Star San

I just bought some Star San. I did not see how long you are supposed to let it soak, but once you clean your carboy and/or bottles, do you have to let it air dry before you use it? I put some in my carboy today and when I drained the stuff out, I had a ton of foam. I did not put my beer into the foam. Would it have been safe to do so?
Thank you in advance.

Dont fear the foam, its your friend. You can rack your beer right onto the foam, because it breaks down and provides nutrients for your yeast. No, you dont have to let it dry before you use it. Most just get as much of the liquid out as possible and the proceed.

I believe they say that you only need 30 seconds of contact time, but it could be as long as 1 min. I dont remember for sure. I am sure someone will chime in how long you need for sure.

i just bought a batch of star san too, but i made the mistake of reading the bottle. whoever wrote the label made this stuff seem like the sanitizer of the apocalypse. is it really that dangerous?

Its an acid based sanitizer and does a wonderful job. It makes me feel much safer keeping all surfaces wet with StarSan that comes in contact with the wort or fermented beer.

Listen to this. Star san is amazing stuff. Listen to the whole broadcast, it's definitely worth it even though it is rather long. Charlie Talley, one of the founders of Five Star Chemical Company is the guest and clears up a lot of the rumors and myths surrounding the chemical.

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/search.php?story=five+star&dosearch=yes

atxstanley said:

Listen to this. Star san is amazing stuff. Listen to the whole broadcast, it's definitely worth it even though it is rather long. Charlie Talley, one of the founders of Five Star Chemical Company is the guest and clears up a lot of the rumors and myths surrounding the chemical.

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/search.php?story=five+star&dosearch=yes

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I'll have to listen to that monday at work.

that broadcast is not only informative...its pretty damned funny too. they drink their brew during the shows, and by the end they are pretty happy

30 seconds is adequate, although it is rated at 2 or 3 minutes because that is the minimum test the EPA preforms.

I second the podcast, very helpful.

Yeah....you should probably give it at least a few minutes to soak...unless you're in a pinch. 30 secs is probably okay in a hurry. Don't worry about the foam; just turn your carboy upside down about 30 mins before flame out and let it drain......then when you transfer from your kettle most of it will have disspiated. Don't worry about the rest.

atxstanley said:

Listen to this. Star san is amazing stuff. Listen to the whole broadcast, it's definitely worth it even though it is rather long. Charlie Talley, one of the founders of Five Star Chemical Company is the guest and clears up a lot of the rumors and myths surrounding the chemical.

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/search.php?story=five+star&dosearch=yes

Click to expand...

I just listened to this. Can you reuse the Star San like you can with PBW? I mean, if you can reuse it and save some money without taking a chance of contamination, I am all for it, that way I can put my money towards other things, like ingredients to make more beer.

StarSan is effective as long as its pH is at or below 3.5 and as long as it's clear. When it clouds up so you can't see through it, the detergent has separated out. I just keep it in a 5gal carboy with a carboy cap and it keeps for weeks no problem.

I've been using StarSan since I started and have no reason to quit. I've only had 2 infections (not the fault of StarSan) out of 17 brews. I've never noticed any taste and I don't get all the foam out of the bottles before I fill them. Never tried to reuse though.

I have to listen to the podcast again to find out about the cloud issue. I thought I remember hearing that it was OK if it was cloudy for a week or two. Especially if it gets cloudy real fast. It seems that the initial cloudiness was caused by heavy metals in the water. Mine gets cloudy after about 30 minutes, even though I never thought I had really hard water. Of course I do have 60 year old water pipes in the burbs of DC.

adx said:

I have to listen to the podcast again to find out about the cloud issue. I thought I remember hearing that it was OK if it was cloudy for a week or two. Especially if it gets cloudy real fast. It seems that the initial cloudiness was caused by heavy metals in the water. Mine gets cloudy after about 30 minutes, even though I never thought I had really hard water. Of course I do have 60 year old water pipes in the burbs of DC.

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If you use reverse osmosis or distilled water, then Star San keeps almost indefinitely. My LHBS sells 5 gallons of RO water for next to nothing, so it is really worth buying it to increase the lifetime of my Star San. I mix it up in a 5 gallon batch in my bottling bucket and just pour it out of the tap whenever I need it. Very handy stuff.

That's a good idea. I can get distilled water for about $.50/gal in 3 gallon containers. I'll have to try that next time.

FlyGuy said:

If you use reverse osmosis or distilled water, then Star San keeps almost indefinitely. My LHBS sells 5 gallons of RO water for next to nothing, so it is really worth buying it to increase the lifetime of my Star San. I mix it up in a 5 gallon batch in my bottling bucket and just pour it out of the tap whenever I need it. Very handy stuff.

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Boy that would save some money. How long have you kept it like this?

Quick Star San question:

I have read that it will discolor/damage certain household surfaces (perhaps depending on concentration). Has anyone experienced this and how quickly/likely will it "bleach" clothes at usage dilution?

I had a star san jug leak on my garage floor that went unoticed by me for a couple of weeks and it ate the concrete floor. I did not realize it could do that, now my garage floor has a big pitted out section right in the middle of it.

Eastside

jcarson83 said:

Boy that would save some money. How long have you kept it like this?

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Months. As long as it is not cloudy, I try to reuse it. I have some pH strips that I use to test that the pH is still below 3.5. If it isn't, but the solution is still clear, I add a few drops and it is as good as new!

Eastside Brewer said:

I had a star san jug leak on my garage floor that went unoticed by me for a couple of weeks and it ate the concrete floor. I did not realize it could do that, now my garage floor has a big pitted out section right in the middle of it.

Eastside

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I left the bottle of concentrate sitting on my kitchen counter on numerous occasions... I'm moving out now, and have noticed rings in the shape of the bottom of the bottle, etched into the counter top...

oops..

I don't think my landord will notice before he returns the deposit though...

kvh