Pastuerizing Home brew

[branlovesbeer]

This is a subject that I have found nearly NO information on, on these forums (Maybe I have not been doing the right search) or on the intenet.

The info I did get on Pastuerizing is that , for example, you bottle the beer then slowly heat it to, I think, 160 degrees for at least 30 seconds then bring it back down.

I know, I know. This is not nessecary if you sterilize correctly.
But from what I can gather, It makes it last longer in storage.

My question is:
Does anyone Know of an economical way of performing this task?

[wild]

I'd like to find more info on it also. The beer clubs here have been turned away from distributing beer at some local beer fests because homebrewers don't pasteurize.

Wild

[Spicoli]

Originally posted by wild
I'd like to find more info on it also. The beer clubs here have been turned away from distributing beer at some local beer fests because homebrewers don't pasteurize.

Wild


What festivals are you referring? BTW are you doing the ASH Octoberfest coming up?

[Jeff]

I don't have an answer to the economical method, but I have a question for you, why would you want to? Bottle conditioned beer will last longer than a pasteurized beer. Many higher alcohol, highly hopped beers will last for years and can actually improve with age if they are bottle conditioned.

[corkybstewart]

Not only will bottle conditioned beers last longer but as they mature you'll notice differences in taste. Of course you have to have the patience to let it sit.
But most homebrew is drunk within a couple of months of bottling so long term storage isn't really an issue for most homebrewers. Back when I bottled beer on a regular basis I had to drink it pretty soon because I didn't have enough bottles to let a batch sit around for months.
Of course you may have a special reason for wanting to do this like a yeast allergy perhaps. In that case I'd filter it and then pastuerize somehow. But you'll still have the yeast proteins in your beer and that's where allergies come from.
Maybe a water bath at 170F for 30 minutes would do the trick. When I pastuerize vinegar I heat it to 170 for 20 minutes, cool and then bottle it.

[HogieWan]

There is no reason to pastuerize unless you filter. There's no reason to filter unless you need the beer ready to drink RIGHT NOW.

There's no info on doing it because it's not beneficial to a homebrewer and just creates more ways to ruin you beer.

[Payson]

I'd like to find more info on it also. The beer clubs here have been turned away from distributing beer at some local beer fests because homebrewers don't pasteurize.

This may be reason enough. The average homebrewer may not need to, but in this case .....

[wild]

Originally posted by Spicoli
What festivals are you referring?

The Made in the Shade, Tucson, and Stong Ale fests have had the club hiding behind trees or completely shut down.


Originally posted by Spicoli
BTW are you doing the ASH Octoberfest coming up?

I'd like to. I've had to step away from the club this whole year to attend a few personal issues but plan to be back in and helping out at the first of the year.

Wild

[Chubber]

Hey, the guy said that he wants to know how to do it, not get needled for wanting to do it or having to do it.

I wouldn't confuse pasteurization with boiling. The secret to pasteurization is that the temps are brought up quickly, then brought back down quickly. You don't want to heat your beer to 160 or 180 degrees over 30-40 minutes. You want to bring it to 160 degrees and back in 1 minute or less.

See here: Flash Pastuerizers (http://www.beveragemachine.com/pages/pasteurizers.htm)

I would maybe try a pot of boiling water, some high temp hose and another bucket of ice water. Measure the temp between the buckets to ensure it is getting to 160-180 degrees, and control the flow speed to change it.

[Spicoli]

Originally posted by wild
The Made in the Shade, Tucson, and Stong Ale fests have had the club hiding behind trees or completely shut down.




I'd like to. I've had to step away from the club this whole year to attend a few personal issues but plan to be back in and helping out at the first of the year.

Wild


I saw ASH, Homebrew Depot and Brewers Connection at the Strong Alt Fest. I guess I didn't pay attention to how long they lasted.

[corkybstewart]

When I started making vinegar the instructions said to leave at 160 or 170 for 20 minutes. I think milk is pastuerized at above boiling temp, but under pressure so it never actually boils. Maybe you could run your beer through a heat exchanger(wort chiller) in boiling water and then thru another HE in an ice bath. The key would be to have enough boiling water that the beer doesn't cool it off, and small enough tubing that the beer is actually heated to the desired temp. But it sure sounds like a great way to ruin good homebrew. You'ld be better off finding store-bought beer you like.
I wouldn't want to heat my beer to 160 for any reason. Sometimes when I'm throwing horseshoes in the summer down here my beer approaches 160 if I don't drink it in 3 sips but it sure kills the flavor.

[HogieWan]

Remember - ethanol evaporates LONG before water. If you heat the beer unsealed, you'll lose some of you alcohol content.

[branlovesbeer]

Thanks for the advice. I just wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not. Apparently it is not.
"And now I know. And knowing is half the battle"

Why were some of you saying that a festival was not allowing you to be part of the local festivals because your beer was not patuerized?

I know keg beer is not pastuerized. But if a bottle primed beer can last (a even mature) with age, why pastuerize?

Thanks

[dparsons]

Originally posted by wild
The beer clubs here have been turned away from distributing beer at some local beer fests because homebrewers don't pasteurize.

There are commercial unpasteurized, unfiltered beers on the mass market! You can walk into your local grocery and buy bottle conditioned ale, not to mention yogurt, cheese, tofu and a number of other foods with live cultures in them. I don't understand how a festival makes a decision to disallow it - except by ignorance.

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by dparsons
I don't understand how a festival makes a decision to disallow it - except by ignorance.
They listen to their lawyers. If as a commercial entity I were to sponsor a festival, I'd want to ensure that the folks at my fest either were offering a product safe by definition, or had deeper pockets than I did in case something odd happened. The homebrewing community is about as upfront and honest as they come, but even knowing this community well, I'd want some kind of liability waiver if I were to bring on unregulated food and beverage profferers over which I had no direct control. At the very least each of these home brew or home-cooking vendors would have a prominent notice at their both proclaiming that event sponsor assumes no liability for what was sold or sampled at these booths.