Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: canning sterile water  (Read 2118 times)

Offline soymateofeo

  • Assistant Brewer
  • ***
  • Posts: 209
  • El Mas Chingon
canning sterile water
« on: July 16, 2018, 07:33:08 pm »
I have been all over the interweb looking for details on canning water. I would like to use it to stir up my yeast in my brewbucket and my conical.  also to rinse my yeast.  this is my plan. can somebody give me a yay or nay?  It might be overkill but maybe not.
1. clean my lids, rings and bottles with soap and hot water.rinse.
2. boil jars and rings submerged under water for 20 minutes in one pot to presterilize.
3. In a 2nd pot, boil my RO water.
4. pour boiling water over my lids.
5. Remove 1 jar and ring from boil and pour boiling RO water into the jar.
6. put a lid on the jar leaving 1 inch from the top.
7. put a ring on and tightem finger tight.
8. put the jar back in the boil for 20 mins
9. cool the jar overnight.
10. have magical sterile water to harvest and rinse yeast.

somebody said i can just put RO in the clean mason jar, put a lid on it and boil for 20 mins.  ?????

Offline Robert

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4214
Re: canning sterile water
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2018, 07:51:05 pm »
I've done something far simpler.  I'll just boil water, pour it right off the stove into clean, sanitized jars right up to the top, set the lids on and finger tighten the ring (wearing gloves!) and allow to cool.  This is not as perfect as canning, I suppose, but provides boiled, cooled water that has not been exposed to oxygen.  If it gives you any reassurance, I also sometimes do this with starter wort.  I have a number of jars of wort prepared this way many months ago and never used, and the lids are still sealed and concave, indicating that this method is adequate if not absolutely guaranteed.  It's up to you, but I submit that my method will give you water suitable for your purposes, with virtually no oxygen or microbes.  Your perfectly sterile water will pick up far more contamination just being poured through the air into your yeast.
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline soymateofeo

  • Assistant Brewer
  • ***
  • Posts: 209
  • El Mas Chingon
Re: canning sterile water
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2018, 08:21:24 pm »
I like easy. So just iodine eveything and pour boiling water in?  Do you preheat your jars? I am afraid they will crack.

Offline Robert

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4214
Re: canning sterile water
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2018, 08:29:38 pm »
Nah, they won't crack, they're made to take temperature changes. I sometimes wonder if the sanitizer does anything the boiling water itself won't do, but it's no trouble, so I do it.  If you like simple, I've learned (here on the forum and follow up research) that yeast rinsing is often not necessary or even ideal.  I know, I couldn't believe it.  But assuming you're doing it, try this method for the water.

(I boil the water for the 10-15 minutes usually recommended to sterilize and drive off oxygen.)
« Last Edit: July 16, 2018, 08:34:10 pm by Robert »
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline soymateofeo

  • Assistant Brewer
  • ***
  • Posts: 209
  • El Mas Chingon
Re: canning sterile water
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2018, 08:35:31 pm »
i have no idea what I am doing.  I have all of this yeast at the bottom of my fermenters and wanted to add some water to stir it up after I keg my beer.  I figure if I pour it in, swirl it around and let it settle for 5 -10 mins, I could push the water and yeast out without my dip tube being straight down and I will leave behind the dead yeast and get yeast goodness for my next batch.

Offline Robert

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4214
Re: canning sterile water
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2018, 08:50:07 pm »
Got it.  If you can leave enough beer behind to use it to stir up the yeast, that will do.  But if you need extra water to stir it up in the fermenter, no problem. Conventional wisdom was you had to further "rinse" with water and settle and decant again to further remove dead yeast and trub.  It sounds like you're one step ahead on simplicity.  All you really need to do is what you describe:  swirl it up, let the trub settle out for a few minutes, and draw off the good yeast.  You do know what you're doing.  :)
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline soymateofeo

  • Assistant Brewer
  • ***
  • Posts: 209
  • El Mas Chingon
Re: canning sterile water
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2018, 10:06:01 pm »
That is the nicest thing anybody has said to me. he he    Yeah I don't wanna go through all that I just wanna get the yeast out and settle out the chunky bits of dead crap and then pour off the yeast that didn't drop out.  part of me wants to harvest the guys who dropped early and use them in a cider so it won't be so dry.  just to see if it will be a bit sweeter at the end.

Offline jjflash

  • Assistant Brewer
  • ***
  • Posts: 188
  • New Mexico
Re: canning sterile water
« Reply #7 on: July 27, 2018, 12:24:27 pm »
I make two cases in pint canning jars every year with pH adjusted water.
Always do them in my pressure cooker.
Use them mostly with yeast propagation.
Sterile water a must.

---JJ---

I don't know half of you half as well as I should, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
- Bilbo Baggins

Offline Robert

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4214
Re: canning sterile water
« Reply #8 on: July 27, 2018, 01:03:49 pm »
I'm not at all going to discourage the use of a pressure canner canner if you want to do so.  But let's remember that in the beer-spoiler world, anything over 30 PU (Pasteurization Units, = 1min @ 60°C) is overkill.  If you boil your liquid for 10 min, including the time above 60°C but below boiling it will be effectively treated once.  Now if you pour it into a sanitized Mason jar and immediately cap, you may still worry about picking up contamination in the transfer.  But if we assume that the liquid is closed up in the jar at 90°C, as long as it takes 24 min to cool to 60°C, it will have received >30 PU and be effectively pasteurized.  When I do this, I cannot even touch those jars for well over an hour, when they are still easily at said temperature, and still racking up PUs as they cool down towards 50°C.  It may not be theoretically perfectly sterile procedure, but this method works in actual practice, and has simplified my life.  YMMV.
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.