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letsbrew · 07-10-2011, 02:10 PM

Hello to everybody!

Well i have been disconected from the forum (too much work)

I have noticed when i use hard water with these sanitizers my Ph its very high 7-8 so the solution itsnt acid.

I have had many infections (overcarbonated,bug around the bottle neck, and sour or acid taste),so im almost sure the reason of these infection are due to my hard water(because alkaline solution doesnt kill bacteria) so because i wanted to keep those infected beer i had to go to pasteurize them so i have stopped the overcarbonation by re-open the caps to vent co2 and re-capped once again (i just open slightly the cap) and then pasteurize the bottles. Also When the beer has white bugs around the neck by using pasterurization the infection stops.

But what do you think, does pasteurization helps to reduce the sour-acid taste? or a long aging?

I tried cold crash for improve clarity and works very well but the sour-acid taste still remains.

How can i improve-reduce those sour-acid batches?

Tomorrow i will brew with soft water and pbw (from BK to FT to Bottling) so i could see diferences.

When racked the beer from carboy to the plastic bucket to bottle the beer i always taste it and take readings about brix. And the beers werent sour but after 5 days carbonating it was sour. 4 beers that i brewed in a row were fine before bottling (nice and cool taste with hints of noble hops) but after 5 days carbonating they were sour-acid (i used iodophor with hard water to sanitize everything before fermentation and starsan with soft water to sanitize everything to bottle the beer the Ph with starsan was 3-3.5(also i made a night soak with bleach for bottle,new tubing,hoses,siphon,bucket,caps etc))

If the beer was fine before bottling and after bottling got sour taste what do you think? also my brewing room its always closed during bottling also i used covermouth to prevent airbone bacterias, i crush the grain in another room far away from the brewing room too.

Do you think that sour taste maybe made by lactobacilus or pedioccocus get its acid level thanks to the oxygen that remains in the bottle neck during bottling?

Thank you to all of you! All the best!

Nateo · 07-10-2011, 02:46 PM

Are you sure you're mixing the Starsan at the recommended level? I have very alkaline water and at 1oz/gal dilution the pH is 2.7, which is in the "safe" range. You can always dilute starsan at a higher concentration to decrease the pH.

letsbrew · 07-10-2011, 03:23 PM

hi nateo yes i use 1 liquid oz but with 5 galllons (i saw that info on the internet), when i used it with hard water the Ph is higher than 3.5 but in 20 minutes the solution turns cloudy and someone say thats a bad sign.

At higher concentrations of starsan there is any risk for our healt?

Sorry for any mistake in my english writting hehehe

Nateo · 07-10-2011, 03:31 PM

Cloudiness is not necessarily bad. Hard water will make the starsan cloudy instantly.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/star-san-cloudiness-lab-report-103337/

If the pH is below 3.5 the sanitizer will work correctly. If the pH is above 3.5, add a little bit more starsan until the pH is below 3.5.

Don't worry about any safety issues at higher concentrations. After you dilute starsan in water, it becomes much safer. While the starsan is in the bottle, it is a lot more dangerous. Goggles and gloves are a good idea if you are handling a lot of it. If I handle small amounts (5 gallon's worth), I don't wear goggles or gloves.

Don't worry about your English. You can type better than most Americans.

**emjay** · 07-10-2011, 03:37 PM

Pfft, I've gotten the concentrated stuff all over my hands without any problems.

Star San works entirely on it being an acid though, and making environments too acidic for microbes to live. My solutions usually seem to be around pH 1.5, and stay that way for a remarkably long time, even though it instantly turn cloudy on me.

letsbrew · 07-11-2011, 11:09 PM

nice info nateo definitely i will have to make a test (a test to sanitize everything with starsan and clean with pbw using hard water or tap water and compare with a batch made with soft water because in those last 4 batches i used iodophor until fermentation and starsan until capping) and about handling if emjay has gotten starsan in-on his hands i guess that doesnt hurts hehehehe only i have to be more careful because im using a pipette to messure the liquid onze (becuase i got a re-filled starsan bottle, no way to messure as the original bottle allows you to do it) so i dont want to drink starsan :/ and you have a very low Ph 1.5 its very acid maybe a good thing will be to buy me a destilling water system

and i will try to make a test this week about pasteurizing some beers to see if i can reduce or diminish some sour-acid taste ( i gues its dificult but i will see hehehe) i wish i could hide that acid taste with something hehehe i made pale ales very hopped with no bittering aditions and they were so yummy (before bottling) and now its summer!!

I appreciate your replies!