Star San in plastic buckets?

[Phyrst]

Yesterday I found a huge puddle of water on the floor where I store my beer equipment. At first I thought my refrigerator had died and was defrosting, but then I realized it was leaking out of the bucket where I was storing a couple gallons of Star San.

After cleaning up the mess I leak tested the bucket and sure enough there was a small 5 mm crack in the bottom of it right in the middle starting on the nub from where they injected the plastic into the mold to make the bucket.

I kind of doubt the Star San weakened the plastic bucket, but I was curious if anyone else has had this problem? The bucket had only been storing Star San for maybe three months. What do you guys store your Star San in and have you had any issues?

 

[Quaker]

I keep it in my plastic bottling bucket, idled since I started kegging. I've done it for about 3 months, similar to you, and no issues yet. Considering it comes in concentrated form HDPE bottles, I highly doubt it's due to some reaction.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I've had a few buckets do that recently just sitting there empty. You didn't get them from Menards by chance did you? I've had fermenter buckets for years and no issues. I bought some menards buckets a little over a year ago and have had three of them crack exactly as you described.

 

[Phyrst]

I've had a few buckets do that recently just sitting there empty. You didn't get them from Menards by chance did you? I've had fermenter buckets for years and no issues. I bought some menards buckets a little over a year ago and have had three of them crack exactly as you described.

This was one of those cheap orange "Homer" buckets from Home Depot. Now that I think about it I accidently kicked the bucket while moving some stuff around the other day. It wasn't a hard kick. More like a bump, but I wonder if that's what cracked it.

I think I'll pay a little more than $5 for my next bucket.

 

[kh54s10]

I got a bunch of buckets from a local dairy. They had held chocolate and coffee syrup. In thinking about them they seem to be a little softer/flexible than the Homer buckets. MAYBE.

I guess the moral of this story is to check your buckets once in a while.

 

[krahm]

The Homebrew Finds website recommends glass jugs over plastic. It says Starsan will eat through plastic. I've never had it happen to me, so maybe I'm just passing along a myth, but that's what it says....

 

[Shooter]

The Homebrew Finds website recommends glass jugs over plastic. It says Starsan will eat through plastic. I've never had it happen to me, so maybe I'm just passing along a myth, but that's what it says....

The concentrated form of it comes in a plastic bottle. Doesn't seem like it does a very good job of eating through plastic.

 

[tealio]

I'm sure the bucket was brittle and something cracked it, I have used a mix of starsan in the same bucket (dumped and pitched fresh not the same batch) for two years and let it sit for months at a time, same bucket... just gets a little slimy but no cracks...

My worst issue is the crud that you find floating at the bottom, makes you decant off it...

Buy the largest bottle you can get and write the date on it... it lasts and lasts. I still check every once in a while with ph test strips, have never seen a batch that wasn't at least a ph of 3... which means "it's still good"

 

[krahm]

The concentrated form of it comes in a plastic bottle. Doesn't seem like it does a very good job of eating through plastic.

Hah, excellent point. Here's the bit I was referring to, though:

"I use a glass gallon jug for storage. It takes a while but Star San will eat through standard plastic gallon jugs. I've had it happen and it's not cool."

http://www.homebrewfinds.com/2011/09/tip-using-star-san-in-spray-bottle.html

There's some discussion about the accuracy of the author's assertion at the bottom of the page. One respondent claims to have contacted StarSan, who insist that it does not react with plastic.

The author also claims that StarSan is no good if it gets cloudy. Personally, I've never seen StarSan that WASN'T 't cloudy. But perhaps that's another thread....

 

[tealio]

Maybe the standard gallon jug was really cheap or cracked, or possibly made out of recyclable material...

There's a great podcast I recommend anyone listen to on the brewing network with five star, about all their products including starsan.

Cloudy starsan works just fine as long as it has a ph of 3 or less. I use beer test strips every now and then on my batches of starsan.

If you don't want cloudy starsan buy distilled water, which sometimes I do, but since I make 4 gallons at a time, that's just a couple of extra bucks... It does help you see stuff floating in the bottom of your bucket though!

 

[Shooter]

My original bucket o' Star San did start leaking, but it happened fairly quickly and it appeared to just be a crappy bucket. The one I have now has been fine for a long time.

 

[oakbarn]

Lowes Gray Bucket. Exactly the same problem, Maybe replace all of my cheap buckets once a year?

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Lowes Gray Bucket. Exactly the same problem, Maybe replace all of my cheap buckets once a year?

Next time I'm at the LHBS, I'm getting a few more ale pails and will retire some of my old ones to general use. Might cost 4 or 5 more bucks per bucket, but they stand the test of time. Obviously the large chain hardware stores are carrying cheap a$$, low grade, POS buckets.