um...about this "don't fear the foam" thing

Brewed an extract recipe from the NB american amber ale kit this afternoon. It was the 1st time I used my new immersion chiller (recirculated ice water through a small pump) and star-san. Now, i've read quite a few places to not fear the foam...mixed up 5 gallons in the primary, then inverted the bottle to drain into my bottling bucket. There was a ton of foam left over but i didn't rinse and added my chilled wort.
My concern is this: with a 6.5 gallon carboy there was a whole lot of foam still left in the headspace...more than i anticipated. So, anything to be concerned about?

thanks is advance

You're golden. Relax

The foam is now extra special yeast nutrient....So don't sweat it...the yeasties love it....

Everything you ever want to know about starsan can be heard here;
http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr03-29-07.mp3

that was FAST!!!

thanks y'all, puts my mind to rest

+1 Don't fear the foam.

(sorry, some mild post-whoring )

Don't Fear the Reaper!
Cheers

The Foam is like a buffet for the yeast.

Next time, only make up 1/2 gallon or so and swirl it around a couple of times to sanitize.

NOOOOO!!!! The foam will make your beer taste like ASS!!!! It will be AWFUL!!!!

Or at least it would be - if Star San wasn't a totally awesome product that makes almost every step of brewing much easier. I bet your beer will be great

When I rack into a carboy, sometimes the foam comes out in a cylinder that gets almost 2ft high before falling over!!! Star san is all I have ever used and I love it. I keep a spray bottle handy and right before I slide my racking cane into my beer, I give it a quick spritz.

The phrase isn't "Don't fear the foam, as long as there's only a tiny amount of it", it's "DON'T FEAR THE FOAM!", period!

I love posting this picture:



That pic is racking a beer from a carboy. It turned out awesome.

Dude said:

I love posting this picture:

That pic is racking a beer from a carboy. It turned out awesome.

Click to expand...

I love that sh*t, dude. When I'm racking to a carboy, the foam snake will spiral up the racking tube...it's the joint!

now i'm thinking i didn't have ENOUGH foam!
So, ok, i'm a believer now...I guess its safe to assume that i don't even need to be particularly concerned about equipment being dry either?

The foam does make it hard to tell when the keg is full though. I ended up beer on the floor on time. Now whe I think 'm close I start scooping out the foam until I can find the beer and know where it's at.

twst1up said:

now i'm thinking i didn't have ENOUGH foam!
So, ok, i'm a believer now...I guess its safe to assume that i don't even need to be particularly concerned about equipment being dry either?

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Do not worry about the equipment being dry either. Star Sans is the easiest of all the Sanitizers, IMHO that is. Do not fear the foam and enjoy your Brew.:fro:

Dude said:

That pic is racking a beer from a carboy. It turned out awesome.

Click to expand...

How did you get the foam to that density?

Not a bit. Don't rinse, don't dry, and don't worry a bit.

Doesn't the foam go against the Reinheitsgebot?

wedge421 said:

The Foam is like a buffet for the yeast.

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Exactly... so much so that I try to get the foam onto the bottom of the carboy and siphon on top of it... Foam sitting in the headspace, not in contact with the wort, isn't doing you as much good as it could.

I mean eventually it will fall into the wort or the krausen yeast will grab it, but I love the foam so much I try to make sure its 'mixed in' so to speak.

Ah, I remember the first few batches I brewed with Starsan... was SOOOO tempted to rinse. It's so funny looking back...

I originally feared the foam. Now I love it, as I know its doing its job, and will eventually turn into yeast food.

The foam is sometimes a headache, as far as the small parts. However, I have a trick- I always keep a spray bottle with starsan, just for odds and ends.

I've found that if I hit the foam with the spray, it gets rid of most of the foam.

nick

Nope. The foam is made of Happiness, and Happiness is allowed in the Reinheitsgebot.

What is the PH level to know if a batch of Starsan is still good? And what "normal" stores can one obtain PH strips?

I was wondering the same thing. I saw PH testers at Walmart in the "pool" section.

Normally I'll just make a 2.5 gallon batch of starsan, use that to clean everything, then dump whats left into a spray bottle to use for gravity checks, and misc.

I've got 5 gallons sitting downstiars in a carboy from my last secondary transfer/apfelwein "brew" day. Wanting to use it again for my Brew today but need to know if it's still good. Specific PH anyone?

IrregularPulse said:

I've got 5 gallons sitting downstiars in a carboy from my last secondary transfer/apfelwein "brew" day. Wanting to use it again for my Brew today but need to know if it's still good. Specific PH anyone?

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From the FiveStar spec sheet "Solution must remain at a pH at 3 or below to maintain proper sanitizing level."

I purchased some wine PH strips 2-4 range to test mine

tom

If the pH of the solution is below 3.5 (i.e., about 3 or less) then it is still active. If it is higher than that (but still clear) just add a wee bit of concentrated Star San to 'freshen' it up.

I just used it during my brew last night and then dumped what was left. It should be fine. Still plenty of bubbles if that means anything haha. OH! And i used the starsan in a spray bottle for the first time during my brew last night. That ROCKS!!!!

twst1up said:

with a 6.5 gallon carboy there was a whole lot of foam still left in the headspace...more than i anticipated. So, anything to be concerned about?

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Kind of like this?



The foam was puffing out the top as I racked the beer in. This batch of red ale was delicious. The foam certainly didn't hurt it and may have helped

Incidentally when I first posted it a few people said I had aerated my beer and created all that foam.

-Joe

If for whatever reason, you cannot get over the foam thing, Five Star Chemicals has a product called Saniclean which is comparable to Star San and is low foaming.

http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/tech/saniclean.pdf

I realize that I'm member of the vast minority on this topic, but I fear the foam. I don't care how many people tell me that they use it, I'm not racking my beer into that.

So, has anyone used 5 gallons of StarSan instead of water to brew with? I wonder what that would taste like?

ArcaneXor said:

So, has anyone used 5 gallons of StarSan instead of water to brew with? I wonder what that would taste like?

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I think Jamil brewed with at least a gallon of starsan in his carboy, once.


A couple of people here have drank it....

ohiobrewtus said:

I realize that I'm member of the vast minority on this topic, but I fear the foam. I don't care how many people tell me that they use it, I'm not racking my beer into that.

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Oh man...there's one in every crowd.

I luv me some foam.

ohiobrewtus said:

I realize that I'm member of the vast minority on this topic, but I fear the foam. I don't care how many people tell me that they use it, I'm not racking my beer into that.

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Do you have a reason, or is it just an irrational fear?

I'll admit it, I fear the foam. I tried, I really did but just couldnt get over racking onto foam. So for everything fermentation and kegging wise I still use iodophor. On brewday the foam is nice though. You can clean fittings and leave a big ball of foam on that fitting and have some piece of mind from that.

I know its in my head, but those pictures of your beer in the secondary with foam on top just drive me crazy.

I don't fear the foam, but I use Iodophor....I got started with it, then I discovered buying a version of it bulk at tractor supply for 20 bucks a gallon (it's a dairy sanitizer.) So now I have a huge amount of it...maybe when it runs out in 5 years I'll give starsan a try (lord knows I've done enough research on it.) They're both great products.

The biggest difference between the dairy and iodophor, besides the cost, is it doesn't have an anti-foaming agent...so MY iodophor foams up pretty fine..though not like starsan.)

FlyGuy said:

Do you have a reason, or is it just an irrational fear?

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I started with OneStep and Iodophor and I continue keep both and use whichever one I happen to grab first. Call it irrational if you like, it's just not for me. I get everything sanitized without foam and I'm ok with that.

I am a new convert to Star San. First time I used it I didn't see much foam. Then I shook it up a bit and Holy Foam!! I racked right onto the foam...it felt really weird to do so, but I went slow, cause it was my first time

I don't fear the foam, but I am exceedingly wary of it. I have a hard time leaving something that might affect the flavor of my beer.

So I'm going to try an experiment the next time I bottle-- I'll rinse like I normally do, but I'll leave all the glorious foam in two bottles, let them drain and dry naturally, then fill 'em.

I'll do a blind taste test to see if I can tell any difference.

I will say, though, that I've started to rinse less than I used to, so perhaps I'm just taking my time in losing my fear.