There’s nothing quite like opening a new home brew recipe for the first time. I’ve been home brewing for four years now. I’ve gotten past the barely-drinkable stage and I’ve moved on to making some pretty good stouts thank-you-very-much. I was so proud of my latest batch that I named it Pout Stout and invited a few friends over to pop open the inaugural bottles.
But the beer gods don’t like hubris. And the beer was terrible. Undrinkable even. It was cloudy and tart but nobody got that far because it smelled like farts. I’d thrown a party for my first bacterial infestation. And now those jerks call me Fart Beer. I hate those guys. But I did learn a valuable lesson about decontaminating and now metabisulphite is my new best friend.
Sodium Metabisulphite
Sodium metabisulphite is a white, powdery substance that people have been using to kill bacteria for hundreds of years. It will disinfect anything but metal. Well, it will disinfect the metal and then proceed to eat away at it at an alarming rate so, you need to find another disinfectant if you have a fancy stainless steel set up. I’m still working with plastic and glass. You can pick up metabisulphite by the bottle at your local home brew supply. If you’re not lucky enough to have one of those around the corner, it’s easy enough to order online. Make sure you get the food grade powder and not the tablets.
Wash Your Equipment
I wash my equipment, I swear. Bacterial contamination can happen to anyone. I make a bucket of soapy water and scrub the bejesus out of all my equipment and bottles. I recommend keeping a rag, bottle brush and an old toothbrush on hand for the job. You really need to get into those nooks and crannies. And rinse, rinse, rinse. Metabisulphite is a disinfectant not a cleanser. If possible, wash everything right before you brew. Bacteria grows when it’s sitting around. Don’t use bleach. Bleach and metabisulphite react together to produce toxic gas.
Mix the Metabisulphite
Move outside to do this. Metabisulphite stinks like you wouldn’t believe. Put on a dust mask or tie a handkerchief over your nose while you work to spare yourself the brunt of the stink. Fish out a container large enough to at least partially submerge your largest bucket or carboy. Fill it at least halfway with water one gallon of room-temperature water at a time. Then add one-third cup of metabisulphite powder for every two gallons of water in the container. Stir it up with a clean spoon until all of the powder dissolves.
Dip
Set up a clean surface outside. Line it with newspaper or towels to soak up some of the water. Dip each piece and bottle into the solution. Swish it around to make sure you get it in the tubes and nooks and crannies and what not. Then rinse each piece outside with the hose. Be thorough and sniff a little to make sure you’ve rinsed away all of the disinfectant. If you leave any metabisulphite residue your beer will taste disgusting in a different way.
Now that your equipment and bottles are clean, you’re ready to brew something that your friends can actually drink.
