Star San solution reeks of sulphur

I whipped up some applewine tonight and noticed my star san solution stunk of sulfur. Inside of the carboy had sulfur smell, as did the area where I sanitized my equipment. Has anyone ever noticed this before?

allanmac00 said:

I whipped up some applewine tonight and noticed my star san solution stunk of sulfur. Inside of the carboy had sulfur smell, as did the area where I sanitized my equipment. Has anyone ever noticed this before?

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Yes. I think it is a gas or vapor given off by a reaction between the phosphoric acid in Star San (I think that's what it is IIRC) and something either in the water it is mixed with, on the surface of equipment and work areas or both. I don't worry about it and it has not caused any problems that I am aware of. I'm not sure that what we are smelling is a sulfur compound or not. There may be something else that smells similar. I suspect that Star San may react with Oxiclean residue and the chemicals in similar products like PBW or even automatic dishwasher detergent. There are probably traces of that stuff all over our equipment even after we rinse it well. I ignore the faint sulphur smell and I also ignore the foam.

Great, thanks. I wasn't too worried about it, just had never experienced this before. This was also my first time brewing in a new house, so maybe the water is just a bit different.