Beernip
Well-Known Member
So last night I was wanting to throw some oak cubes in to an old ale I am making. I had wanted to take a taste of it for a baseline but I had just dumped my bucket of Starsan and didn't want to make up a new bucket just yet. So being the smart, resourceful person I am* I grabbed my hydro tube and poured a little Starsan in that, filled with water and shook. Dropped in the turkey baster and let it sit for a few minutes. After that I dumped the water and took a few oz sample of the beer.
Get back in to the house and taste my sample and WOW is it sour.. like bug sour. What the hell, this tasted fine last week when I racked it to a secondary? Than the burning hit me. One's throat should not feel like that after drinking a duchesses? Feels like someone used a bottle brush to swab my throat.
My guess is the bottom of the tube was still coated with a good layer of Starsan even after I shook it up. That combined with only a few oz of beer wasn't enough to dilute it to "safe" levels. So I go and look for the MSDS sheet of Starsan (located here btw http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/msds/starsan.pdf) and it tells me. "INGESTION: Harmful if swallowed. Swallowing product can cause sever burns to lining of throat and stomach". Yeah, no @#%T.. Give me something helpful... "INGESTION: If conscious, give several glasses of milk, water, egg whites or gelatin solution. Get medical attention immediately. DO NOT induce vomiting."
So I hit the kitchen and down two glasses of milk and a few glasses of water (until I'm at roughly the 5G dilution mark). Now lucky for me I only had at most ~1 teaspoon of the stuff. Couldn't have been more but most likely 1/4 of that. This stuff burns! I'm still feeling it in my throat.
Moral of my story:
*No, I had not started drinking yet.
Get back in to the house and taste my sample and WOW is it sour.. like bug sour. What the hell, this tasted fine last week when I racked it to a secondary? Than the burning hit me. One's throat should not feel like that after drinking a duchesses? Feels like someone used a bottle brush to swab my throat.
My guess is the bottom of the tube was still coated with a good layer of Starsan even after I shook it up. That combined with only a few oz of beer wasn't enough to dilute it to "safe" levels. So I go and look for the MSDS sheet of Starsan (located here btw http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/msds/starsan.pdf) and it tells me. "INGESTION: Harmful if swallowed. Swallowing product can cause sever burns to lining of throat and stomach". Yeah, no @#%T.. Give me something helpful... "INGESTION: If conscious, give several glasses of milk, water, egg whites or gelatin solution. Get medical attention immediately. DO NOT induce vomiting."
So I hit the kitchen and down two glasses of milk and a few glasses of water (until I'm at roughly the 5G dilution mark). Now lucky for me I only had at most ~1 teaspoon of the stuff. Couldn't have been more but most likely 1/4 of that. This stuff burns! I'm still feeling it in my throat.
Moral of my story:
- Yes, it is a food safe sanitizer but treat it with respect and use as directed.
- Stirred not shaken may have been better? Better to make up a full batch and let it fully dissolve in to the water.
- Always remember about MSDS sheets.
*No, I had not started drinking yet.
