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**Revvy** · 10-08-2012, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kosch

Doesn't it require a 30 second contact time? I basically try to keep it moving around for 30 seconds, which is easier done by just shaking it, so that is why it foams up so much. Maybe I'll try some more gentle swishing/rolling for not quite so long.

Thanks!

Kosch

30 seconds is the fda mandated contact time on the label. Chcuk talley says in both podcasts that it is actually must faster. But basically, you just have to wet the surface and leave it be.

**Kosch** · 10-08-2012, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

30 seconds is the fda mandated contact time on the label. Chcuk talley says in both podcasts that it is actually must faster. But basically, you just have to wet the surface and leave it be.

You know, I had actually read that before, but I guess I was still being paranoid. Especially now after moving to all grain and having grain dust all over (I crush my grains in the basement, but pouring into the mash tun still goes all over).

So since I'm not fearing the foam, I guess I should also not fear the FDA?

I will try to relax a bit more about it!

**Spartan1979** · 10-09-2012, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwilliamson

I've seen videos and read about this foaming. It seems strange to me to fill the keg or carboy with all that foam in there. I would always remove all of it before I filled it. I assume it is ok to do this but having that much non-beer chemical mixed in with the beer bothers me.

I have no problem not fearing the foam in a carboy, but I can't bring myself to leave it in a keg and add it to a finished beer. That's just me.

Reelale · 10-09-2012, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartan1979

I have no problem not fearing the foam in a carboy, but I can't bring myself to leave it in a keg and add it to a finished beer. That's just me.

Not just you. I use Starsan for equipment and fermenters but I use Iodophor for kegs and bottles. My reasoning is that foam is made up of tiny little bubbles full of air (O2). We go to great lengths to reduce the exposure to O2, so why add it back in?

**MalFet** · 10-10-2012, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reelale

Not just you. I use Starsan for equipment and fermenters but I use Iodophor for kegs and bottles. My reasoning is that foam is made up of tiny little bubbles full of air (O2). We go to great lengths to reduce the exposure to O2, so why add it back in?

What do you imagine the keg/bottle is full of when it doesn't have bubbles if not also air?

g-star · 10-10-2012, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

The information has been repeated on here a zillion times, including the links to the podcast by the creators of starsan. IT BREAKS DOWN in contact with the beer to benign compounds found in just about every softdrink (at least cola based) AND IS EATEN BY THE YEAST (and loved even by septic systems.) It doesn't stay in there in it's original form. Properly diluted starsan is perfectly safe.

Well, the chemical doing the sanatizing (phosphoric acid) is food safe (its in cola) and may be consumed in part by yeast.

However, the ingredient (anionic surfactant) that makes the foam (dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid) is not any food product and is NOT EATEN BY THE YEAST. It is not considered toxic, but you are ingesting the equivalent of small amounts if dishwasher detergent.

Does that bother you? Personal choice. I keep my surfactant ingestion to a minimum, so I get rid of the vast majority of the foam after sanitizing. No infections thus far after hundreds of batches.

Bricks41 · 10-10-2012, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by g-star

Well, the chemical doing the sanatizing (phosphoric acid) is food safe (its in cola) and may be consumed in part by yeast.

However, the ingredient (anionic surfactant) that makes the foam (dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid) is not any food product and is NOT EATEN BY THE YEAST. It is not considered toxic, but you are ingesting the equivalent of small amounts if dishwasher detergent.

Does that bother you? Personal choice. I keep my surfactant ingestion to a minimum, so I get rid of the vast majority of the foam after sanitizing. No infections thus far after hundreds of batches.

Granted I also prefer to minimize the foam as much as possible, but I would tend to believe that anyone using a dishwasher would have a similar amount of residue left on their dishes even after the rinse cycle.

**Spartan1979** · 10-10-2012, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalFet

What do you imagine the keg/bottle is full of when it doesn't have bubbles if not also air?

I don't know about Reelale but I purge my kegs with CO2 before racking into them. And I only bottle with a BeerGun.

**MalFet** · 10-10-2012, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartan1979

I don't know about Reelale but I purge my kegs with CO2 before racking into them. And I only bottle with a BeerGun.

If you are purging your kegs, the rise and drop of pressure should be collapsing the foam in any case, no?

Reelale · 10-11-2012, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartan1979

I don't know about Reelale but I purge my kegs with CO2 before racking into them. And I only bottle with a BeerGun.

Me too. And after racking. I think the whole idea is to minimize contact with oxygen. Displacing as much O2 as possible just seems like a good practice.