Terrible night

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Baspronick

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Well, I finally moved up to the kegging world, and not a good first go at it. I cleaned my 4 kegs, ran a gallon of star san solution through them, and left the remainder of the gallon solution in the last keg. Had all 4 kegs im a row. I got distracted several times by the wife and baby, lost focus, then went back to my beer. It appears I racked my deception stout on top of the remaining part of the gallon of star san I mixed up. Definitley the dumbest thing ive done with my home brewing to date. I can not believe I did this. Is there still a chance that this might be drinkable? Sounds stupid, but im sure it was more like a half - 3/4gallon of star san solution after running it through 3 other kegs. I assume the small amount of star san will not be harmful to digest considering its assumed to be okay to rack, or bottle on top of star san foam. For reference, I mixed under a quarter ounce of star san with one 1 gal. Jug of water.
 
You are lucky! Star san is not only drinkable but it even as it breaks down it is not toxic (not that I recommend drinking some intentionally). I am sure it will not be the exact same as the original deception stout but if you think there was an extra gallon in it and have the ability to freeze it slightly you can remove the 1 gallon of ice easy and get the gravity back to the ball park.
 
When it is done you could do a ph test. Star san sanitizes by having it's acidity above what bacteria can survive in, depending on how dilluted it is should be fine or have a little heartburn... But in all seriousness just test the ph balance with strips when it is done.

Oh BTW, I totally understand. For some reason just when I brew (regardless what SWMBO says..) I always forget something, luckily it hasn't been anything major as of yet but it boggles my mind. I think in a weird way it has to do with my mindset while in the process of brewing and conditioning beer. In a psychosematic way since I'm brewing beer I'm thinking drunkenly much like pot and contact high's work.. only thing I can think of.
 
If you mixed up a gallon and ran it through three other kegs before the last one, then unless you spilled a bunch of it while transferring from one keg to the next, then I'd say you had nearly a gallon of it in your keg when you racked on top of it. Check each of the other kegs. You probably have no more than 1 or 2 ounces residual in each.

To each his own, but I would not drink, or even taste, a beer that was 1/5th Star San. Not even if it was brand new freshly mixed Star San. If it were me, I'd dump it and remind myself in the future to pay better attention.

Note: I'm not saying it's bad for you or would make your beer taste bad, because I surely don't know. I'm just saying I wouldn't even sample it. I'd call it a loss.
 
This also happened to me but not on the same scale. I probably only racked on top of at most a quart of star san solution. I still drank it and it tasted fine. It was a new beer for me though so I didn't have a comparison to see how it changed the profile at all. Not sure how I'd feel about a gallon. I would probably at least try it.
 
I'd give it a go. Nothing wrong with a little StarSan. If it tastes OK, go for it.
 
I did actually spill a decent amount. I was not pumping the star san through with gas, I was pouring it keg to keg, and had some spillage. I did not consider freezing it and removing ice. Sounds like my only hope. I will give that a try tonight.
 
good luck. I suspect it will make your beer taste off somehow. I know we like to say that star san doesn't affect flavor but in that quantity it is a different matter, 20% star san will water down the other flavors and add an acrid bite/aftertaste. i doubt it will be good beer but heck.. it's in there. I'd carb it up and let it sit for a month at room temp, then chill and then see how it tastes. My hope would be that they yeast clean up some of the off flavors.
 
Just dump it and brew another. You will always be reminded of it
every time you have a pint and it wont be the same beer you
tried to create. Just dump it or send it to one of these wankers that
like to drink star san.
 
charlie talley of five star once commented on this very thing (well, actually, it was about racking unfermented wort onto a gallon or two of starsan) and he said it would be fine to drink. i feel like he even said you could drink properly mixed starsan straight up with no problems. but don't quote me on that part.

from a pH perspective, you're no worse off than coke, which has a pH of around 2.5.
 
probably not going to taste good, that's a pretty heavy dilution. You can take some solace in the fact that you're not the first nor will you be the last person to do that.

I'd probably taste it first, but life's too short to drink bad beer so I'd dump it if it doesn't taste good.
 
discnjh said:
charlie talley of five star once commented on this very thing (well, actually, it was about racking unfermented wort onto a gallon or two of starsan) and he said it would be fine to drink. i feel like he even said you could drink properly mixed starsan straight up with no problems. but don't quote me on that part.
Click to expand...

Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure (read: I've heard from enough people) that the owner of Five Star actually demonstrated it's non-toxicity by drinking an entire pint of a properly diluted solution.
 
He might have drunk a pint of it, and he might still be around to tell the tale....but when you find out 2 decades later that red dye #5 is a nasty cancer causing agent...why would you take a chance on purposefully ingesting a sanitizer? I wouldn't say I "fear the foam"..but drinking it on purpose doesn't seem wise to me.

Not for me...JMHO...but I'd probably give it a little taste, and if it didn't qualify as one of the best beers I'd ever had, I'd dump it.

To the poster who reccommended he partially freeze it, I'm intrigued:

would the starsan and the beer stratify so that you could remove one vs. the other?

How would you do it? I guess if the starsan froze at a higher temp then the beer, you could freeze it to that temp then rack the beer out of the keg?

It's an interesting idea.
 
FYI: My wife is a Physician Assistant, and after reading the ingredients and reading this post, she says she is not offering any advice--but there is no way she would drink it personally.

"Perhaps non-toxic, however, there is a warning label and the FEDs do not just put those there. Common sense says not to intentionally ingest [that much acid] of something in quantities far beyond what was intended [the residue left on kegs]."
 
As my only chance of salvage, I froze the keg over night, and scooped out about 1 1/4 gallon worth of ice this morning. Not thrilled, but worth a shot. Gonna carb and taste. If it indeed tastes bad, I will dump. I am sure I removed at least as much water as I accidentaly added. It will be interesting to see how it turns out at least.
 
DrewBrewTheGreat said:
FYI: My wife is a Physician Assistant, and after reading the ingredients and reading this post, she says she is not offering any advice--but there is no way she would drink it personally.

"Perhaps non-toxic, however, there is a warning label and the FEDs do not just put those there. Common sense says not to intentionally ingest [that much acid] of something in quantities far beyond what was intended [the residue left on kegs]."
Click to expand...

Was a pH test done? I wouldn't be surprised if coca cola is more acidic...

I think the warning label is more for the unmixed product.


Edit: after looking up the pH for coca cola (2.52) I would be surprised if coke wasn't more acidic.
 
I don't know the answers... I am not a medical professional. However, the best point my wife made was-->

"If you get sick, what are you going to tell the doctor? The guys on the homebrew forum told me it was okay to drink something that clearly says call poison control if ingested? You would feel pretty stupid. An ER visit or medical issue will assuredly cost more than a batch of beer."

She has seen a lot stupid people, do a lot of stupid things.... I think she feels this has that same feel.

IMO, one thing is clear, when mixed properly, the small residue left on equipment is safe. However, beyond that--is just anyone's guess without further inquiry. Perhaps, ask Star San. But I doubt they will contradict that warning.

Again, not trying to debate or argue--and not offering advice--just pointing out some obvious facts.
 
weagle05 said:
Edit: after looking up the pH for coca cola (2.52) I would be surprised if coke wasn't more acidic.
Click to expand...

It's close. Coffee is just as acidic as well
 
Reno_eNVy said:
It's close. Coffee is just as acidic as well
Click to expand...

Right, there's nothing in starsan that's not in commercially available beverages, and your stomach acid is stronger than a normal strength starsan solution. This kind of reminds me of "can I have creatine with orange juice" questions (just not ridiculous)

Not saying I would serve it to guests, but I wouldn't be concerned about tasting it. Keep in mind, it's close to universally accepted here that it's ok in small amounts, and it's been reported that someone from the company drank a glass of the stuff to show how safe it is, so we're really just discussing at what concentration it wouldn't be a good idea to drink.

I'm not a chemist or medical professional, so this is just my 2 cents. Not arguing, but if a litmus test shows it's higher than 2.5 I say go for it. The OP could also blend to further dillute it, if desired.
 
I think the concern comes if you try to dilute it by freezing. I believe you will condense it. That would be bad. Dump it.
 
I once had a half gallon if Starsan get sucked into my carboy through the blowoff tube while cold crashing. Luckily, all of the sanitizer sat mostly frozen at the top of the wort. I racked from underneath it and it turned out to be one of the best beers I ever made.
 
while bottling beer I was transferring starsan from bottle to bottle much like you were with your keg. well down to the last coupling bottles I grabbed the one with starsan in it and went to fill it and my keg kicked. bottle was 2/3 full so I said **** it I'll just drink it. well this was undrinkable the starsan tainted the beer so badly I couldn't force myself to drink my delicious brew.

I say let the keg ride and see how it tastes.
-=Jason=-
 
DrewBrewTheGreat said:
FYI: My wife is a Physician Assistant, and after reading the ingredients and reading this post, she says she is not offering any advice--but there is no way she would drink it personally.

"Perhaps non-toxic, however, there is a warning label and the FEDs do not just put those there. Common sense says not to intentionally ingest [that much acid] of something in quantities far beyond what was intended [the residue left on kegs]."
Click to expand...

Actually, they do. The Federal Government has to cover it's ass so to speak. For example Star San is multiple use, it does not loose one bit of effectiveness over a very long period of time. However the Fed's require ALL sanitizer's be labeled as one time use, no exceptions. So regardless of the chemical make up and ability, Star San gets labeled as one time use.

The same goes for the toxicity. The Fed's don't want people drinking chemicals, so all chemicals are required to advise to the opposite. Star San is no exception.

So while I have no interest in drinking it, it has been shown a few times that you can drink it in large quantities and be perfectly fine.
 
Actually, they do. The Federal Government has to cover it's ass so to speak. . . . The same goes for the toxicity. The Fed's don't want people drinking chemicals
Click to expand...

Question the FEDs wisdom in decision making all you want; however, as I said, they do not just put those labels there for no reason--> They put it there because the ingredients in Star Stan, just like lots of chemicals, are harmful if enough is ingested.

No one is questioning the fact that Star San, when used as directed by the manufacturer, is not harmful. However, when ingested straight from the bottle, not as directed, the FEDs (and common sense) are saying that is harmful. The amounts in between are what is being debated....

Is the amount he has in his keg, diluted with water and beer, harmful?

Stated another way, the question becomes how much is harmful? And what is the definition of harmful? A trip to the ER? Throwing up? A headache? Aggravating an ulcer? Five seconds off your life expectancy? etc, etc...

Each one of us, and more importantly the OP, can make that determination. My wife (a board certified PA who treats people everyday) says no way--therefore I would say no way. You can drink Star San all you want.

You can also call the FEDs idiotic, money and resource wasting, business destroying, busy body, nanny state government bureaucrats for warning people not to drink star san too. I tend to agree. But, star san is dangerous at high enough dose, and I guarantee you the FEDs think they are helping avoid people harm themselves by requiring that label.

So no, they do not just put those labels there....
 
So I took a ph reading with my beer ph strips the other night, and it read the lowest color/# they test for which is a ph of 4.6. I decided that I was unsure weather they would show a different color if it was lower that 4.6, or if it would stay at that yellow. Last night I purchased some wine ph strips that test lower. The highest they read is 4.4. The color was off the charts higher than that. I am confident the ph is 4.6. Keg is carbing as we speak.
 
DrewBrewTheGreat said:
Question the FEDs wisdom in decision making all you want; however, as I said, they do not just put those labels there for no reason--> They put it there because the ingredients in Star Stan, just like lots of chemicals, are harmful if enough is ingested.

No one is questioning the fact that Star San, when used as directed by the manufacturer, is not harmful. However, when ingested straight from the bottle, not as directed, the FEDs (and common sense) are saying that is harmful. The amounts in between are what is being debated....

Is the amount he has in his keg, diluted with water and beer, harmful?

Stated another way, the question becomes how much is harmful? And what is the definition of harmful? A trip to the ER? Throwing up? A headache? Aggravating an ulcer? Five seconds off your life expectancy? etc, etc...

Each one of us, and more importantly the OP, can make that determination. My wife (a board certified PA who treats people everyday) says no way--therefore I would say no way. You can drink Star San all you want.

You can also call the FEDs idiotic, money and resource wasting, business destroying, busy body, nanny state government bureaucrats for warning people not to drink star san too. I tend to agree. But, star san is dangerous at high enough dose, and I guarantee you the FEDs think they are helping avoid people harm themselves by requiring that label.

So no, they do not just put those labels there....
Click to expand...

I never called the FEDs any of those things, or even implied the majority of what you are ranting about so i'm ignoring most of this.

That aside, you would have to drink GALLONS of star san and it probably still won't hurt you.
 
Even if it was just water your beer would be pretty diluted...I can't imagine it would taste good..not to mention the risks with the starsan concentration... I would either dump it or brew another batch(more concentrated wort), mix them, and re-keg, but that is just me. I don't even have a wife or kids to worry about.
 
Just so everyone understands...

There was about 1.25 gallons that was originally the standard star san mix of .5oz per 5 gallons. So we are talking about 0.125 oz spread into about 5 gallons of beer. I do not think there is a princess on these forums that would be able to taste that. It would be different if there was more of it or if it had a strong off/bad flavor.

The worst case is that it is slightly oxidized from the freeze concentration. If it tastes fine, which I have very little doubt it will not, I would drink it up ASAP and not plan to store it long.
 
Beer will not be diluted due to freeze concentration. I actually removed more water than was added with the star san solution
 
Check out one of the prime ingredients of Coke. It's the same prime ingredient (phosphoric acid) that's in Star San. You can try to drink it but I'm kind of on the side of dumping it. Don't think it will hurt you, but what's most important, how does the beer taste?
 

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