Righlander
Well-Known Member
first time using star san. whats up with the foam in my carboy that won't come out? is that normal?
I feel like I'm racking onto soap. It's just too much for me. I will stick with Iodophore.
Starsan foam is safe. People on this forum have been using it for years. Don't fear the foam!
You certainly shouldn't drink Iodophore, but it is perfectly safe when used according to directions. It is normally used at a concentration of 12.5 PPM. You would have to drink two ounces of Iodophore at that dilution per day for an extended period of time for it to be an issue. Most people don't drink their sanitizers.
Oh, I'm sure Iodophor is safe at the right dilution. And obviously LOTS of people use it, and are very happy with it. It's a good product, no doubt. Still, once in a while I do read a thread where somebody says their beer tastes like iodine, and it's pretty obvious why. OTOH, I never read a thread where somebody says that foam ruined their beer! In fact, there are even stories of people racking their beer onto a few quarts of Starsan, and still ending up with a delicious result.
Tonight, I kegged three gallons of apfelwein, into a keg that I sanitized by pouring in Starsan and shaking it up. Of course it was filled with foam...and I loved that the foam floated on top as the keg filled, protecting the precious beverage. When I serve that apfelwein, nobody will ever know or care that the foam was there, they'll just know they're drinking something really good.
If StarSan weren't available, I'd go with Iodophor. However, it is available.
I love Starsan. One of the pod casts I listened to mentioned a product like Starsan but without the foam. I think it's Saniclean. I like the foam, so I never looked into it.
You do a disservice to new brewers by implying that Iodophor is unsafe or can leave a detectable iodine flavor in your beer. Neither claim is true.
I love Starsan. One of the pod casts I listened to mentioned a product like Starsan but without the foam. I think it's Saniclean. I like the foam, so I never looked into it.
OTOH, I never read a thread where somebody says that foam ruined their beer!
I bottled some beer and left the foam in the bottles (after shaking/draining as much as I could) and all the beers tasted like metal (the starsan taste; to me, it's metallic) when they were opened a week later. The beer coming out of the taps was fine, it was just the bottles, and all of them. The only link between all the different brews in the bottles was the star san.
Here's one for you, even if it isn't a thread by itself.
I bottled some beer and left the foam in the bottles (after shaking/draining as much as I could) and all the beers tasted like metal (the starsan taste; to me, it's metallic) when they were opened a week later. The beer coming out of the taps was fine, it was just the bottles, and all of them. The only link between all the different brews in the bottles was the star san.
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