perfumes or other added scents. A strong solution (1/4 cup for 5 gallons [2 fl oz for 18.93 l]) is great for cleaning bottles and glass carboys, but I recommend wearing gloves and eye protection.
Pros: Cheap. Good at dissolving organic gunk such as dried up beer.
Cons: Requires a thorough rinse to remove. Can damage skin, clothes, and metal equipment such as kegs and copper wort chillers. Isn’t the best choice to use with plastic because the aroma and flavor can linger.
B-Brite/OxiClean/One Step
B-Brite, OxiClean, and One Step are all percarbonate-based cleansers, which means they release hydrogen peroxide to break down deposits on your equipment. There are some minor chemical differences between them, even though they all work about the same. Some people use these as sanitizers—hydrogen peroxide can be effective—but they are not sold as such.
Pros: Very effective at cleaning most surfaces, especially when it comes to loosening solidified deposits from bottles and carboys. Biodegradable.
Cons: Can irritate skin. Generally requires a rinse to remove calcium carbonate residue (although One Step doesn’t consider it necessary).
PBW
PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) is a heavy-duty, enhanced percarbonate cleanser. It does a great job cleaning everything from kegs and carboys to brew kettles and wort chillers.
Pros: Strong and very effective. Biodegradable.
Cons: It’s a little pricy and can irritate skin.
Sanitizers
Star San
Star San is an acid-based sanitizer that works well on all types of surfaces, and it’s odorless and flavorless. You can also store it to use again later, but it can be hard to tell whether it’s still active. It usually turns cloudy when it loses effectiveness, but hard water can make it cloudy from the beginning.
Pros: No rinse, very short contact time (30–60 seconds). Versatile use: you can fill containers with a solution of Star San and water, or use it as a surface sanitizer with a spray bottle. Biodegradable.
Cons: Pricy compared to bleach. One thing that puts some people off is that it foams excessively, but the foam is an effective sanitizer, too.
Iodophor and other Iodine-based compounds
A number of iodine based compounds are available, and several are sold under the name Iodophor. Read the label carefully because each brand requires different levels of dilution to reach an effective concentration. That said, they all work about the same. Like Star San, Iodophor works well on most types of surfaces.
Pros: No rinse. Requires a relatively short contact time (2 minutes), but not as short as Star San. Can be stored for later use; color indicates that it’s still active.
Cons: If the concentration is too high, it can leave a residue that adds a metallic flavor to your beer. Can stain clothes, skin, and equipment.
Bleach
We’ve covered the basics above. Sanitizing usually requires a lighter concentration—1 fl oz (30 ml) for 5 gallons (18.93 l). Charlie Talley (Five-Star Chemicals) recommends adding an ounce (30 ml) of vinegar after you’ve diluted the bleach to optimize the pH for the chlorine to work. This is theoretically no rinse, but I’m too cautious to depend on that.
Pros: Pros: Cheap. Good at dissolving organic gunk such as dried up beer. With vinegar, the required contact time is around a minute.
Cons: Requires a thorough rinse to remove. Can damage skin, clothes, and metal equipment such as kegs and copper wort chillers. Isn’t the best choice to use with plastic because the aroma and flavor can linger. Without a rinse, may add a risk of chlorophenol contamination in your beer.
Alcohol
Alcohol is not a cost effective way to sanitize large things, but it does work well for small things, such as making a tincture of spices or other ingredients to add to fermenting beer, as well as cleaning work surfaces.
Heat
You already use heat to sanitize every time you brew: the boil sanitizes the wort itself. Heat can also be effective for sanitizing bottles if you’re careful not to change the temperature too quickly, which could shatter the glass.
Personal Favorites
Everybody has his/her own favorites. I’ve tried each of these at one time or another, except for OxiClean and One Step, but I’ve settled on PBW as my cleanser of choice. It’s strong and works well on stubborn stains and caked-on gunk. For sanitizing, I like Star San the best. The combination of short contact time and versatility more than make up for the extra expense. It is incredibly convenient to have a spray bottle on hand to hit work surfaces and items you may have contaminated.
If you’re on a budget, bleach works pretty well for carboys and bottles, especially if you take Charlie Talley’s advice about adjusting the pH. But remember to factor the cost of gloves and the occasional new pair of jeans into the price equation. Also, if you do clean or sanitize kegs with bleach, don’t let them soak more than an hour at most to avoid corrosion and pinhole leaks.