Equipment placement after sanitation?

I'm a newbie brewer. On brewing/bottling day, what do you guys do with your equipment (racking cane, hoses, airlock, stopper, etc.) after you sanitize it?

I use StarSan and you are supposed to let it dry before you use it. Are you supposed to let it dry on a clean counter, clean bath towel, clean paper towel?
Are you supposed to sanitize the counter you are placing it on to dry?

Thanks for your help.

I use StarSan and I never let it dry before using it. Everything I've read on using it properly says it should be drained, but not dried. I read that to mean you don't want a visible volume of it in your fermenter when you rack wort onto it, but foam and wet surfaces are fine. In fact, if something does get completely dry, I'll usually spray it again. And I've been very happy with the results.

The wet film it leaves is actually supposed to form a protective barrier on equipment to protect it from wild contaminants in the air. I also find that the StarSan film is an excellent lubricant for getting airlocks into bungs, racking canes into hoses, etc. And if the reports are to be believed, diluted StarSan breaks down into yeast nutrient, so having some of it in your wort/beer is not a bad thing.

However, if I need to take something out of StarSan for a minute or two before using it, or spray it and let it sit for a minute to sanitize, I will put it on a sanitized plate, paper towel, or piece of foil.

LOL unionrdr you beat me again! I need to learn to type faster.

Star San is most effective when left wet on the equipment. So you'll want to spray it down (or dunk it), wait at least 1 minute, then use the equipment while still wet. Since I use a spray bottle, I'll just give an extra spritz if it looks like it was drying before I had a chance to use it.

As for where I put my stuff: I usually leave it all in a bucket--either the bucket I'm going to use for my primary, or the bottling bucket, or an extra bucket if need be. That way all the extra star san collects at the bottom, and I can switch it around in the bucket to resanitize before putting my wort in.

Here's another option (that's not me):

onipar said:

Here's another option (that's not me):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC7o7Au_vnY

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Not sure about the tubes, won't the air inside make it impossible for the sanitizer to get in?

Just like when you put a bowl upside down into a sink will with water, the air won't be able to escape from it until you turn it the other side.

This would most likely keep all the unwanted bacteria inside the tubes.

Seb said:

Not sure about the tubes, won't the air inside make it impossible for the sanitizer to get in?

Just like when you put a bowl upside down into a sink will with water, the air won't be able to escape from it until you turn it the other side.

This would most likely keep all the unwanted bacteria inside the tubes.

Click to expand...

I don't know, I've never used the thing in the video. Just something I found a while back while watching brewing stuff on youtube.

As for myself, I usually siphon star san *through* the tubes to sanitize the insides, so once that's done it doesn't matter where I place it to hold for use. But as I said earlier, I put my stuff in a bucket. From what i can tell that's how the guy in the video uses that trough, just a place to put the already sanitized stuff (I think?).

EDIT: also for other tubes (that aren't attached to the auto-siphon) I just spray star san right in with my spray bottle. Works perfect.

Seb said:

Not sure about the tubes, won't the air inside make it impossible for the sanitizer to get in?

Just like when you put a bowl upside down into a sink will with water, the air won't be able to escape from it until you turn it the other side.

This would most likely keep all the unwanted bacteria inside the tubes.

Click to expand...

For tubes, I stick them in my bucket of sanitizer and then hold one end near the to and pull the rest of the tubing through my hand near the bottom of the bucket to push the air out. My other method is to suck the sanitizer through with my mouth and then be sure to sanitize that end well. Just don't spit any liquid that might end up back into your bucket :cross:

StarSan says "For all applications, allow to air dry, however surfaces must remain wet for at least one minute".

It says this on the back of the bottle. So why in the world would you leave it wet?

BlackLabBrew said:

StarSan says "For all applications, allow to air dry, however surfaces must remain wet for at least one minute".

It says this on the back of the bottle. So why in the world would you leave it wet?

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Interesting, I never noticed that. To answer your question, common knowledge around the forum here dictates that Star San only actively kills pathogens while wet, and becomes 50% less effective once dry. It's something that you'll hear over and over if you ask the question round these parts.

I'm not sure where this info originally came from, whether it's just one of those things that was said so many times that people took it up as a mantra (whether or not it's actually true), or if perhaps it was something talked about on one of the beer podcasts that was then related back to the forum (despite what it says on the bottle).

It does seem to make sense to me though, if it works dry, that it'd work better wet...but who knows. Maybe someone has a better answer for you.

Wouldn't it stand to reason that if you kill all of the pathogens on something, it doesn't matter if it's wet or dry, as long as you use/seal it before more pathogens are introduced?

I sanitize what ever vessel I am using (carboy, bottling bucket, etc) with 5 gallons of star san. Empty that into another 5 gallon bucket and put all the odds and ends equipment I will be using into that filled bucket. As I need it, I pull it out (wet) and use it. If being used again later, rinse with water and back into the bucket to soak in star san until needed again.

smalliewader said:

I sanitize what ever vessel I am using (carboy, bottling bucket, etc) with 5 gallons of star san. Empty that into another 5 gallon bucket and put all the odds and ends equipment I will be using into that filled bucket. As I need it, I pull it out (wet) and use it. If being used again later, rinse with water and back into the bucket to soak in star san until needed again.

Click to expand...

I have adopted this same procedure. Seems to work great. I also have put down Aluminum foil on the counter and spray it with sanitizer so I have a location to set things down.