Three questions...

I just racked into a secondary, only because I wanted to free up my primary. Do I need to top up my carboy with water?



How long does the beer stay good for once bottled?

How long does a batch of star San last for?
Thanks,

I just racked into a secondary, only because I wanted to free up my primary. Do I need to top up my carboy with water?
Definitely not, your batch size is the batch size it should be


How long does the beer stay good for once bottled?
Months if you keep it in a cool place. Better to get it in the fridge after a few weeks bottle conditioning.

How long does a batch of star San last for?
If you keep it in a sealed container, also can be good for a couple months

1) Don't add water to your secondary unless you're planning on lowering the ABV of your beer.
2) Depends on the type of beer, storage conditions, and your definition of "good."
3) A long time is best I can answer. You can even keep reusing it for a while. People suggest mixing it with distilled water if you are going to store a batch for a long period of time. I have some mixed in a spray bottle that I store and use as I need it for spot sanitizing.

1) No, you dont want to introduce oxygen to the beer. You could boil and cool the water, but your gravity will be different, and could water it down. Just leave as is
2) Depends on the style, could be a few months, for hoppier beers like IPA/IIPA's. They will still be good after that time, they will just loose the hope aroma quicker. RIS or Barleywine can be good for years because of the high alc content.
3) Not sure??

1) Why would you add water now? If anything you might consider adding water when putting the wort in the primary fermenter...in case your gravity is higher you can top off with some water to lower it.
2) They keep for awhile as long as you're not exposing them to light or a lot of heat.
3) I'll defer to others, I use OneStep.

sidepart said:

1)
3) I'll defer to others, I use OneStep.

Click to expand...

OneStep is really more of a cleaner, not a sanitizer. You'll be better off if you get some Iodophor or StarSan.

Thank you everyone.

To the Starsan question, get some ph strips to test it with. As long as the ph is under 3.5 you can still use it. My LHBS sells 100 strips for around $6, so it's rather inexpensive to test.

I've been using the same batch for a couple of months now.