What Color Is Your Star San?

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What Color Is Your Star San?

  • Red.

  • Orange.

  • Yellow.

  • Green.

  • Blue.

  • Purple.

  • Brown.

  • Clear, because I'm concerned about the health risks of food coloring.

  • Clear, because the idea never occurred to me.

  • Clear, because of some other reason which I'll post about in-length.


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thadius856

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Just searched before posting and saw that PassedPawn posted about this in December. That's right around the time I was piecing together my kegging system, using a keg-to-keg jumper for sanitizer, and dyeing my Star San so I could see it move through the lines when transferring.

It seems like, so far, we're the only two that have posted about doing this. But I'm curious if maybe this is just so basic of an idea that nobody ever posted about it.

So, I ask: What color is your Star San?

(mine's red because that color was cheapest at WinCo Foods, fwiw)
 
I experimented with other colors. Yellow seemed obvious, but it looked like other chemicals that I store in spray bottles.

Blue and Green looked odd, and I was afraid of getting any of those colors in my beer.

I tried a mix of red and yellow (orange), but it looked odd.

So, red it was.

Oh, and I've never heard of anyone else using food coloring in their starsan, though it seems like an obvious thing to do.

I emailed James Spencer and he mentioned it on one of his Basic Brewing Radio shows.

I like how it looks in fermenter airlocks!

2012-12-17-at-125723-57678.jpg
 
I will admit that I never thought of doing it, but I don't know why I would. I can see the starsan moving through the tubing without the dye; there is an occasional bubble or two that is readily visible. I can also tell when it's getting to the end, because I tend to get a lot of foam moving through right at the bottom.

That said, if it helps you, by all means, go for it!!!
 
I will admit that I never thought of doing it, but I don't know why I would. I can see the starsan moving through the tubing without the dye; there is an occasional bubble or two that is readily visible. I can also tell when it's getting to the end, because I tend to get a lot of foam moving through right at the bottom.

That said, if it helps you, by all means, go for it!!!

On this I think you missed an option
"Clear - Because I don't care" :D
 
Definitely helps.

Went to put toss a paint strainer bag of dry hops into a keg secondary today. Got about 1" from the water line when I realized I almost tossed them into the Star San keg. o_O Somebody above voted that they dye theirs brown. If it were brown, I wouldn't have noticed it wasn't beer.
 
Clear, because I don't have any trouble remembering where my Star San is and what I've applied it to. ;)
 
My star-san is clear, but the spray bottle it is in has a red handle, as compared to the "boil over" bottle which has a blue handle and contains either distilled or filtered water. When I mix up a larger batch of star-san for working with multiple kegs/fermenters I mix it in a 2.5 gallon plastic water jug that is labeled "Star-San".

Other than the red handled "star-san" sprayer and blue handled water sprayer, I label everything as to not forget what is in it. If tinting the star-san helps you out, that is great. It is really not much different than me writing "star-san" on the outside of the jug, or putting a piece of tape on a fermenter/keg and writing on it the info about what is inside.

The pink/red color does look interesting in the air locks.
 
My Star San mixes up cloudy and then clears.
I keep only 1 spray bottle clearly marked "Star-San" in black letters.
I mix in 2.5 gallon jugs marked "Star San" in black letters.
Distilled water remains in their original jug until used. Jug is recycled when empty.
I do not have kegs.
I never thought of coloring it and most likely will not color it as I have no need to.

It is a cool idea though and looks very colorful!
 
It is really not much different than me writing "star-san" on the outside of the jug, or putting a piece of tape on a fermenter/keg and writing on it the info about what is inside.

Sure it's different. When I spray it, it's much easier to see if I missed any nooks or crannies with the coloring.

Not a huge difference, I'll admit.
 
I do not see why you would do this?

I use a big Tupperware bucket and have 10 gallons of star san in it.
I use it over and over. Mine is about a month old and still fine.
I bought PH test strips and make sure it is low enough PH.

I soak buckets. Better bottles. Corny kegs. And my 1/6th sanke slim keg in it. It works great.

If i need a litte bit i scoop some into a small bucket or pot then put back after.

Mine is clear/hazey i just stir it up and it gets all bubbly again.

Oh yeah and i keep the lid cover on it when not being used. Dont want kids falling in it or dog drinking it lol
 
Because I use BevSeal lines, not vinyl lines like most of you guys, so I can't see clear liquid flowing through the lines.

After a I clean a keg, I jumper from my Star San keg into the freshly cleaned keg. That one becomes my new Star San keg, and then I use the newly empty, sanitized keg.
 
True. I keep a plain water spray bottle right next to the Star San spray bottle in the fridge door. I use it to mist beer glasses as they go into the freezer for a nice frosty mug effect. :) Keeping the plain water in the fridge door allows it to freeze before dripping down the glass.
 
Wow i learned a few cool tips. I like the plain water spray idea for frosty mugs!
Also i think if i hear you right you keep a corny keg full of sanitize starsan then pump that to a fresh washed keg then put beer ready for carbonating into the sanitized keg?

That sounds like something i need to look into doing as well.

Thanks!
 
Yep, that's it. Clean the keg, give it a quick burst to seal the lid, then jumper liquid-to-liquid to the Star San keg, apply CO2 to the Star San keg at 5 psi or so, and prop open the pressure valve on the empty keg. I usually go about washing something else while it does the work. It'll be done in 10 mins. It's make a very distinct "gurgle" when it's done transferring.

When it's done, the empty one is pressurized at 5 psi. If you don't want to use it right away, burp the headspace 5-6 times to turn it into a pure CO2 environment, and you can store it pressurized almost indefinitely because nothing can grow in there without oxygen.

It's really nice on kegging day to be able to just bleed the pressure off, attach the siphon to the liquid post, and start siphoning into a keg that I was able to sanitize and clear of oxygen ahead of time. Probably costs me $0.50 more in CO2 or so and guarantees no oxidation from the transfer. To clean the kegging tool, open the lid of the Star San keg, attach the liquid disconnect, and pump Star San through the siphon back into the keg a few times. Drain the Star San out of the line; it's cleaned and sanitized in, what, 30 seconds?

On brew day, I always pressurize the Star San keg to 10 psi or so and then take the keg out to the front yard where I brew. That way, if I ever need Star San to fill a spray bottle or pour into a container, I just pour it off with a picnic tap.
 

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