Do Cleaners/Sanitizers Create Off Flavors?

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Oxyclean, the unsented unchlorinated "GREEN" lid is the way to go. I have been using it since it first came out. Rinses easily and is very economical, the best cleaner I have used and I have use all the so called speciality cleaners, Oxyclean beats them hands down. K-Met solution to sanitize, cannot go wrong.

Clark
 
Foam or the film left behind, regardless of whether someone thinks they are icky or not, do not have negative consequences impacting taste.

Again, I doubt rinsing would ever cause an issue, but I fail to see the point. Why purposefully reduce the effectiveness of a vital component of the process? Can people explain why they do it?


First off, with all due respect, I said I thought it smelled "nasty" not "icky". Big difference. I do not use the adjective "icky" for the same reason you decided to add it in there. And Unless StarSan is sending you checks, why do you go to bat for them so hard? But your not the only one. I know many people who swear by it and won't ever use anything else. Different strokes.

I think most people who rinse a "no-rinse" cleaner anyway (I do on occasion) just do it out of habit. The 1st product I bought was PBW, coating everything in a slippery slimy film, which had to be rinsed. That with A lifetime of washing dishes with dish detergent is what inclines me to rinse. One time eating Scrambled eggs that tasted like dish soap was enough for me to overly rinse dishes 100% of the time now. So Leaving residual cleaning product in a bottle can be a tough thing to accept. Regardless of the directions, it's something I would compare to like an OCD tick. To be clear I'm referring to cleaners, not sanitizers.
 
You're obviously a moron if you rinse out your carboy using the same water you're going to be adding to your wine..

There are all sorts of products in every store that are certified by the FDA for consumption that I do not plan on drinking.
 
For the third time, I don't think it would cause a problem. I just think it is a waste of time at best and a way to introduce something unwanted, no matter how unlikely.
 
I already responded to the part about it smelling funny and acknowledged that it might be off putting to some. I shared my initial thoughts on its look.
 
I'm sorry about that. My tone must have come across wrong. I should added an "lol" or something.
Just trying speculate why some people might decide to rinse in spite of jeopardizing the cleaners effects. I don't disagree with anything you said at all.
 
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First off, I rarely find cleaners to be required...but I clean my buckets and carboys RIGHT NOW...stuff just washes off easily in plain hot water. Then I sanitize using StarSan and use or store away.

I don't rinse the StarSan and just ignore the foam. I have suffered no ill effects, taste wise or contaminations.
 
I wash my carboys out with hot water really good, i have a b-brite solution in a spray bottle i coat the inside of the carboy, leave it for 30min, rinse out with hot water and leave upside down in the sink till its dry, if im not using ot right away i put a bung in it after a few days of drying. When i go to use it i do the same proccess with the b-brite again, rinse with hot water. Then proceed to making my wine. I do the same proccess with my wine bottles exept i use a vinator and after ive cleaned with b-brite and rinsed with hot water i make a kmeta/citric acid solution i spray in with the vinator and then let dry on the wine tree. I do not rinse out the kmeta from the wine bottles as its a preservative as well as a sanitizer, and i dont recall ever having any off flavours due to this process.
 
Even though "tap water" is safe to drink that doesn't mean that it is 100% pure. (It's not distilled water and it runs through pipes which are how clean?) nor does it mean that it doesn't have substances that may adversely affect your wine or other food. Legal rules for tap water are actually pretty loose. That said even though there are rules, how long did that water problem in Flint, Michigan go on before it was discovered?

Bottom Line if you trust your 'no rinse sanitizer' and follow it's mixing and use instructions Why complicate matters by rinsing with tap water that may or may not really even conform to legal standards?

I've switched to StarSan for most of my bottle rinse and prep, that said I do have One Step and just mixed up a batch of it. I stopped using it because I found that it's shelf life after mixing is rather limited. ( Think I remember something like a week or two?) But since I will be doing several wine projects in the next week or so I decided to start using up my bag of 1 Step powder. BUT I also found out that Star San doesn't get along well with our local tap water (Starts out cloudy) so I have to use distilled water to mix Star San.

Go figure. BUT to answer your question, within it's stated limits I would not expect 1 Step to contribute any off tastes or smells. If you don't trust it, don't use it but also I would never rinse with tap water for my wine making equipment or containers.
 
Even though "tap water" is safe to drink that doesn't mean that it is 100% pure. (It's not distilled water and it runs through pipes which are how clean?) nor does it mean that it doesn't have substances that may adversely affect your wine or other food. Legal rules for tap water are actually pretty loose. That said even though there are rules, how long did that water problem in Flint, Michigan go on before it was discovered?

Bottom Line if you trust your 'no rinse sanitizer' and follow it's mixing and use instructions Why complicate matters by rinsing with tap water that may or may not really even conform to legal standards?

I've switched to StarSan for most of my bottle rinse and prep, that said I do have One Step and just mixed up a batch of it. I stopped using it because I found that it's shelf life after mixing is rather limited. ( Think I remember something like a week or two?) But since I will be doing several wine projects in the next week or so I decided to start using up my bag of 1 Step powder. BUT I also found out that Star San doesn't get along well with our local tap water (Starts out cloudy) so I have to use distilled water to mix Star San.

Go figure. BUT to answer your question, within it's stated limits I would not expect 1 Step to contribute any off tastes or smells. If you don't trust it, don't use it but also I would never rinse with tap water for my wine making equipment or containers.


Good point on the tap water. We have an upgraded reverse omosis water treatment plant where i live and the water is virtually pure. But recently at my kids school the had a lead water issue and now cannot drink and water from the school, the school water pipes were all soldered using lead solder.. Even if the water is pure when it leaves the treatment plant doesnt mean its pure by the time it hits your equipment, my house was built in 1981, so i guess that means my underground water pipes havent been cleaned in quite some time.

Having said that i still drink tap water everyday, but no way would i make wine out of it, i go buy spring water for the wine haha
 
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Smok1 - I would say that just because lead solder was used in connection copper pipes, that doesn't automatically mean water passing through those pipes is going to have a higher than acceptable lead content. If that were the case then millions upon millions of homes built before lead solder was outlawed for water pipes are needing to have all their pipes replaced from the street to the tap. AND just like Flint, who knows what was done in some urban areas. Even when laws prohibit something.... Do we believe that all pipe connections are tested for lead solder after the work is done?

It all comes down to trust and faith in people. Unfortunately experience with government oversight is not at an all-time high.
 
Smok1 - I would say that just because lead solder was used in connection copper pipes, that doesn't automatically mean water passing through those pipes is going to have a higher than acceptable lead content. If that were the case then millions upon millions of homes built before lead solder was outlawed for water pipes are needing to have all their pipes replaced from the street to the tap. AND just like Flint, who knows what was done in some urban areas. Even when laws prohibit something.... Do we believe that all pipe connections are tested for lead solder after the work is done?

It all comes down to trust and faith in people. Unfortunately experience with government oversight is not at an all-time high.

To be honest i didnt know about the Flint water crisis until just now when i googled it. My kids school was just recently tested for lead because they just got a new principal who happened to test the previous school he was at for lead and it was higher than acceptable levels, so he just started this year and of course the results came back higher than acceptable levels, thank god someone is looking out for the kids, unfotunatly my daughter is in her final year at the school and has been drinking the water ever since kindergarten. My son is the lucky one, hes only been drinking it for 5 years. Haha, but not a laughing matter.

My point was basically rinsing our sanitizers with water after(as i do im my carboys, but not in my wine bottles) is probly not advisable as we really dont know whats in the water, whether its lead or any type of bacteria.
 
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None of the sanitizers should leave any after taste to your wine and they should never be rinsed. Rinsing a sanitizer defeats the purpose of sanitizing.
 

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