How are "no-rinse" sanitizer and/or cleaners actually "no-rinse"

For those with chemistry backgrounds, please see the title of the thread.



Whatever chemical cleanser / sanitizer that you use has to actually go somewhere, right? If something is "no rinse", I assume that means that it becomes inert somehow in a manner that does not affect the brewing process...but doesn't that mean there is still something additional in your beer?

With StarSan (arguably the best no-rinse because it can be mixed and stored long-term), any residual foam becomes yeast nutrient. Iodophor at properly mixed concentrations is completely harmless in a 5 gallon batch of beer.

Don't mistake no rinse for no drain.
You need to let it drip dry.

Iodophor sublimates (turns from liquid to gas) so it's not gonig to stay in the brew.

Star-San i believe is phosphoric acid and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (according to google). Phosphoric acid is pretty harmless (used in soda), not really sure about the second one however, but I would assume that it either gets consumed by the yeast, used up in the reaction that produces the foam, or just leaves no noticeable taste.

orfy said:

Don't mistake no rinse for no drain.
You need to let it drip dry.

Click to expand...

I'm a bit confused with this statement -- everyone says "don't fear the foam".. but if there is foam, it's not totally dry...Or, am I taking you too literally here?

No it doesn't need to be dry.
Just turn upside down and let the excess drain out.

I'm a bit confused with this statement -- everyone says "don't fear the foam".. but if there is foam, it's not totally dry...Or, am I taking you too literally here?

Click to expand...

You're taking it too literally. StarSan and Iodophor are 'wet contact' sanitizers. As long as the surface is wet, the bugs are getting zapped. The foam clings and this is a good thing. However, drain off the excess (or shake out some of the foam). Otherwise, you're just wasting product.

Star San actually becomes inactive when it's diluted by the beer; diluting it lowers the pH. The inactive Star San then gets eaten by the yeast as was said earlier. Furthermore, you can actually drink the Star San diluted solution (1oz in 5 gallons). I love Star San.

Yeah, it's all about the pH. You can find an interesting interview with StarSan's creator here. He also talks about bleach and how it's not really a sanitizer unless you get the pH down. He recommends that you add 1oz bleach to 5 gallons of water and then add 1oz of vinegar (don't mix the bleach and vinegar first!!).

When StarSan gets diluted beyond the recommended mix the pH changes and the StarSan becomes food.

In other words: Get it out, give everything a good soaking, splash it all over, and shake off any loose drops when your finished.

orfy said:

Don't mistake no rinse for no drain.
You need to let it drip dry.

Click to expand...

"dry"

surfaces should still be wet on a no rinse, wet contact sanitizer. But you should really get out as much as possible.

There's some of us that has inadvertently dumped an airlock full of star san into fermenting beer with no ill effects. (Not yet anyway....)

ok, all is good then... I use the bottle tree to get the excess out, but the bottles are still far from dry usually by the time I fill 'em..
thanks for clarifying....

MN_Jay said:

There's some of us that has inadvertently dumped an airlock full of star san into fermenting beer with no ill effects. (Not yet anyway....)

Click to expand...

and there are those of us that just chose to drank some mixed up star-san to see what flavors it might impart on a beer if too much residue is left in the bucket/carboy/keg/etc.

doesn't have much flavor. no adverse effects aside from purple pubes.

sweet, i can quit using bleach and hair dye!

If you don't like the foam after all you have read... you can follow the sani-clean by a quick rinse with a saniclean solution. Just make up a pint or two of saniclean, dump it into the fermenter, swirl it around, and drain everything back into a closable pint glass for reuse later.