I have been using star sans in a blow of tube setup. How often should I change the star sans solution that the blow of tubes enter? As well how long is star sans undiluted viable or should I be buying new every time I brew?
How long is Star Sans viable?
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pericles
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The starsan in the blow-off tube (bucket/bowl/whatever) should last for the duration of your fermentation, unless you're brewing something really outrageous like a 2-year lambic.
The starsan in the bottle, undiluted, should stay good for at least a couple of years.
The starsan in the bottle, undiluted, should stay good for at least a couple of years.
I would say it will not go bad. It's basically just phosphoric acid and some other stuff, why would it go bad?
pericles
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Meh. You're probably right. There's an interview with the guy who makes the stuff on the BN that I listened too, and I got the (loose) impression that some of the chemicals in there were volatiles. Given that the plastic container isn't 100% oxygen impermeable (nothing is, not even glass. Remember your QM!) I figure the stuff inside will eventually degrade. Maybe not for a thousand years, but I figure, for the eight bucks, why not buy a new bottle after two?
A brewing buddy of mine talked with someone at Star San. They said it lasts a week or two. The test is to shake it up - if it's cloudy, toss.
Now I am well aware that the rep wants to sell more Star San and replacing every couple weeks is a good way to do it.
I just make up a spray bottle for brew day, then another for bottling day.
Now I am well aware that the rep wants to sell more Star San and replacing every couple weeks is a good way to do it.
I just make up a spray bottle for brew day, then another for bottling day.
android
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mix it with distilled water and it will last a LONG time. never clouds up that way.
gsector
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If you mix distilled water and star san in a 5 gallon bucket and keep a lid on it, and you don't dunk dirty stuff in the solution, it pretty much lasts forever. If its cloudy, its pretty safe to say its no bueno. The harder your water is, the less long it tends to last.
You can measure the pH too.
You can measure the pH too.
A little cloudy is still viable. Craigtube has a video posted where he shows a test like this. I can get a couple months out of a 1 gallon batch easy. maybe more,but I do filter it now & then,as I also do with PBW.
lightmedium
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My Star San is cloudy as soon as I mix it, does this mean it isn't working as well as it should? If it starts out cloudy, how do I know how long I can keep it? I guess I need to get lids for my HomeDepot buckets and start using distilled water.
If it starts out cloudy and you have mixed it properly, then you need a new source of water. cloudy will not do for sanitizing. Cheers
SankePankey
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If you make it with distilled water and it is in an opaque container that doesn't allow light thru, indefinitely. This is as per 5Star whom I asked this question.
I use my ugliest corny keg and make 5 gallons of star san and pressurize it (which also doesn't alter it) so when I need another cup of star san, I just get out my corbra tap. (Also handy for cleaning out the tap lines).
I'm gonna get a sprayer wand so I can just spray down my primaries and kegs instead of having to shake them to distribute the Starsan.
I use my ugliest corny keg and make 5 gallons of star san and pressurize it (which also doesn't alter it) so when I need another cup of star san, I just get out my corbra tap. (Also handy for cleaning out the tap lines).
I'm gonna get a sprayer wand so I can just spray down my primaries and kegs instead of having to shake them to distribute the Starsan.
aiptasia
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Yep, i've been reading John Palmer's How To Brew book (the sanitation chapter) and he states that Star San is basically just an acidifying compound that will lower the pH of water below 3.5. A pH that low becomes anti-microbial and it should remain viable until the solution becomes cloudy or the pH rises above 3.5. If you have a freshwater pH test kit for an aquarium, you can actually test the star san to see where the pH level is if you're that worried.
Once the pH raises above 3.5, it's no longer germicidal, which is what makes it so beneficial to the brewing (and food) industry. When anything mixes with it and raises the pH, it neutralizes the star san it almost instantly. Pretty cool stuff.
Once the pH raises above 3.5, it's no longer germicidal, which is what makes it so beneficial to the brewing (and food) industry. When anything mixes with it and raises the pH, it neutralizes the star san it almost instantly. Pretty cool stuff.
Sigh... lot of misinformation about StatSan here. Cloudy can be an indication that it's no longer effective, but it can also mean nothing.
As another poster said, it works entirely by having a pH that microorganisms aren't really able to live in. You want it to be under pH 3.5.
So testing viability is obvious... just check the pH. Many brewers already have meters to do this with, but test strips are cheap, and good enough. My water comes from Lake Ontario, and so it is *very* hard. As a result, it turns very cloudy immediately upon mixing. And yet, I have left this cloudy solution in an *uncovered* bucket for over a month, with the pH never going above 1.5 - that is 100 times more acidic than a pH of 3.5! The fact that it's cloudy doesn't mean microorganisms are somehow going to survive such a low pH any better than they would if the solution was clear. It's acid, and the way it works is extremely straightforward - if the pH remains low enough, it doesn't matter WHAT it looks like.
As another poster said, it works entirely by having a pH that microorganisms aren't really able to live in. You want it to be under pH 3.5.
So testing viability is obvious... just check the pH. Many brewers already have meters to do this with, but test strips are cheap, and good enough. My water comes from Lake Ontario, and so it is *very* hard. As a result, it turns very cloudy immediately upon mixing. And yet, I have left this cloudy solution in an *uncovered* bucket for over a month, with the pH never going above 1.5 - that is 100 times more acidic than a pH of 3.5! The fact that it's cloudy doesn't mean microorganisms are somehow going to survive such a low pH any better than they would if the solution was clear. It's acid, and the way it works is extremely straightforward - if the pH remains low enough, it doesn't matter WHAT it looks like.
Hugh_Jass
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Yeah, I found the same thing....The pH remains in sanitizing range a long time, even uncovered and cloudy.
Not sure where this whole "dump it when it's cloudy" hive-think started, but I've found it to be false.
logdrum
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Cloudy shouldn't matter one whit, as long as the pH is low enough. I mix mine w/ filtered local water & it starts out cloudy, but the pH is correct. I do keep a jug made up w/ distilled water that is crystal clear, but the pH is no different fron the tap batches. I'll typically make a new 2.5 gal (tap water) batch every six weeks or so, sooner if the pH is off (which generally takes a looong time). The distilled batch has lasted over six months & stills turns the test strip red~2 pH
-d
Exactly ! 5 Star wants us to buy more, but if the PH is below 3 or so it is still sanitizing. Cloudy or not.
Srceenplay
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SankePankey said:
So I can store five gallons in an empty keg long term? No side effects? Just dump it out if I ever need the keg for beer? If so that will save me from wasting gallons of this stuff on brew days.
Hugh_Jass
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Yep, keep it in a corny. Makes dispensing easy as pie.
If it starts out cloudy and you have mixed it properly, then you need a new source of water. cloudy will not do for sanitizing. Cheers
OK sorry for the bad info.
I have been dumping it when it clouds up, what a waste. Time for a meter I guessWeizenwerks
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The owner of 5 Star Chemicals stated on a Brewing Network show as long as it's under 4 pH, it's still working.
I watched a video yesterday of a month old cloudy gallon of star san compared to a fresh batch they just mixed up. They tested with a pH test strip and showed no degrading of the cloudy stuff. Don't dump just because it's cloudy. Test the pH.
