does star san make beer taste nasty

i know that star san is a no rinse sanitiser....with that said i tasted a small bit on my tougue and it taste bitter and nasty.. wont that make my beer taste the same way when i dont rinse frementer,secoundary ferm,thermomiter, the keg ,siphone hose,etc, and all that....when you add all that up you probably get a couple of oz. of star san directly in the beer from the bigining to end of beer the makeing process.

a small amount of star san won't hurt the flavor of your beer.... if it did, we'd all be in trouble.
there's actually some thought that a small amount of star san in a fermenter/bottle will break down and the yeast will use it as nutrient. don't know if that's true, but i do know not to fear the foam.

did you taste it at full strength right out of the bottle? or diluted per the directions?

I've been using StarSan forever and have never had any ill effects to my beers. Don't fear the foam..

Star san when diluted with water will not contribute any off flavors to beer at all.

diluted when i tasted it......i say this because i brewed an american amber ale and its a little on the bitter side and i dont know why... i make i from one of those morebeer kits also this is my first brew im not sure if its sopposed to be this bitter but that bitter after taste kind of taste like the starsan bitter after taste

corrales_305 said:

diluted when i tasted it......i say this because i brewed an american amber ale and its a little on the bitter side and i dont know why... i make i from one of those morebeer kits also this is my first brew im not sure if its sopposed to be this bitter but that bitter after taste kind of taste like the starsan bitter after taste

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Buy a comparable commercial brew. That'll give you a good reference point to what yours should taste like.

corrales_305 said:

diluted when i tasted it......i say this because i brewed an american amber ale and its a little on the bitter side and i dont know why... i make i from one of those morebeer kits also this is my first brew im not sure if its sopposed to be this bitter but that bitter after taste kind of taste like the starsan bitter after taste

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the bitterness isn't from star san.
how long is the beer that tasted bitter been in bottles?

don't fear the foam dude. i think if anything it will make your beer taste better by keeping anything nasty out. unless you pour a couple oz's of undiluted star san directly into your beer it shouldn't produce any funky flavors. maybe the beer just needs to condition longer to get the flavor where you want it.

one week primary 2 weeks secoundary 2 day in keg

Diluted Star San is a phoshoric acid solution at a pH of less than 3. When the small amount of acid is diluted by the beer it will be tasteless. Remember Coca-cola uses a fair amount of phosphoric acid to add tartness.

corrales_305 said:

one week primary 2 weeks secoundary 2 day in keg

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i'd guess the bitterness is a green beer flavor. give it some time in the keg and it should go away.

Bitter...couldn't it be from carbonic bite I believe is the term from force carbing? Just another thought...but it's not from the Star San.

Brewnoob1 said:

Bitter...couldn't it be from carbonic bite I believe is the term from force carbing? Just another thought...but it's not from the Star San.

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that too, he is carbing in the keg.

I 2nd what Nordeast said. I try to let my brews sit under pressure in the keg for 2 weeks and its usually awesome by then. Anytime before 5 days and it just doesn't seem to taste right. Hopefully the flavor improves after a little more time under pressure. Also, after the beer has set for a while the first 4oz or so you pour off will have a lot of sediment in it. After that you should be pouring clear. hth
:rockin:

I've tasted Starsan many times and although I won't say it tastes great, it's more of a tart flavor than bitter IMO. And remember that it's WAY more diluted when used properly and after adding the beer, and also the yeast will eat it after you dilute it in beer.

If you just can't stand the idea of foam, they make a non-foaming version for CIP applications. That way you can sanitize, and then drain and let it drip out. No foam to stay in the fermenter/bottles. I don't worry about it.

I think a little logic needs to be had in situations like this...If starsan contributed off flavor to beer, why would anyone we be using it?

Revvy said:

I think a little logic needs to be had in situations like this...If starsan contributed off flavor to beer, why would anyone we be using it?

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exactly

I would think that the Iodine I used to use would give more of an off flavor than Star San... I used to rinse the hell out of my bottles, carboys, and equipment because I hated that Iodine "scent" that was on there.

Now with the Star San... me no worry.

Gary

Definitely green beer, but if it was fermented a bit too warn he could be noticing a touch of Fusel Alcohol too???

Does anyone find themselves foaming up their starsan just a bit more than normal because you are SO in love with the foam when using it and seeing your beer immerse itself in it? I picture a bubble bath for my beer....can't be a bad thing






or is that just me? lol

GASoline71 said:

I would think that the Iodine I used to use would give more of an off flavor than Star San... I used to rinse the hell out of my bottles, carboys, and equipment because I hated that Iodine "scent" that was on there.

Now with the Star San... me no worry.

Gary

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That was my concern when I opened my first bottle from my first batch last night. I was wondering if the scent was possibly related to the off flavor I was noticing or if it was just still green.

I had a liter of starsan suck through my airlock once and into my beer when I forgot to remove my blow off when cold crashing... No off flavors. I think the unwanted flavor is for some other reason.

Brewnoob1 said:

Does anyone find themselves foaming up their starsan just a bit more than normal because you are SO in love with the foam when using it and seeing your beer immerse itself in it? I picture a bubble bath for my beer....can't be a bad thing






or is that just me? lol

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i thought i was the only one!

NordeastBrewer77 said:

i thought i was the only one!

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WOOHOO! Not the only one then that loves the foam that much!

the only way i can see starsan contributing to an off flavor is by not using it.

Brewnoob1 said:

Does anyone find themselves foaming up their starsan just a bit more than normal because you are SO in love with the foam when using it and seeing your beer immerse itself in it? I picture a bubble bath for my beer....can't be a bad thing






or is that just me? lol

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The father and son team that run the LHBS place that I go to said basically the same thing. They LOVE the foam. He told me right off that Star San was the way to go... and that the foam was a very, very, very good thing.

Gary

so should i leave it in the keg to condition for a couple of weeks more?..also someone mentioned "fusel alcohol"......and the word "warn" which i think they meant "warm"........can 74 degree temp while in primary fermenter using safale 05 cause the beer to be bitter and this "fusel alcohol" ?......also what is fusel alcohol...it sound bad i guess. will this type of alcohol make use sick if u drink the beer? i ask because after having a glass of the beer i kind felt a little sick to my stomach ....u know .......like when you drink some steel reserve 211 malt licour nasty beer.

corrales_305 said:

so should i leave it in the keg to condition for a couple of weeks more?

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Yes, beer + time = delicious.

corrales_305 said:

so can 74 degree temp while in primary fermenter using safale 05 cause the beer to be bitter and this "fusel alcohol" ?......also what is fusel alcohol...it sound bad i guess. will this type of alcohol make use sick if u drink the beer? i ask because after having a glass of the beer i kind felt a little sick to my stomach ....u know .......like when you drink some steel reserve 211 malt licour nasty beer.

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Yes you can easily get fusel alcohols at fermentation temps of 74, especially during the first 24-48 hours. Cool your wort into the mid 60's for most yeast strains before pitching. Usually it's safe to let temps rise a bit after the first couple of days. In Miami you might be looking at a swamp cooler for the warmer days.

They should not make you sick, but are theorized to cause headaches. So not a good thing.

Man that sucks!!!!!!i guess after you get these alcohols there is no removing them from the beer even if you let the beer sit for a while ??so should i just trash the beer or let it sit for a couple of weeks and see if it improves?

so then you are telling me that with enough time the beer should be drinkable!! so i will leave it in the keg with co2 pressure for some more itme and see what happens...thanks

FUSEL ALCOHOL:
Ethyl alcohol (2 carbons) is what we like in beer. Fusel alcohols are longer carbon chain alcohols....3 carbon(propanol), 4 carbon(butanol and isobutanol) 5 carbon (amyl- and iso-amyl alcohol) and the phenolic acid tyrosol. Some of these are desirable in limited quantities in high-alcohol beers like strong ales and bocks or double bocks. Excessive amounts of these can be can be produced by higher fermentation temperatures, excessive yeast growth and excessive amino acids in the wort.

Fusel alcohols are what give you the terrible hangover after you drink cheap whiskey. The higher dollar whiskeys are more carefully distilled selecting out the fusel alcohols by more precise distilling techniques (each alcohol has a different boiling point)

I sanitize (sterilize) by misting my cleaned dry equipment with Everclear (95% ethyl alcohol) immediately before use by using a 99cent mist bottle bought at any Dollar store or Wally-World. You can 50/50 mix it with tap water if desired and it will still do the job. Any lingering residue not evaporated by the time I use that particular equipment has no affect on the yeasties and leaves no taste in the finished product. I sterilize the cleaned bottles by pouring 3-4 ounces into a bottle, shaking vigorously with plastic gloved thumb over opening and then pouring into the next bottle in line until all bottles are done. Can sterilize carboy/bucket the same way. No soaking time as nothing can live in Everclear and it instantly kills any organism it touches. Pour the remaining Everclear into the Everclear bottle for later use or pour into a Coke and drink it.

Bones1948 said:

I sanitize (sterilize) by misting my cleaned dry equipment with Everclear (95% ethyl alcohol) immediately before use by using a 99cent mist bottle bought at any Dollar store or Wally-World. You can 50/50 mix it with tap water if desired and it will still do the job. Any lingering residue not evaporated by the time I use that particular equipment has no affect on the yeasties and leaves no taste in the finished product. I sterilize the cleaned bottles by pouring 3-4 ounces into a bottle, shaking vigorously with plastic gloved thumb over opening and then pouring into the next bottle in line until all bottles are done. Can sterilize carboy/bucket the same way. No soaking time as nothing can live in Everclear and it instantly kills any organism it touches. Pour the remaining Everclear into the Everclear bottle for later use or pour into a Coke and drink it.

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Sorry, but there is some misinformation above. I do use alcohol for sanitation in some of my processes, but it is not an instant kill, and 50/50 or 95% are not the best mixtures. If you want to use alcohol, a 70/30 mix is most effective, and you should really give it a few minutes to soak to allow it time to work.

All sanitizers require some time to work...going immediately from sanitizer to use means you are probably rinsing the sanitizer off before it's had a chance to kill.

Not Exactly Sterile

Was your beer in a room with ambient temp of 74 or did you take the temp of the beer during fermentation? A really good fermentation will bring the temp up in the fermenter by 5-10 degrees. If your beer was at 74 in a 65 degree room, I think you would be safe from fusels with that yeast strain

corrales_305 said:

i know that star san is a no rinse sanitiser....with that said i tasted a small bit on my tougue and it taste bitter and nasty.. wont that make my beer taste the same way when i dont rinse frementer,secoundary ferm,thermomiter, the keg ,siphone hose,etc, and all that....when you add all that up you probably get a couple of oz. of star san directly in the beer from the bigining to end of beer the makeing process.

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TROLL...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/considered-lying-not-291654/index4.html#post3631071

Why didn't you listen to the advice given in the thread YOU started?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/best-yeast-high-temp-fermentation-287608/

So let's recap, k?

-Start a thread because you know your temps are in the 70's
-Ignore all advice given in that thread
-Start another thread blaming Starsan because your beer turned out REALLY crappy, but in reality, all of this could have been avoided if you would have heeded the advice in the first thread.
-Start a troll thread demonstrating either a juvenile disposition or emotional immaturity.

Really, it's simple. You can either learn from the experience this board has to offer or not. If not, you're going to continue to make crappy beer. The difference is no one will be there to help given your attitude.

good luck to you

Bacteriology 101:
Everclear kills by fixing, or literally cooking, the peptidoglycan constituents of the bacterial cell wall and dissolving the various lipids within the cell. This happens instantaneously in the bacteria of only a few microns in size.

Iodine or iodophore sanitizers kill by simply clogging the pores of the cell wall causing a slower death of the organism. These clogged cell wall pores prohibit entry of nutrient needed for the bug to live and prevents the exit of waste and other molecules produced by the bug's metabolism. Iodine was once used universally by grandmaw who smeared it on cuts in the skin, un-be-knownst it, as it was sold in a concentrated form also killed living flesh.

The dilute phosphoric acid sanitizers kill the bacteria by entering them and disrupting the bug's metabolism. That's why one must allow time for the sanitizer to work.

I gained this information during my Masters Degree studies in microorganism metabolism. It was very helpful later when working on my Doctorate in Medicine in medical school.

Bones1948 said:

Bacteriology 101:
Everclear kills by fixing, or literally cooking, the peptidoglycan constituents of the bacterial cell wall and dissolving the various lipids within the cell. This happens instantaneously in the bacteria of only a few microns in size.

Iodine or iodophore sanitizers kill by simply clogging the pores of the cell wall causing a slower death of the organism. These clogged cell wall pores prohibit entry of nutrient needed for the bug to live and prevents the exit of waste and other molecules produced by the bug's metabolism. Iodine was once used universally by grandmaw who smeared it on cuts in the skin, un-be-knownst it, as it was sold in a concentrated form also killed living flesh.

The dilute phosphoric acid sanitizers kill the bacteria by entering them and disrupting the bug's metabolism. That's why one must allow time for the sanitizer to work.

I gained this information during my Masters Degree studies in microorganism metabolism. It was very helpful later when working on my Doctorate in Medicine in medical school.

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Yup...but we're trying to kill more than just bacteria. Wild yeasts will spoil beer as well.

Everclear kills ANY microorganism.