Exceptionally dumb sanitizer question

Mixed up starsan according to the directions, soaked all my stuff well before it was time to use, sprayed anything that couldn't fit in the bucket.

But several things (thermometer, paddle, hydrometer) had to be used more than once. To be safe, i sanitized them before each use. This, obviously, brought a few drops of the wort over each time I dropped them into the sanitizer, leaving it cloudy toward the end.

Still about a week away from opening up the primary bucket to take a first reading on it, so i have no way of knowing if i have any sort of infection yet...

How does one deal with that? Is it OK to get a little wort in the sanitizer? Should I rinse them with tap water before putting it back in the starsan?


Tried searching for this problem, but google only seems to give me results about sanitizer in my wort, not vice versa.

you're fine

You only need to sanitize things that are going to touch the wort post boil.

Once the Star San solution goes cloudy (if it was clear before you used it) it's time to dump it out. Chances are, it was fine during your brew day, but I would mix up a fresh batch for when you need to use it next.

Yeah, I'll use a fresh batch for each brew day. I probably went a bit overboard sanitizing everything, particularly things used during the boil.

Thanks

I have a bucket of Starsan and a 2 buckets of water. I have a small jar filled with Starsan for my thermometers. I also have a spray bottle of StarSan(mixed fresh each time, I just take it after I mix up a bucket). I have everything clean and was StarSanned after cleaning from the last brew. I put all things I can in the StarSan Bucket and the thermometers in the small jar. After and item is used, I place in the first water bucket. I quickly rub my hands on the implement to get rid of any particles the rinse in clean bucket then Starsan. I normally do this to every thing even on the hot side so that I will never touch cooled wort with anything un sanitized. Some people say I am OCD but I am really CDO as I had to alphabetize it.

I don't think there's such thing as going overboard with sanitization. It's quick, easy, and cheap... compared to a simple mistake that ruins a batch you've been aging for weeks and took a few hours to brew and cost however much in grains - use the sanitizer. But, as others have said, you didn't break anything.

I agree that you'll be fine. But remember sanitizing is no substitute for cleaning! If you're going to sanitize your thermometer, make sure it's clean first. That means rinsing off any residual wort.

Also, remember you don't need to soak things in Star San. It just needs surface contact for 30 seconds (I think...) so the spray bottle can be used for almost everything.

Starsan will keep for weeks if not months, as long as the pH is below ~3.0. Cloudiness is not the deciding factor. But if I am planning on keeping it a while, I would rinse anything of wort prior to sticking it back in the starsan.

Am I the only one that still uses iodophor?

BadNewsBrewery said:

Am I the only one that still uses iodophor?

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I think so... I don't since I'm color blind (see less than half of the colors out there). So, having a sanitizer that has a color indication for it's effectiveness is pretty much useless to me. Besides, I've yet to see any posts about Star San staining plastics, unlike with iodophor.

dbrewski said:

Starsan will keep for weeks if not months, as long as the pH is below ~3.0. Cloudiness is not the deciding factor. But if I am planning on keeping it a while, I would rinse anything of wort prior to sticking it back in the starsan.

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I only mix up about 2.5 gallons on brew days. Most of the time, I don't have too much left over after that. IF I have at least 2 gallons left, I cover the bucket and keep it until it's either low, or I feel like mixing more. I tend to not keep it hanging around for more than about a month though. At least, not in large amounts. The spray bottle could go a couple of months between being changed.

Golddiggie said:

Besides, I've yet to see any posts about Star San staining plastics, unlike with iodophor.

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The surfactant in Star San can leach into soft clear plastics (ex. vinyl tubing) and make them turn a cloudy/white color. Lots of posts about that.

zachattack said:

The surfactant in Star San can leach into soft clear plastics (ex. vinyl tubing) and make them turn a cloudy/white color. Lots of posts about that.

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Never had it happen... Maybe I'm just lucky. Maybe it's time to get a lottery ticket. :rockin: Or maybe I'll win the KC give-away.

Haha. I've only had it happen with blowoff tubing. If you have soft vinyl as your blowoff going into a jug of Star San, the tubing can get pretty cloudy after a couple weeks.

Looks like I'll be jumping to the StarSan ship once this bottle of Iodophor runs out...