Freaking out a little...

[WVbrewer]

Ok, It was only a matter of time. But I went and left 4 cups of diluted starsan in the bottom of the fermentation bucket, an proceeded to pour 5 gallon of 1.103 Belgian dark strong on top. I've looked at other threads but I'm looking for some reassurance on this one that I haven't screwed the batch. A great deal time and money went into this one. Pitched 8oz slurry of abbey ale yeast at 9 last night, fermenting happily so far. Any thoughts? Thanks, Dave

 

[djfriesen]

I think you'll be fine. I haven't actually had it happen, but the literature claims StarSan is a pH-based sanitizer (mild acid solution that puts the pH too low for most things to survive in), and it's supposed to break down into a yeast nutrient. It might take a while (then again, it might not), but I suspect that any flavor from the StarSan will fade out.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Take a deep breath and relax. It'll be fine.

That Starsan will become yeast food and the net effect will be an extra 16 oz of water that slightly dilutes your beer. At 1.103 a little dilution won't even be noticed. Not a big deal, you'll lose about 3 points on the OG due to the extra water.

 

[WVbrewer]

Thanks for the reassurance. If it was an average gravity beer I wouldn't have really blinked, but this one is a biggie. Again, thank you both.

 

[joehoppy]

I have made this mistake myself. I also freaked out at first. And it was alot more than 4 cups. The result was one of the tastiest IPA's I have made yet. No worries!