Is my beer safe to drink?

Just got done filling a keg and was surprised the 5 gallons wouldn't fit. Here I left about 0.25 gallons of starsan in the bottom of the keg and siphoned the beer on top of it. Is it safe to drink, or did I just ruin 5 gallons of beer? Has anyone else done dumb something stupid like this?

Pretty bummed out right now. This is the first time I have ever made a mistake like this.

Wow? How did you miss that much Star San?

To be honest,I've never heard or read how long it takes Starsan to break down into yeast nutrient. That's the 64 dollar question here.

Oops... :smack:

I've heard that StarSan breaks down into a yeast nutrient that is safe to drink, but I don't know about that kind of quantity.

rcs226 said:

Just got done filling a keg and was surprised the 5 gallons wouldn't fit. Here I left about 0.25 gallons of starsan in the bottom of the keg and siphoned the beer on top of it. Is it safe to drink, or did I just ruin 5 gallons of beer? Has anyone else done dumb something stupid like this?

Pretty bummed out right now. This is the first time I have ever made a mistake like this.

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I'd recommend emailing 5 Star and verifying, but I think it's safe. Probably watered down your beer a noticeable bit though :/

I'd like to ask them sometime about how long it takes to break down,& the details of that as to quantity,when mixed with beer,etc.

Looks like you guys are in luck and I will report back once I find out. My only option is to call, or dump the batch. Dumping is a last resort, so I will doing some research.


I dumped about 0.5 gallons off the top of the keg. I can hope a majority of the solution was concentrated in the top since I fill from the bottom of the keg, but I doubt it. Then I finished racking the remaining beer in the carboy into the keg.

Yeah man,DEF keep us posted as to what they say. We have some blanks to fill in here fer sher...

Damn that sucks.

Since most of the yeast activity has subsided, I doubt they would metabolize any Starsan at this point, and certainly not that amount. I've had my airlock contents added to my beer a few times and could not detect those small amounts (1/2 - 1 oz) in a 5 gallon batch. But a quart of it is a considerable amount.

+1 on an email to Starsan.

As of tasting Starsan. I've taken some very small sips of it (teaspoon quantities) just to test, and I can taste it, by itself. On my palate it has a slight metallic taste. I bet it is easily masked in beer, except maybe the very light ones.

Healthwise I would be most concerned with ingesting larger quantities of the surfectant component rather than the phosphoric acid one. But we're still talking small amounts, given the dilution ratio of Starsan's working solution.

I just read thread from a guy who did the same (1/2 gal starsan solution in a 5 gal porter) and apparently scored a 38 with it in competition.

two_hearted said:

I just read thread from a guy who did the same (1/2 gal starsan solution in a 5 gal porter) and apparently scored a 38 with it in competition.

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Is this the point where you split the batch for judging and enjoyable consumption?

As long as it was diluted per the instructions (1 oz per 5g water) it'll be fine. Perfectly safe to consume at that strength, esp. Since it was only about a qt. In a 5g batch of beer. I seriously wouldn't worry about it.

Find someone you don't like- maybe your boss- and give them a six pack. If they get sick then dump otherwise bottoms up!

Someone else might have a link or more attributable version of the story, but apparently some of the higher-ups at 5-star drank something like a 50% solution of it at a conference to demonstrate its safety.

I don't think there are any known health concerns, especially at the level you're describing...

bwarbiany said:

Someone else might have a link or more attributable version of the story, but apparently some of the higher-ups at 5-star drank something like a 50% solution of it at a conference to demonstrate its safety.

I don't think there are any known health concerns, especially at the level you're describing...

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+1 there is a video (can't remember where) of the owner drinking a glass. I'd think about letting it sit a couple weeks to break down, and so the beer doesn't taste funny, but your safe as far as drinking it goes.

I did this once with about a pint left in my ferm bucket. I drained my chilled keggle right on top of it before I remembered it was still in there. It fermented fine, and tasted great. Never even lagged the start of the ferment.

I did a bunch of research last night, but couldn't really find 100% reliable evidence. Lots of information, but nothing I found was specifically from 5star. Mostly he/she said material. I did read that the threshold defined by the government for human consumption and to be considered a "no-rinse" solution was a 1oz per 3 gallon. Therefore operating at the specified dilution ratio of 1oz per 5 gallon was defined as safe, in moderation obviously. Not to mention, the small quantity I had was then diluted with an additional 5 gallons of beer. The more I read about it the less I think it is a problem.

It seems like many people have done this and have not had problems with taste or health. Unfortunately all the quantities I read about were less than my mishap.

I called 5star this morning, but there chemist is out until next Monday and whoever I was speaking too did not feel comfortable enough with the quantity to give me an answer. I'm not in too much a rush though, so no big deal.

In the mean time I did call my brother, a chemical engineer who regularly deals with different acids and said there is nothing to worry about at that level. I ran through the numbers too and it is a very very low percentage when you combine proper dilution ratio with 5 additional gallons of beer. However, I'd still like to hear it straight from the horses mouth.

Let us know what you find out!! I'd like to know with certainty as well.

Food grade sanitizer at that concentration?

I think you'll be aight. Beer might taste watered down though.

I think its safe to drink.

I'd drink it. It's was diluted to a safe level with water, and then you further diluted it beer.

DanH said:

I'd drink it. It's was diluted to a safe level with water, and then you further diluted it beer.

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+1
Agreed. Fear no beer. Diluted star-san or not.

Email 5star! they have awesome customer service and will get back to you. I've had star-san poisoning panic in the past. Here is the redacted response I got from star-san. Note the response time.


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Jon XXXXXXXX
Sent: Thursday, September 1, 2011 10:59:51 AM
Subject: RE: Star San and Copper safety?

GBX,

You will be fine. Yes, Star San will shine copper up nicely. It might have pulled some oxalate off of the copper. This will not harm you. The metallic odor could be many things. It is probably the star san cleaning the copper. This is not toxic.

Jon XXXXXXXX
Five Star



From: GBX
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2011 9:42 PM
To: Support
Subject: Star San and Copper safety?

Hello,

Last night I was bottling some homebrew and I had a tub of star san for sanitizing bottles and hoses. While I was siphoning into the bottling bucket I left the copper hose connector from the spigot soaking in the star san for about 10 or 15 minutes. After I removed it from the star san it was a bright copper colour (like a shiny new penny). I then reassembled the bottling bucket spigot and proceeded to bottle, giving every bottle a quick star san rinse immediately before filling. When I was done I noticed the star san had a slight metallic odour and when cleaning up I noticed that the copper hose connector had the same odour (but much stronger) as did my hands after touching it. Did I leach copper or some other toxic compound into the star san? Did I then contaminate every bottle with the final rinse before bottling? I didn't notice any change in Star San colour but it could have been missed due to that suds. I've heard about yeast precipitating out metals, but this is a hefeweizen and we will be drinking the yeast. Should this be something I concern myself with (and dump the batch) or am I over reacting?

I appreciate any feedback you can give. Thanks,
GBX

I wouldn't expect 5-Star to tell you it's safe to drink, even if it is. Since it's not made for drinking, they probably won't want to claim it's safe to drink. Liability and all. Hopefully they'd be willing to share anecdotes though.

I'd be just as worried about what it did to the beer's taste.

Star San doesn't need to be broken down to be yeast food. The phosphoric acid is a source of vital inorganic phosphate that all living things need to do the chemistry of life. Just by diluting it you make it yeast food.

It was my impression that "breaking it down" made it non acidic or something? So the acidic form is the nutrient? I loooked on five star's site & found this tech sheet. It contradicts all we've been told...unless it means these things happen in it's concentrated form?...here's the link to the tech sheet; http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/wp-content/uploads/Star-San-HB4.pdf

I really think you're fine. There's plenty of phosphoric acid in sodas, and likely less in the beer you've diluted it in. Just taste it.

Another vote for "you're fine, drink up." You've just diluted some already diluted acid with 4.75 gallons of beer.