Star San

It's safe for sanitizing almost anything, including fermenters. It wont harm yeast because when you add the wort to the fermenter, the acidity of the residual star san will be diluted.

 

One thing to note is that not unlike any other cleaning or sanitizing chemical, it needs to be mixed to the proper dosage. I know everyone knows that, but it's important to take the time to measure it out properly and not just add what you think seems to look good.

 

StarSan works/lasts best in RO/distilled water in my experience (compared to my well water anyway)

 

Only word of caution is that StarSan is very low pH (this is how it kills pathogens). Therefore it's not suitable for materials that are vulnerable to low pH such as aluminum. This would rarely be an issue, since there is no need to sanitize your kettle (or anything else on the hot side of the brewing process), but it would come into play if you were, for instance, using the BrewJacket fermentation chiller, which uses an anodized aluminum rod. (The company sells plastic sleeves to deal with this issue.)

Once diluted, StarSan contributes a very small amount of phosphorous, which is not harmful (at those levels) to yeast or humans.

 

It is really slippery so need to wipe or rinse well if you want the airlock stopper to stay put.

 

Barry,

The gentlemen who did this video has thoughts similar to what you posted:

 

I just mix star-san with my city water, treated with campden. I will keep it for a month or two and while it turns cloudy, pH is where it needs to be and works well even long-term (based on lack of any contamination). I keep it in a covered bucket and use it at least a few batches. Thought about going to RO, but seems like a waste considering I get the usage I do out of plain old tap water.

 

This always happens to me as well. It seems ironic - I want to sanitize the rubber stopper, but if wet it won't stay in the neck of the carboy. Then I need to wipe it with a paper towel, which defeats the purpose of trying to sanitize it.

The one issue I have with StarSan is the bubbles. Sometimes the keg gets so bubbly that I can't see the level when I'm filling it. Also when I use it to sanitize the tube that comes with a hydrometer, the bubbles often interfere with trying to get a good reading. I understand that the bubbles are strictly for show and there's no real functional need for it to be in StarSan. I can certainly do without those massive amount of bubbles, and wish they also made an alternative product that doesn't have them for those who are not impressed with showy bubbles.

 

Try googling "Saniclean."

 

Thanks minderbender - exactly what I was looking for. I didn't realize they had that product.

 

Bubbles in StarSan are due to the surfactant added to the phosporic acid...helps it get into crevices, etc. ...a good thing.
[QUOTE="OldBrewer, post: 5832185,

The one issue I have with StarSan is the bubbles.[/QUOTE]

 

You can get around the slippery bung thing by spraying it with isopropyl after the starsan. Obviously sterile and tends to dry fast and stay put better.

I really just wanted to write "slippery bung thing"...

 

Apparently there's still enough in Saniclean to do the job. With StarSan, it's overkill :-)

 

I know the slogan is "Don't fear the foam!" but I do fear the foam/bubbles.

I simply put some solution in a spray bottle and turn my kegs, fermentors, or anything really upside down. Spray into it and the new sani will help flush out the bubbles. I use this technique and a last minute sani on everything basically. Call it OCD, but it gets rid of foam and I know for sure that everything had contact with sani VERY recently.


That being said - Has anyone had an issue where the Sani seems to separate in the bottom of the vessel holding it after a while? A thick milky/white cream seems to be building up in my kegs where I store sani. Also if I leave a vinyl based tube in the sani, it develops the same residue on it.

 

Good idea to spray the nasty bubbles later with a spray bottle. I'll use that technique until I finismy current bottle of StarSan before purchasing SaniClean next time around. Bubbles are for those who like baths :-)

Yes, I also notice a separated layer. I keep a gallon of StarSan on hand, and I always have to shake the bottle to get that layer on the bottom into suspension before using it. Likely that nonsensical bubble stuff.

 

I fear inadequately rinsed cleaner a lot more than foam.

 

True, but why not eliminate at least one of those fears without affecting the other?

 

I think the honest response to this is that fear of sanitizer is essentially superstition. If you follow ordinary procedures, the residual sanitizer that comes into contact with your beer will do no harm whatsoever. By contrast, many cleaners could have a large negative effect on your beer.

I don't mean to sound too dismissive. We all have superstitions, and indulging them can bring peace of mind. I do all kinds of things that I'm sure make no difference to the beer, but that make me feel better.

What would be a shame, though, would be to pass along superstitions that then ruin other people's peace of mind when they read these forums. Some new brewer doesn't see any bubbles 12 hours after pitching, comes onto these forums to try to figure out if her beer is ruined, and starts freaking out that maybe she left too much StarSan foam in her fermenter. That's no good! You really can't leave too much StarSan foam in your fermenter, if you've turned it upside down and dumped it out. No one should worry about it.

If you worry about it, that's fine, do what it takes to have a relaxing brew day. But let's keep the advice on this forum as faithful to the truth as possible.

 

Did you read the entire discussion? There are a couple things to note:

1) The bubbles in StarSan are mostly for cosmetic purposes. A little is OK for getting into those small cracks, etc. The same company sells an almost same product, but without so much foam and bubbles. Some people need the security to know that the sterilizer is working, and when they see all that foam they think of dishwater detergent and they relax.

2) The 'fear' is not about the bubbles/foam. As I mentioned, there are situations where the foam is a real nuisance. One example which I mentioned is checking to see how full your keg is when you transfer your beer. I overshot one time because I was guessing through all that foam that spilled all over the floor. Another example is when I try to take a hydrometer reading. If you steilize the hydrometer tube with StarSan, it leaves a lot of foam in that tube. So when you try to take a reading, the foam hides the meniscus level, and this becomes a real nuisance.

Thus there are effective alternatives. SaniClean is one such alternative. Someone else mentioned spraying the foam down with a spray bottle of StarSan. It is basically the same as StarSan, but does not include as much detergent. Of course the bubbles create no issues in terms of how it affects the beer. But it does create other unnecessary issues. This is not a superstition and is not misleading new brewers. In fact, it's informing them and helping them make better choices.