How far do you go with campden tablets?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by inchrisin, Jan 7, 2017.

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  1. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    I'm sure a lot of you use campden to treat chlorine and chloramines in your brew water. I'm just curious to know if any of you try to incorporate campden into the final rinse of your brewing equipment, or elsewhere.

    I mix a little into my 5 gal batch of StarSan. I think this would help a little against the final rinse that I give my kegs each time I clean them.
     
  2. zizouandyuki

    zizouandyuki Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2015 Texas

    I only use them to treat my brewing water. What's the benefit of adding them to your final rinse?
     
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  3. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    Starsan itself is a great final rinse for PBW or other alkaline cleaner
     
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  4. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    I think @inchrisin is trying to remove the chlorine/chloramines from his (tap water) starsan solution.
     
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  5. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    Short answer: No. Longer answer: I use Iodophor mixed with tap water in a basin for soaking small items, and I have a spray bottle with Starsan mixed with distilled when spraying makes sense. I use both as no-rinse sanitizers. Cheers!
     
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  6. Beejay

    Beejay Pooh-Bah (2,559) Dec 29, 2008 Virginia
    Pooh-Bah

    I've never used them.
     
  7. jmich24

    jmich24 Initiate (0) Jan 28, 2010 Michigan

    I mix my Starsan with distilled water. Final chloramine free rinse. I read somewhere(don't have a link) that Starsan is more stable in distilled water, another possible bonus.

    Cheers
     
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  8. invertalon

    invertalon Pooh-Bah (2,249) Jan 27, 2009 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I fill my 5-gal bucket with tap water, add 1/4 tablet of campden, then add the proper dose of star san.

    I use it for a month or so before refreshing it. But I also fill up squirt bottles I use often to clean my taps and other stuff, so it goes down quickly.

    I thought about using distilled, but kind of a waste for me. Star San is cheap... been on the same bottle for two years now and about half way used.
     
    inchrisin likes this.
  9. zizouandyuki

    zizouandyuki Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2015 Texas

    This is exactly what I do as well.
     
  10. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah


    I'm rinsing all of my equipment with tap water that has chloramines in it. I'm trying to eliminate chloramines from the StarSan solution after I dip wet (from tap water) equipment into my StarSan bucket. The StarSan bucket that I have make up is RO. I also use bleach when I am cleaning my auto siphon. I share a siphon for sours.
     
    #10 inchrisin, Jan 8, 2017
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2017
  11. redgorillabreath

    redgorillabreath Zealot (511) Mar 29, 2015 Pennsylvania

    This makes me wonder about something I've noticed...

    When I mix up StarSan with tap water, at that instant its odor free. After a day or more, it has a chlorine sort of odor. I haven't taken time to look into the chemistry, being somewhat familiar with the acid component in StarSan.

    Questions:
    Have other folks noticed this odor development over time?
    If so, does the use of campden eliminate the odor?
     
  12. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    ...and so is RO water :slight_smile:

    When I first started using StarSan years ago, I noticed when I mixed it with my well water it smelled awful and got kind of murky...been using RO ever since with no problems.
     
  13. Lukass

    Lukass Pooh-Bah (2,891) Dec 16, 2012 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    I only use campden to treat my brewing water. Never thought of using it in a star San solution though
     
  14. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    I won't link to other threads from the past because they're blurry. I remember reading several times that the composition of most tap water will raise the pH of StarSan. I'd assume that it's enough to ruin the effectiveness of it being a sanitizer. I'll preach to make up a big batch with RO and it will store for as long as you need. If mine becomes hazy, I'll pour it down the drain.
     
  15. redgorillabreath

    redgorillabreath Zealot (511) Mar 29, 2015 Pennsylvania

    I've just been using tap water. The solution gets hazy after about one day. I try to mix what I'll need for the upcoming day because I throw it out after 24 hours. I haven't had a sanitation failure, but it sounds like another reason to get into RO.
     
  16. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    I'd think the pH is still quite low and not a friendly place for pests. I've never taken a pH strip to mine. I just assume that clear is <3.5 pH, as recommended.
     
  17. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    I wrote an email out to to Five Star. I got a response in about a day and a half. Very cool:




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    To whom it may concern;

    I've been a homebrewer for about 5 years now and I'm still really enjoying the hobby. I've been using StarSan since the beginning with great success. Thank you for making such a great product.

    As I get further into brewing, I'm trying to eliminate chloramines where I can in my brewing process. It's occurred to me that when I'm cleaning and rinsing my brewing equipment that it's always with tap water that contains chloramines. The same is true when I'm rinsing my kegs. Afterwards, I generally use StarSan to sanitize my equipment and kegs and move on to do whatever I need to to next on the cold side of brewing.

    Recently, I've made up a 5 gallon batch of StarSan. I used Reverse Osmosis water as a base and use it when I need to sanitize something quickly. I've started to wonder if the chloramines are building up in this 5 gallon batch due to the rinse water that I'm using. I'm hoping to add campden tablets, (potassium metabisulfaite), to this 5 gallon batch of StaSan to help prevent the build up of chloramines. Would this work? Would your product stay stable and would the campden effectively remove chlorine and chloramines from my equipment?

    I hope my question makes sense. I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on your product and if it can stay stable with potassium metabisulfaite added into it. Thanks for your time.

    Sincerely,

    Chris




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    Rebecca Ozirsky <[email protected]>
    1:03 PM (16 hours ago)
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    Hi Chris,

    Thank you for contacting Five Star. I spoke with our chemist and she says as long as you are using the correct ratio of your cleaner as well as Starsan, you should not have any problems with chloramines. Even with using tap water. There shouldn't be a build up of chloramines. If you have any further questions, you can email her. Her name is Charity and her email is [email protected]

    Thanks,

    Rebecca Ozirsky
    Five Star Chemicals & Supply, Inc.
    4915 E 52nd Ave
    Commerce City, CO 80022
    Direct: 303-962-7512
    Office: 303-287-0186
    Fax: 303-287-0391
    [email protected]
     
    redgorillabreath likes this.
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