Saving sanitizer?

What sanitizer are you using? Starsan will last forever if you make the solution with distilled water. Basically, the sanitizers sanitize becuase of the pH. If you use regular water the minerals in it will eventually bring the pH closer to neutral and out of the sanitation zone. That takes a while with most sanitizers so its definitely fine to store leftovers. But don't do it too long.

 

If you're talking about StarSan, if you use distilled water you can re-use it many times. I used to do this...but got lazy and I just make a new batch every time. Storing it and expecting to keep the pets and kids out of it was too much effort.

 

If you have a PH meter they say as long as it's below 3 then it should be good.

 

Well, then...it must be true : ) ...Seriously, I can tell you from over 10 years of recycling Starsan, that as long as you are using virgin water (distilled/RO) and the solution remains clear, you are good to go. Don't get too cheap, though...buy some more Starsan if in doubt and call it "a day".

 

That is not a sanitizer.

 

1 gallon jug of distilled water and the appropriate amount of starsan, then just fill a spray bottle and spray everything. Mix it in the jug and keep on a shelf where the kids can't reach, I clearly mark that it is not water/don't drink. At that point, there is no reason to reuse, I have used approximately 15oz of starsan over the last 5 years. The hardest thing is remembering to ask my wife to get another jug of water when I run out.

 

How do you sanitize your fermenter and siphon?

 

... and you don't use it to sanitize anything.

Seems to me ... whenever brew-things are put into the sanitizer solution and removed ... including your hands ... debris / detritus / dirt is introduced .... such that over time its effectiveness will deteriorate.

 

I make a new batch of sanitizer the same day as I make my yeast starter for whatever I'm brewing (roughly 4 days before brewday). I use this to sanitize everything for my starter and for everything on brewday. I'll keep this batch around until the next time I brew in case I need any for something (pulling samples, filling spray bottles). I keep it in one of my fermenting buckets, the lids all have holes for airlocks, I just stuff the holes with tinfoil.

 

I have started to sanitize some parts of the brew house with Iodiphor, then a SS rinse. Kegs actually are getting this regime.

 

I save mine in a five gallon bucket. I dont use distilled water, I check the ph every now and again. I have never had issues with ph and wind up dumping the batch because it gets debris in it.

 

Really depends on what you're using. At home the cleaner I use only works for about half an hour in cold water. After it's used up I'll then just use that solution for letting things soak since it does have awesome cleaning properties still. I usually have about (3) 5 gallon buckets of different cleaners for different parts of the brewing process.

Make sure you know the difference between cleanser and sanitize solution. I know most of us will roll our eyes and nod our heads like "Yeah I know, I know!" but I see some people not making that distinction and it is important.

 

For me I make a new batch for when every time I transfer into Secondary and Keg.
I keep a spray bottle for sanitizing hydrometers and airlocks, just some of the small things that I don't want to make a new batch for. Every time I make a new batch, I dump the spray bottle and replenish.

 

Everything gets sprayed with the spray bottle filled from the gallon jug. I just coat all the surfaces, with tubing when I rack to a keg, I spray some in the tubing then tip it back and forth until the whole inside is coated.

 

I generally make a new batch of StarSan if it's been more than a few days, but if I need some within a week or so I'll generally reuse what I have. I also make batches using distilled water and put them in spray bottles, which is a great way to reduce the amount I use. But I've stopped using distilled water to make large batches, for the reasons that @HerbMeowing cites - after a while, I think it gets contaminated from the surfaces that it sanitizes. There's also the fact that 5G of distilled water costs me about $4, whereas an ounce of StarSan is only about a dollar. So unless I reuse the stuff at least five times, it's cheaper to just make a new batch most of the time.

 

I'm new to brewing. A few batch's so far. I've been making a fresh gallon every time and soaking every thing. I like your methods better. I'm glad saw this.

A question though. I have seen people saying they do not sanitize everything for every step in the brewing to bottle/keg process. I was under the impression that every thing needs to be sanitized from start to finish. So which is it?

 

Nothing that is going to go through the boil needs to be sanitized. So for instance, your mash tun does not need to be sanitized, it just needs to be kept clean. Your kettle does not need to be sanitized (unless you are using it for something else - I use mine as a bottling bucket). The immersion chiller does not need to be sanitized (although if it's copper some people wipe it off with something acidic to prevent copper oxide from dissolving into the beer).

Anything that touches the beer post-boil needs to be sanitized. That includes all of the equipment used for your starter (if you do a starter), the fermenter, the siphon, etc.

Now, there are some things that are kind of in between. I have a thermometer that clips onto the side of my kettle and goes into the wort while it's boiling. I just leave that in there while I'm chilling the wort, figuring that it has been sterilized by the boil. But if for some reason I took it out and put it on the counter, I would sanitize it before putting it back in post-boil.

It's really common sense for the most part. The wort isn't vulnerable to infection pre-boil, because the boil will kill everything. (Maybe not literally everything, but close enough.) Post-boil, it's like a dream world for microbes.

 

I always keep 3-4 gallons of starsan mixed up in a 7gal bucket that I keep covered at all times. I haven't poured it out in 3 years or so and when it gets low I add another gallon of distilled water with the app. amount of starsan. When I notice dust and dirt and debris in the solution I pour it into another bucket through a strainer and back through the strainer again. Stays clean, and effective as hell.