Reddit reviews Five Star - Star San - 8 Ounce - Brew Sanitizer High Foaming Acid Anionic

Get StarSan. It is a food grade sanitation solution. Basically it's acid. Make sure you read and FOLLOW the directions on the bottle. Wear gloves. It MUST be diluted or you can damage both your skin and the canteen. If I remember correctly, it's like 12 bucks for a bottle or two on Amazon. The purpose I use and know it for is sanitization of home brewing equipment. It will kill all the nasties.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Star-San-2883-8-oz/dp/B01467UGN8&ved=2ahUKEwjbgrfFvYLeAhXjHjQIHbUSAvEQFjADegQIABAB&usg=AOvVaw12M_i95-ijhUF3iiZ0bYDz

Alternatively, you could rinse the thing with Listerine. Kills 99.9% of germs and it will smell minty fresh.

Boiling should kill anything on your equipment, but as soon as it cools off it will be susceptible to picking up an infection from the environment. Do yourself a favor and buy a bottle of Starsan. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01467UGN8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_yw4JAbPABT8R7
Keep all your cold side equipment wet with Starsan whenever you're using it. I've never had an infection when doing this.

The chalky white film is likely mineral deposits from your water, it should rinse out easily. If you thoroughly dry your fermenters with a towel before you put them away you shouldn't get that film.

Oh yes, and it is quite simple to get the stuff together without buying a kit. Do you have a local home brew store?

This subreddit's wiki which includes a beginner section: https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/wiki/index
There are several videos on youtube that have good instructions.

Here is a basic list of gear to brew beer in a bag. You can get all of this stuff on amazon if you don't have it already. This is not the best list, but it works.
http://homebrewmanual.com/home-brewing-equipment/


Some of the stuff you won't likely have at home:

• Starsan: http://amzn.com/B01467UGN8
  
  
• Hydrometer: http://amzn.com/B013S1VAM4
  
  
• Grain bag for Brew in a Bag: http://amzn.com/B00CA5PH4W
  
  
• Bottle Capper: http://amzn.com/B001D6KGTK
  
  
• siphon: http://amzn.com/B0064ODELI
  
  
• airlock: http://amzn.com/B00A6TRKO4
  
  
• bottle caps: http://amzn.com/B000Q64T8M
  
  Beer recipes: http://beerrecipes.org/
  
  To get grains from amazon, type in the grain type and it will provide you options. If you don't have the ability to mill it yourself, you can order it crushed. Its not ideal, but if you don't have a homebrew store near you and don't have your own mill....it will work. You will have to measure out the correct amounts for each grain that you add on your own from the bulk that you ordered. If you want to brew with extracts, you can also order those on amazon as well.
  
  You can order hops on amazon the same way as grains or extracts.
  
  
  

To piggy back on u/stormbeforedawn's comment.

This is the equipment I used that I've had good luck with so far. It's what he recommended, I'm just providing links to the specific product I used.

• 2 gal primary bucket
  
  
• 1 gal secondary glass
  
  
• Autosiphon
  
  
• racking cane
  
  
• Hydrometer
  
  
• Starsan
  
  
• GoFerm
  
  
• I used Fermaid O, not Fermaid K, because I was following a specific nutrient regimen. It's called TONSA 2.0. Popular, but apparently not cost efficient with larger batches. People better at this than I can answer nutrient schedule questions.
  
  
• Bubbler/Airlock.
  
  
• Bottles and cap method are your preferance. You can get bottles of tons of shapes, colors and styles. Corked, capped, swingtop, etc. Just make sure the bottles are food-safe and not decorative hobby/thrift store stuff. If you use corks, same rule, don't use decorative stuff. You'll want #8 agglomerated cork and a hand corker tool to put the corks on. #9 corks work too, but you'll need heavy tools (like a floor corker) to do that..

https://www.amazon.com/Star-San-2883-8-oz/dp/B01467UGN8

Sanitizing rinse, food safe

Star San. But I agree with u/robotir, that stone looks very brittle. Also, most things found at Goodwill are used. If this is indeed a used item then it was used as a decoration and perhaps not meant to used for food preparation.