Help with a Sanitizer? Chemists Please Help.

madewithchicken · 10-26-2008, 01:39 PM

This question is a repost. I had it posted with other technical questions but no one replied. So now I will post it alone.

I have been using a product called "Sani-Tabs" to sanitize my corny kegs. We use it at our restaurant to sanitize everything. It has directions for a spray sanitizer and submersion. I usually scrub down the keg (including the little bits), rinse, then just fill up the keg with the solution and let it set for awhile.

The "Sani-Tabs" cost $10 for 150 tabs. Each tab makes one gallon of solution (200ppm.) It is great for me because I can get it from our food supplier GFS and because it is cheap. It is distributed by a company called U S Chemical Corp. 53094. I can not seem to find any easy links with pics and stuff of this product.

The label says the following:
Active Ingredients:
Alkyl (C14 95%, C12 3%, C16 2%)
dimethyl benzyl ammonium
chloride dihydrate . . . . . . . . . 50%
Inert Ingreddients: . . . . . . 50%

So my questions are for the chemical engineers in the group. Is this product strong enough at 200ppm? Will it be safe on my corny kegs?

I hope someone will help me this time.

**A4J** · 10-26-2008, 02:23 PM

i'm not a chemist/chemical engineer, but according to this link [about halfway down the second page] 200ppm is appropriate for food prep/processing. The link also says that it's less corrosive than liquid bleach, so I would bet that it's safe for cornies.

**Schlenkerla** · 10-26-2008, 02:25 PM

I found this website. U S Chemical - Foodservice Sanitation - Laundry - Housekeeping - Janitorial Cleaning Solutions

Your right not much to it. As for the PPM you don't know if its too high or too low. Do you know if its a no-rinse type? I'd want to know this first before using it with my beer.

I'd call the company, odds are they might not know these particular details unless they sell to wineries or breweries.

Sanitizer is cheap. If I were you I would not try to pinch a few pennies until I knew how to use in properly. Start with idophor, starsan or one-step.

FYI - Idophor is supposed to be used in 12-25ppm range according the state of Wisconsin.

I'd be concerned about off flavors if the concentration is 200ppm, especially if you don't rinse.

BTW - I'm a mechanical engineer that does a lot chemical work. I have several colleages who are Chem-E's. I can ask them if nobody else chimes in for you. They are also Homebrewers...

**hexmonkey** · 10-26-2008, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madewithchicken

The label says the following:
Active Ingredients:
Alkyl (C14 95%, C12 3%, C16 2%)
dimethyl benzyl ammonium
chloride dihydrate . . . . . . . . . 50%
Inert Ingreddients: . . . . . . 50%

Here's my google-fu response.

That's a quaternary ammonium sanitizer.

According to some folks, you probably shouldn't use it.

**wilserbrewer** · 10-27-2008, 12:25 AM

my 2 cents, 8 bucks worth of star san lasts me so long I can barely remember my last purchase. I mix it in half gallon increments and swish it around in the keg a few times. Per keg cost is almost negligible!

madewithchicken · 10-27-2008, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hexmonkey

Here's my google-fu response.

That's a quaternary ammonium sanitizer.

According to some folks, you probably shouldn't use it.

So it is a 'quat' then. Thank you that helps a lot. That makes me happy to know what kind it is. Now I know what I am looking for when i want to study it. I am going to start a new thread about quat-sans.