bobbyw

Recipes 

Does anyone store a starsan mixture in their carboys to keep them sanitized and ready for next batch? If not do you think it will stay active / sanitary in the mean time?

llazy_llama

Recipes 

Star San mixed with distilled water will last for a very long time. We're talking years here. You'll know the Star San has lost effectiveness when it's pH gets above ~3.5. You'll likely see it happen, it turns cloudy.

Honestly though, you're wasting Star San. Pour in a gallon of water, add a bit of Star San to formula, and shake the hell out of your carboy for a few minutes. Pour it out, let it dry, then seal with sanitized tinfoil. That will last for months, and will use a lot less Star San then filling it up.

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TerapinChef

Recipes 

I think that he's trying to say keep the starsan rotating between carboys and reusing it, but I'm not sure.

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bobbyw

Recipes 

Yeah that was the idea, to be able to reuse the star san. That is a good idea with the tinfoil. I think that is what I will do. Do you (llazy_llama) use them right after you pop the tinfoil off? I feel like I would get paranoid that something snuck in there under the foil. What about a sanitized solid bung? I would just like to sanitize when I am finished with the carboys and have them sanitized and ready for next time.

Dycokac

Recipes 

I'd like to note how you used the word paranoid... Sanitation is important. Paranoia is not unless you have issues with successful batches.

llazy_llama

Recipes 

After cleaning, sanitizing, and drip drying, I use sanitized tinfoil to cover the neck of my carboy. When it's brew day, I leave the tinfoil on until it's time to pour the wort. Sometimes my carboys sit for weeks, even months. When it's brew time, I pull off the tinfoil and pour my cooled wort in. A sanitized solid bung would do the same thing as the sanitized tin foil, but would cost a bit more. I guess the advantage here is that a bung is reuseable. Then again, tinfoil forms a much more effective barrier than a bung does, so I'd guess the tinfoil would last much longer inbetween uses.

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zippyslug31

Recipes 

On the topic of reusing, I've been sanitizing my carboy, then dumping that solution into a large flat container (that has a lid) and let my racking equipment, turkey baster, etc sit in that container. Makes it very convenient when I need something quickly.... it's sanitized and ready to go.

This reuse of starsan seems to work well for me.

fatbob

Recipes 

The last time that I filled a keg I mixed the Star San in a keg and left it there. Last week (about a month later) I wondered if it was still good? I called the number on the bottle to ask 5 Star if it was still good and the man I talked to said if I didn't use distilled water that I should probably throw it out. He said if I had some litmus paper & could test the PH then it would be OK if the PH was 3.5. Since it is so cheap to just mix another batch I threw it out. The next time I order I will probably order some strips. He said if it was still clear then it was most likely OK but he didn't think it was worth the risk.

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Edcculus

Recipes 

I like keeping it in one of those square plastic containers with a spigot. Its a lot easier to dispense it than trying to pour it out of a carboy.

ChshreCat

Recipes 

I just use a spray bottle filled with starsan. Give everything a quick spray down when it's time to sanitize. You use a TINY amount of starsan doing that and it gets things just as sanitary as dunking it or filling a carboy to the top.

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