Star San?

I've read that it's not always good to rinse the residue after sanitizing with star san. I've wanted to try it but there's always lots of bubbles still left in the bottles or whatever I've used it on. Is it common practice to leave the residue and either bottle or rack the beer on top of it? Does it effect the finished product any. Any clarification will be helpful, it's a pain to rinse all the residue, would save me tons of time on bottling day. Thanks!

Don't fear the foam.

That foam is yeast food - no worries!

Do not rinse Starsan... It says that in the directions on the bottle. You lose the sanitization if you rinse.

I only use Star San, and have never rinsed. I always rack and bottle right into the foam. For many moons now...

+1
don't fear the foam. rack right on top of it. at first i thought everyone was crazy or didn't get as much foam as i was getting, but sure enough you can rack right on top of the foam. from what i've read it actually breaks down into yeast nutrient. if it does affect your beer it would only be a positive thing

Wow, I'd never heard that about the yeast... That's pretty wild! Makes me wanna reconsider my switch back to iodophor. The sliminess that came from the StarSan kind of turned me off.

never used iodophor, but i like the way star san smells. plus you can make a bubble beard

awesome guys, thanks! I guess I had that pre-determined notion (from dish soap) that foam = bad. I'll be racking on top of it from now on!

You WANT trace amounts of sanitizer in whatever you are using. If using a no-rinse/wet contact sanitizer like iodophor or starsan you should always sanitize fresh, and leave things wet. You should sanitize on bottling day (or brew day if you are brewing.) It only takes a few minutes. If you let a no-rinse, wet contact sanitizer like starsan or iodophor, dry your are reducing it's efficacy by half. If it is dry, any micro organisms that touch the surface render it no longer sanitized. If the walls are wet with sanitizer, that organism would be toast. But dry it would still be alive.

In fact because of that, the inventor of starsan worked it out so that starsan breaks down into "yeast food" in fact many of the compounds are found in most softdrinks, so they are perfectly safe when at the correct dillution.

There's a lot of great info in this thread, including the links to podcasts about the two most effective sanitizers we use, iodophor and starsan.

Sanitizer Question.

This is why I come here, valuable information.

Also see https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ruined-268968/

Ok...Star San. I had this much foam after racking. Is this gonna be ok?

Not a problem.

RTPMedic said:

Ok...Star San. I had this much foam after racking. Is this gonna be ok?

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Geez, you mean you're worried about that?!?

That ain't nuthin.












When you get something really good, post it here.

Thanks, guys!

Does anybody else get really dry hands from star san? After bottling days my hands peel worse than a bad sunburn.

dmbRedGetta said:

Does anybody else get really dry hands from star san? After bottling days my hands peel worse than a bad sunburn.

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Not anywhere near that bad, but yeah. Wear gloves.

or dunk them in a solution of pbw

Glad I looked into this thread - I've never feared the foam but didn't know it actually acted as a yeast nutrient.

When I'm teaching an intro class, I get the "rinse" question all the time.

My usual response is "why would you want to take a sanitized bottle and put unsanitized water in it???".

I use iodophor, have for almost 20 years. But, since I now teach some classes, I figured I'd give StarSan a shot. Looking at these pictures, DAYUM!

Looks fun.

Jonathan

Okay, so I just want to clarify something. I've read the "Don't fear the foam" post in this forum and I understand the concept, but I'm confused on the mechanism. If San Star is truly an effective sanitizer it should kill yeast, right? So at the concentrations it says on the bottle it should do that, correct so far? I'm assuming this is because the solution becomes too acidic for microorganisms to live. But at the much lower concentration when you add your wort, it loses the acidic sanitizing properties.

Is this correct?

dlvc1007 said:

Okay, so I just want to clarify something. I've read the "Don't fear the foam" post in this forum and I understand the concept, but I'm confused on the mechanism. If San Star is truly an effective sanitizer it should kill yeast, right? So at the concentrations it says on the bottle it should do that, correct so far? I'm assuming this is because the solution becomes too acidic for microorganisms to live. But at the much lower concentration when you add your wort, it loses the acidic sanitizing properties.

Is this correct?

Click to expand...

No it is NOT toxic to yeast.If it were toxic to yeast in any way why would we be using it and raving about it???????

In fact it is designed to break down into yeast energizer.

At the prescribed dose, it destroys bacteria cell walls. At dilute concentrations, it mostly dissociates, freeing phosphate for yeast to use. Yeast nutrient that you buy in the store is primarily nitrogen compounds and phosphates- the breakdown products of StarSan are phosphate.

Listen to this...all you need to know is in that podcast.

March 29, 2007 - Sanitizing with Bleach and Star San
Charlie Talley from Five Star Chemicals tells us best practices in using household bleach and Star San in sanitizing equipment.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr03-29-07.mp3

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Revvy said:

No it is NOT toxic to yeast.If it were toxic to yeast in any way why would we be using it and raving about it???????

In fact it is designed to break down into yeast energizer.

At the prescribed dose, it destroys bacteria cell walls. At dilute concentrations, it mostly dissociates, freeing phosphate for yeast to use. Yeast nutrient that you buy in the store is primarily nitrogen compounds and phosphates- the breakdown products of StarSan are phosphate.

Listen to this...all you need to know is in that podcast.

Click to expand...

Thanks! That clears it all up.

I'm glad for the reassurance, here! I recently racked into my secondary with some very lush foam still in it... at first I was worried because I saw zero fermentation activity after the transfer; no fine little bubbles on top or anything. I even dropped a new packet of SF05 in there and crossed my fingers (though I know without remaining oxygen it won't likely prosper). All should be well, then!

Man, how did people learn to homebrew before the internet? So far I've had no spoiled batches, no stuck fermentations, and no oxidization thanks to the ample info on here.

Revvy said:

No it is NOT toxic to yeast.If it were toxic to yeast in any way why would we be using it and raving about it???????

In fact it is designed to break down into yeast energizer.

At the prescribed dose, it destroys bacteria cell walls. At dilute concentrations, it mostly dissociates, freeing phosphate for yeast to use. Yeast nutrient that you buy in the store is primarily nitrogen compounds and phosphates- the breakdown products of StarSan are phosphate.

Listen to this...all you need to know is in that podcast.

Click to expand...

I have assumed that at normal sanitizing concentration, at a PH of say 2 or 3, that it would kill yeast. Isn't this this case?

I would assume that if sanitized your fermenter with star san, poured out the liquid leaving only the film and foam, and sprinkled in a pack of dry yeast BEFORE adding your wort, that would be pretty hard on the yeast. Of course that would be a totally dumb thing to do; I'm just trying to understand the whole issue a little better.

Clearly however when you've added 5 gallons of wort to a however much star san (not much) resides in the film and the foam, the effect of the starsan is inconsequential.

I agree with the underlying point in this thread.... Rinsing is counterproductive and the foam from starsan won't hurt a thing. That said, My understanding is similar to carp's. The chemical in starsan absolutely IS toxic to yeast at sanitation concentrations. Diluted it is not. If this weren't true, starsan would not be effective at preventing wild yeast from infecting your wort.

Also, this stuff is not "designed" to break down into yeast nutrient, it is just a happy coincidence. The primary ingredient has been used for years in all sorts of detergents and cleaners.

Adam