Starsan good for awhile?

I'm going through sanitizer quite quickly... if I had a 5gal bucket full of the proper dilution and just kept it covered, would it last for a month? I want to keep it around just to throw in my funnels, tubes, locks, caps, etc periodically. Is this not a good idea? Should I nuke up a fresh batch everytime? Thanks guys!

It should last longer than that.

roofjump said:

I'm going through sanitizer quite quickly... if I had a 5gal bucket full of the proper dilution and just kept it covered, would it last for a month? I want to keep it around just to throw in my funnels, tubes, locks, caps, etc periodically. Is this not a good idea? Should I nuke up a fresh batch everytime? Thanks guys!

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I just switched over to Star San and was wondering the same thing. I used to use C-Brite, and since they changed the packaging (they no longer call it a no-rinse sanitizer) I figured I'd switch to something else. Star San seems like a popular choice, although it is quite expensive. I used to mix up a batch of C Brite each time I needed some - that was quite a PITA, so I often would skip steps, like checking gravity readings for 3 days straight to see if fermentation was done.

Do you Star San folks keep it in a bucket or carboy throughout a month or two? How do you know it is still good?

Also, does anybody use Saniclean? What are your thoughts? The foam is quite annoying with Star San, and this seems to be better about that?

http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16025

I was told by a local brewer that STARSAN will keep until the ph reads 3.

Fish is correct. Star-San is an acid sanitizer and as long as the pH remains below 3, Star-San is still effective. Even if the pH rises above 3, it can just be "sweetened" back up with some more concentrate to drive the pH back down. I keep my batches of Star-San for a couple of months. I got some cheap pH test strips in the correct range to periodically check it.

Saniclean is basically Star-San with out the foam. The trade off for the reduction in foaming is a longer contact time and a larger amount of concentrate needed to obtain the proper no-rinse concentration. I use it for sanitizing my pump and plate chiller. It works great!

Edit: Both Star-San and Saniclean contain phosphoric acid as the main ingredient. The difference is that Star-San uses an additional acid that differs from the additional acid used in Saniclean. Star-San also contains isopropyl alcohol and Saniclean does not.

johnsma22 said:

Fish is correct. Star-San is an acid sanitizer and as long as the pH remains below 3, Star-San is still effective. Even if the pH rises above 3, it can just be "sweetened" back up with some more concentrate to drive the pH back down. I keep my batches of Star-San for a couple of months. I got some cheap pH test strips in the correct range to periodically check it.

Saniclean is basically Star-San with out the foam. The trade off for the reduction in foaming is a longer contact time and a larger amount of concentrate needed to obtain the proper no-rinse concentration. I use it for sanitizing my pump and plate chiller. It works great!

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thanks guys!

I've used starsan for awhile and have had great results. I use wine ph test strips which maybe cost no more than $3.

I mix up a batch with 2.5 gallons of RO, reverse osmosis, water from the local grocery store. The tap water where i'm at is extremely hard (335ppm calcium carbonate!). The hard water(alkaline) makes it difficult for the starsan(acid) to stay below 3 ph. The Starsan, in a sealed bucket, stays viable for a good long time...I start over after 4 batches, but could go longer.

Yes, it keeps fine, especially if you use RO water as uuurang suggests. I have kept in in a plastic pail for a couple months. Just add a bit of concentrate if your pH rises above 3.5, and you are back in business with it. I have also noticed that it tends to get cloudy when it is losing its acidity, so if you don't have pH strips, this can be a somewhat reliable clue.

Also, if you re-use it like this, Star-San is actually one of the cheapest commercial sanitizers out there, particularly the no-rinse ones.

One more thing: I will put a plug in for the foam -- you want that. It gets into every nook and cranny and really helps to sanitize things. I like to wash my carboys right after using them, then rinse well and add a cup of Star-San solution. Close and shake er up really good and get the foam all around (especially up in the neck), and then it will sit until I am ready to brew again. All you have to do is drain it, and it is ready to go.