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What did brewers use to sanitize in the begining?

h4brewing

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I understand there are now chemical products.  What did they use 100 years ago or more to santize fermenting tanks? 
 
A 100 years ago they probably used chemicals like today.  Before 1856 when Pasteur came up with germ theory, the concept of sanitation didn't exist. In the mean time, one could only guess.  I tried some google searches and all I got was a history of soap.
 
There is a lot of answer to that question. A century ago would have been 1914 and most alcohol businesses were fighting Prohibition and losing.

More than 150 years ago, Pasteur and germ theory were the turning point, but there are ancient texts that supposed there were unseen causes of disease. Still, brewers knew that clean equipment made better beer, even if they couldn't explain why.

The very act of fermentation kills pathogens. Pathogens are too fastidious to survive fermentation of even a half percent of alcohol.

What's left is various flora that survive fermentation or are introduced later. In the 1600's and 1700's, yeast was considered an acid that split sugars into alcohols, but if left too long would split alcohol into vinegar. This made it important to skim fermenting beer of dark krausen. In that era, "fresh" beers were termed "mild" while older casks showing Brett and souring were described as "hard." It was common to ask for a blend of mild and hard beers to suit your taste, since there generally wasn't more than a handful of choices (usually sorted by alcohol strength), in that era.

With the industrial revolution came more efficient Cornish engines (early 1800's). The use of excess steam to scald equipment and kegs came into fashion because it provided efficient cleaning. The additional sterilization was an unanticipated benefit.

Mundane equipment cleaning was done with various soaps and lye, plus plain ol' hard scrubbing.

Prior to getting steam, breweries would burn "brimstone matches," aka sulfur sticks, in casks and fermenters. It was actually someone's job to sniff the bunghole in order to separate sweet from sour.

 
brewfun said:
There is a lot of answer to that question. A century ago would have been 1914 and most alcohol businesses were fighting Prohibition and losing.

More than 150 years ago, Pasteur and germ theory were the turning point, but there are ancient texts that supposed there were unseen causes of disease. Still, brewers knew that clean equipment made better beer, even if they couldn't explain why.

The very act of fermentation kills pathogens. Pathogens are too fastidious to survive fermentation of even a half percent of alcohol.

What's left is various flora that survive fermentation or are introduced later. In the 1600's and 1700's, yeast was considered an acid that split sugars into alcohols, but if left too long would split alcohol into vinegar. This made it important to skim fermenting beer of dark krausen. In that era, "fresh" beers were termed "mild" while older casks showing Brett and souring were described as "hard." It was common to ask for a blend of mild and hard beers to suit your taste, since there generally wasn't more than a handful of choices (usually sorted by alcohol strength), in that era.

With the industrial revolution came more efficient Cornish engines (early 1800's). The use of excess steam to scald equipment and kegs came into fashion because it provided efficient cleaning. The additional sterilization was an unanticipated benefit.

Mundane equipment cleaning was done with various soaps and lye, plus plain ol' hard scrubbing.

Prior to getting steam, breweries would burn "brimstone matches," aka sulfur sticks, in casks and fermenters. It was actually someone's job to sniff the bunghole in order to separate sweet from sour.
 

A lot of great history here.  Thanks...but I couldn't help but snicker at "It was actually someone's job to sniff the bunghole in order to separate sweet from sour."
 
Scott Ickes said:
A lot of great history here.  Thanks...but I couldn't help but snicker at "It was actually someone's job to sniff the bunghole in order to separate sweet from sour."

Aye, kind sir. Twas indeed hoped to induce a chortle.
 
brewfun said:
Scott Ickes said:
A lot of great history here.  Thanks...but I couldn't help but snicker at "It was actually someone's job to sniff the bunghole in order to separate sweet from sour."

Aye, kind sir. Twas indeed hoped to induce a chortle.
Success is yours!
 
A history correction it was a means to BOIL as the reason beer was safe to drink fermentation it was only after Pasteur understood what yeast was before him it was the boil and an act of god or gods. Tey reading Why Beer Change The World by Dr. Charles Banforth  :O
 
PaKettle said:
A history correction it was a means to BOIL as the reason beer was safe to drink fermentation it was only after Pasteur understood what yeast was before him it was the boil and an act of god or gods. Tey reading Why Beer Change The World by Dr. Charles Banforth  :O

As you point out, of course, steam was a means to boiling. I didn't think I had to state the obvious. It also ran cams, belt drives, pumps and tools. What I pointed out was that excess steam was also harnessed for "low power" applications, like scalding kegs and cleaning equipment. They also used it to power whistles and bells, btw. I harness steam for washing down brewery floors and walls, as well as boiling.

I'm not sure if you are saying that boiling originated with steam and/or Pasteur? Boiling has been a part of beer making for millennia. It wasn't always served as a drink, the way we know it, either. For much of its' history, beer was served as a thin mix of liquid and solids. As food. But it was boiled.

Thank you for the book recommendation. Charlie has been a resource, mentor and personal friend to me for many years. His books are in my library, as are many original and reprint texts on brewing dating back to the early 1700's. One of my most prized is a hardbound reprint (early 1900's) of London and Country Brewer of 1736. I'd love to acquire an original, someday.
 
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