My wife purchased some stars san for my birthday but I have always used bleach. Before I mix up my first run of this I'm looking for some guidance on where to store it, how long to keep it, how to use it, etc. do I need a full 5 gallons to clean my kegs and carboys? Directions say 1 oz to 5 gallons of water but not much else. Also I don't have any pumps at this point so everything is done by using the auto siphon or pouring by hand. Thanks for the help.
New to starsan
- Thread starter kooch
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You don't need to mix 5 gallons. I make 5 quarts at a time and depending on how you store it, it will last a couple weeks. You can use ph strips to test and see if it's any good.
The bottle has a 1/4 oz mark, so 1/4 oz Star San to 1.25 Gallons of water.
Just keep it at room temp in a sealed plastic bucket. If you put it in a spray bottle, it should stay good for a couple months.
The bottle has a 1/4 oz mark, so 1/4 oz Star San to 1.25 Gallons of water.
Just keep it at room temp in a sealed plastic bucket. If you put it in a spray bottle, it should stay good for a couple months.
Just don't do any long-term storage in plastic milk jugs. It will eat a hole in them and make a real mess. That's from personal experience.
normnmiles
Active Member
If you have hard water the solution will turn cloudy fast and lose effectiveness. It is better to use distilled water.
strat_thru_marshall
Well-Known Member
I have a home depot bucked that I marked with .5 gallon graduations, so I usually fill it to the 2.5 gallon line and add .5oz star san (there is a .5oz line on the star san measuring portion of the bottle). Thats usually more than enough to get you through a brew day.
If you use tap water, it will last a day or so. If you use distilled water, it will last until the end of time or until you contaminate it enough to alter the pH.
One large bottle of star san, using .5oz per brew day/bottling day/whatever, lasts me like 8 months so I never worry about storing and reusing it, I just dump it out when Im done.
When it comes to use, at normal concentration a 30 second contact time will kill 99.99% of anything living on your gear. So you can immerse parts in it, pour a couple cups into a carboy and shake for 30 seconds, put it in a spray bottle and mist down hard to reach gear, etc. It's totally safe, no-rinse, and you dont need to worry about the foam it creates when shaking around in a carboy.
If you use tap water, it will last a day or so. If you use distilled water, it will last until the end of time or until you contaminate it enough to alter the pH.
One large bottle of star san, using .5oz per brew day/bottling day/whatever, lasts me like 8 months so I never worry about storing and reusing it, I just dump it out when Im done.
When it comes to use, at normal concentration a 30 second contact time will kill 99.99% of anything living on your gear. So you can immerse parts in it, pour a couple cups into a carboy and shake for 30 seconds, put it in a spray bottle and mist down hard to reach gear, etc. It's totally safe, no-rinse, and you dont need to worry about the foam it creates when shaking around in a carboy.
It is great stuff.... and like the other guy said once you get used to using it (And keeping it "clean" you only need a little; I do 2.5 gallons.
I have even just rinsed a keg out real good, used StarSan, and put it back in action without a major cleaning.
For "suspect" bucklets that might have contamination I use them as "sanitizing buckets" a few times ad just let the StarSan sit in them for a while and then reused them as Fermentors.
YOU WILL LOVE IT.... no screwed up clothing....
I have even just rinsed a keg out real good, used StarSan, and put it back in action without a major cleaning.
For "suspect" bucklets that might have contamination I use them as "sanitizing buckets" a few times ad just let the StarSan sit in them for a while and then reused them as Fermentors.
YOU WILL LOVE IT.... no screwed up clothing....
boscobeans
Well-Known Member
I put 3ml of Starsan (drugstore medicine syringe) in a 1/2 gallon glass growler and fill it with distilled/RO water. (my water is hard and clouds up the mix).
This is more than enough for me to do a complete brewing of a 6-7 gallon batch including bottling. I put 16 ounces in a spray bottle.
1. Everything has to be CLEAN to start. I fill my fermenter with oxy and throw whatever needed to be cleaned into the mix.
My bottles are all clean.
2. Dump the oxy and rinse everthing with hot water.
3. Lay out the stuff you need in the reverse order that you will need it. The fermenter lid is the last thing I will need so I spray it down with Starsan and lay it upside down on a clean (sanitized) surface. I put any spoons, tubing, syphon, airlocks, stoppers etc... on the lid once they have been sprayed down with Starsan. If you don't have a "deep dish" fermenter lid like mine use a clean sanitized bucket.
Last step should be closing the fermenter with the sanitized lid, airlock and blow off (if you need one).
4 Bottling.. Rinse each bottle with hot water, 2-3 pumps of Starsan on the vinator (a must have in my opinion) and fill it or put it aside (clean place) and fill it asap. Bottling bucket, wand and anything else should be clean and only needs a spray with Starsan. Bottle caps get a quick swim in a little bowl of Starsan.
If you do a good job cleaning up when you're done with each stage, all you have to do the next time around is rinse with hot water and SPRAY NOT SOAK everything with Starsan.
bosco
This is more than enough for me to do a complete brewing of a 6-7 gallon batch including bottling. I put 16 ounces in a spray bottle.
1. Everything has to be CLEAN to start. I fill my fermenter with oxy and throw whatever needed to be cleaned into the mix.
My bottles are all clean.
2. Dump the oxy and rinse everthing with hot water.
3. Lay out the stuff you need in the reverse order that you will need it. The fermenter lid is the last thing I will need so I spray it down with Starsan and lay it upside down on a clean (sanitized) surface. I put any spoons, tubing, syphon, airlocks, stoppers etc... on the lid once they have been sprayed down with Starsan. If you don't have a "deep dish" fermenter lid like mine use a clean sanitized bucket.
Last step should be closing the fermenter with the sanitized lid, airlock and blow off (if you need one).
4 Bottling.. Rinse each bottle with hot water, 2-3 pumps of Starsan on the vinator (a must have in my opinion) and fill it or put it aside (clean place) and fill it asap. Bottling bucket, wand and anything else should be clean and only needs a spray with Starsan. Bottle caps get a quick swim in a little bowl of Starsan.
If you do a good job cleaning up when you're done with each stage, all you have to do the next time around is rinse with hot water and SPRAY NOT SOAK everything with Starsan.
bosco
I bought a sturdy 5 gallon water jug from Amazon like this: http://amzn.to/NVN2AA
- I mix up a 5 gallon batch and reuse it for 3-4 months. I have soft water and it stays clear and effective without an issue. I also fill a spray bottle to spray small items down when I need to.
- I mix up a 5 gallon batch and reuse it for 3-4 months. I have soft water and it stays clear and effective without an issue. I also fill a spray bottle to spray small items down when I need to.
normnmiles said:
This is not true. Mine turns cloudy almost immediately, but it is still within the effective pH range. There is a thread on here somewhere where someone conducted pH measurements over time and that the pH was still effective even though the solution was cloudy.
normnmiles
Active Member
Sorry, I assumed the OP does not have a PH tester or testing strips and made a generalized statement.
It's true that some recommendations from newer threads and personal experience from other users that the cloudiness of your Star San does not decrease it's abilty to sanitize properly if it is still at the proper PH. However cloudiness can be indicator that your Star San solution might not be at the proper PH for sanitation. Without testing the PH how does one determine the effectiveness of Star San?
Worse thing that would have happened from my advice is you would have wasted some money on distilled water. But that Star San would stay good for a while. Worse thing that would have happened from using cloudy Star San. It's not at the proper PH and your batch gets infected.
Personally, I bought a PH meter and use distilled water.
It's true that some recommendations from newer threads and personal experience from other users that the cloudiness of your Star San does not decrease it's abilty to sanitize properly if it is still at the proper PH. However cloudiness can be indicator that your Star San solution might not be at the proper PH for sanitation. Without testing the PH how does one determine the effectiveness of Star San?
Worse thing that would have happened from my advice is you would have wasted some money on distilled water. But that Star San would stay good for a while. Worse thing that would have happened from using cloudy Star San. It's not at the proper PH and your batch gets infected.
Personally, I bought a PH meter and use distilled water.
I keep a hand-held spray bottle filled with star san and distilled water and use it to sanitize everything. It lasts a LONG time that way (although I keg, so spraying a bunch of bottles may get tedious if you do it that way)
dstranger99
Well-Known Member
Putting it in a windex bottle works wonders. It's the best sanitzer ever !... And one little bottle goes a long way !!............
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