Safe Brewing

[DavidDetroit]

I've even seen countless Kick Start BSA motorcycles being started while wearing them.

Maybe not a BSA, necessarily, but I shake my head when I see that--bye, bye skin in just a minor dust up.

 

[hedgerowpete]

one of the items not mentioned so far is wet and a slippage. every thing is covered in water or soap or sanitiser as well as your own hands, the acid or alkale of the cleaner is going to soften your grip and hands, then your into bear hugs and beer kegs and screw tops.

the chances of it just slipping out of your grip and shooting off is large so is the idea it could suddenly give and a cap and a load of wine or beer is off out the can too.

all that rotational force and load is not going to do my back any good in fact its a great way to slip a disk

 

[decanter2020]

Toxicology is all about concentration. A beach is where sand meets water; but if you place a grain of sand on the edge of your bathtub, you haven't made a beach.

Any substance is harmless in small enough quantities. Any substance is toxic in large enough quantities. Your own cells produce methanol during the normal course of cellular metabolism. But they produce it in small enough quantities that it gets immediately metabolized into something else before it can do any damage.

You will drink methanol in your beer. (And you'll eat it in your food, etc.) Your liver will then quickly metabolize it and you'll never know you had it. If you drink enough beer to suffer a single adverse effect from the methanol, you will die of ethanol poisoning or water toxicity.

Same thing with spices. If they were dangerously toxic, they wouldn't be used as spices. You'll suffer from eating too much food or drinking too much mead long before the spices did any damage.

 

[Justin Dean]

I brew in my garage and this year the damp has really affected it with a spread of mildew everywhere. Cleaned it all out and thrown away all mdf and put a dehumidifier in. No brewing for the foreseeable until I get new shelving.

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

I brew in my garage and this year the damp has really affected it with a spread of mildew everywhere. Cleaned it all out and thrown away all mdf and put a dehumidifier in. No brewing for the foreseeable until I get new shelving.

Hi Justin, this caught my eye as I brew in my untanked cellar which is naturally damp (and mold does grow on anything fabric down there).

With the FV being a mostly closed system, what leads you to think this would be a problem? Genuine question, my understanding on this is very limited!

 

[DCBC]

Does anyone know if diluted StarSan is safe to breathe in (in accidental, small amounts in spray form)?

If I create a mist of it having sprayed a surface or a vessel and it ends up in the air, even in small amounts, it tickles my lungs and makes me cough. That's not a problem really as long as it doesn't cause long-term problems!

Cheers

 

[HarryFlatters]

Does anyone know if diluted StarSan is safe to breathe in (in accidental, small amounts in spray form)?

Not sure for certain, but I've seen lots of people on YouTube use a spray bottle full of diluted StarSan, and I do so myself to no ill effects (so far).

 

[Drunkula]

Does anyone know if diluted StarSan is safe to breathe in (in accidental, small amounts in spray form)?

It's absolutely safe. It's about as dangerous as breathing in the gas from a can of coke when you take a drink.

 

[DCBC]

Thanks for the StarSan reassurance @Drunkula and @HarryFlatters!

 

[MrL73]

It's absolutely safe. It's about as dangerous as breathing in the gas from a can of coke when you take a drink.

About as tasty as well, when a siphon went a little quicker than I was expecting. Quite tempted to carb some up and see if I can spot the difference in a blind triangle test.

 

[micklupulo]

Most homebrewers are aware of the importance of Health and Safety at Work when actually at work and should be equally aware of the role personal responsibility has to play in this, but when they are through the door into the outside world perhaps sometimes forget they may be just as vulnerable to hazards, including activities carried out within their homebrew hobby.

So perhaps give a little thought to some of the risks you are exposed to on your next brewday and beyond. Obviously no need for a written risk assessment, just a few seconds thinking about what you are doing to make sure you do it safely. You owe it to yourself and perhaps others directly around you. Anyway these risks can include….

Lifting – lift what you can sensibly handle. Quite apart from pulling a back muscle or slipping a disc losing 23 litres of best bitter over the kitchen floor because it was just too heavy or because you were distracted will be a tad frustrating.

Electrics – if you use electrical equipment make sure its safe, especially if you ‘modify’ it, and don’t even think of bodging it. And also remember water/beer/wort and electrics don’t mix.

Handling Chemicals – Some of the chemicals that homebrewers use for sanitising and sterilising like bleach and concentrated Starsan can be harmful especially if they accidently get into your eyes, so handle with the care they require. And there are other chemicals out there too used by homebrewers so read the instructions before you open the container and use accordingly

Hot Liquids – Obvious. Leaking joints, boilers placed on unsteady surfaces, moving heavy containers of just boiled wort can scald your skin. I’m sure you don’t want a trip to A&E to treat the outcome of a hot liquid scalding accident

Pressure containing equipment – Make sure you know exactly what you are doing when assembling or modifying pressure equipment. Activities like modifying a PB which may hold 15psig (or new money equivalent) may on the face of it appear to be easy but the stored energy in that PB is significant and maybe not worth losing an eye for should things go wrong. And gas containing systems under pressure are far more dangerous than the equivalent liquid system, since gases expand if suddenly released whereas liquids do not.

Tripping Hazard – Are you untidy? Is your floor covered with stuff you haven’t cleared up and put out of the way for your brewday? Next time you move across your brew area with a kettle of hot water for example, don't regret that you tripped over the dog bowl and scalded your leg.

Wear the right gear – If you think gloves are needed to handle a hot piece of kit then go get them, don't say ‘It’ll be alright’ then drop it onto your foot because it was too hot. And flip flops might be OK in many circumstances but not on a slippery wet floor when you are humping stuff about.

Overpriming - too much sugar can cause bottle bombs, or cause your PB to vent (you are sure your PB rubber band relief valve is working aren't you) so double check quantities before you add the sugar.

Drinking beer whilst brewing might appear to be a good relaxing idea, but one too many and any of the above risks may come to haunt you.

So, fellow homebrewers, let’s hear from anyone who can add to the above list to highlight some of the things that can go wrong and sadly make our hobby an accident waiting to happen, rather than a pleasure to undertake.

And in the meantime if you want an example of how things can go badly wrong when you take your eye off the ball and where two of the above risks combine (drinking and hot liquids) look up what happened to @Gerryjo here
Don't take your eye off the BOIL.

I had a mishap about 35 years which is now an amusing family anecdote at my expense though it could have been dangerous. I was doing a full boil in the garage when in everyone's absence the top blew off my Electrim bin spewing hot wort and hops all over my daughter's doll's pram. Evidently part of a hop had stuck in the vent in the lid. I suspect pellets would be safer. Coincidentally I was reminded about this only half an hour ago as I am considering a more adventurous brew in the autumn so any tips as to how to reduce the risk would be welcome!

 

[Wynne]

Normally, a kettle isn’t fully covered during the boil to allow undesirable volatiles , such as DMS, to be stripped out. In a commercial brewery the kettle is usually fitted with a chimney which vents to atmosphere. I boil in a Burco Cygnet and part cover it with the lid to try to allow stripping whilst reducing the boil-off rate.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I boil with the lid off the burco

 

[Gerryjo]

I also boil with the lid off as its to vigorous..

 

[kelper]

It's good to have quick access to cold water in case of scolds or burns. It really does reduce the damage if you can cool the injury rapidly. When I'm carrying hot water I put on Crocs or wellies - anything waterproof will protect your feet and you really don't want burnt or scalded feet.

When I was at school I was in the communal showers, on my own. I must have slipped on some soap but I was knocked unconcious and don't remember what happened. When I came around I was blind in one eye. Had my face or body blocked the drain I might have drowned. I'm stll very wary of getting in to a bath or shower. (My detached retina did repair itself in the following weeks but as I was at boarding school they never got me to a specialist just a GP!)

 

[micklupulo]

I also boil with the lid off as its to vigorous..

Thanks and also to Wynne and Cheshire Cat. What volume of water do you usually boil in? I used to boil in 15L and was thinking I would need to ensure that the ingredients would be compatible with a 10L boil on the assumption that a vigorous 15L boil would be likely to splash out of an open top?

 

[Gerryjo]

Thanks and also to Wynne and Cheshire Cat. What volume of water do you usually boil in? I used to boil in 15L and was thinking I would need to ensure that the ingredients would be compatible with a 10L boil on the assumption that a vigorous 15L boil would be likely to splash out of an open top?

I have a 30ltr boiler and bring it 28ltr to boil but you have to watch it like a hawk.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My normal boil is about 27-28 litres but I've done 10 and 15 litres. However do not move a boiler with scalding water chill first or don't move it at all.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

I'm an accident waiting to happen. I brew, weld, crawl under heavy vehicles & spray paint using isocyanates. I always try to check & double check the safety on new things that come into my life & have been lucky so far. I say lucky because you can't remove all risks or you'd never do anything.
One lad I know watched me weld & thought to himself how hard can it be? He went home & bought a cheap kit & preceded to practice welding in his un-vented garage at home. He didn't read up on anything & decided to weld meters of practice welds on zinc coated steel. The ambulance was called by his wife when she found him unconscious on the floor. He spent 3 weeks in hospital on a respirator.
Always read the H&S available before you do anything.

 

[Wynne]

Like Cheshire Cat I boil ca 28 litres which reduces to about 24L during the boil. I have recently made up an SCR voltage regulator (as posted by Foxbat) which should give me better control over the boil vigour and boil-off rate. Usually, I base my recipes on 30L and liquor-back to that volume at the end of the boil but I have produced 38L into fermenter occasionally.