Star San reusable?

[Aileran]

When people say star San is reusable, does that mean I can literally fill my carboy to sanitize, rack it back in to another carboy and store it for use next time?

 

[CUrchin]

Yes you can. Star San sanitizes by pH and is stable for quite sometime. I usually use mine over and over again for about 3 months. If you are really motivated you can measure the pH. If it is 3 or lower it is still effective as a sanitizer.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

What he said ^^^^^

 

[PlexVector]

and relatively clean too. For some reason bugs love to swim & die in open containers of starsan and PBW solutions.

 

[ba-brewer]

If you use RO water it will stay clearer longer.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Rather than mix five gallons, I just mix a quart or two and swirl it to cover and wet the entire surface, I find it easer and just throw it out....a bottle of star San lasts a long time this way.

 

[KZack]

TY, This is great to know. Any benefits to keeping Star San in an available keg for future use?

 

[arnobg]

I do what Wilserbrewer does and a small container has lasted me almost a year. I do re-use some though.

 

[wilserbrewer]

TY, This is great to know. Any benefits to keeping Star San in an available keg for future use?

Yes, the benefit IMO is You can save fifteen cents worth of starsan. Jmo I find a quart or two of fresh mix star San can sanitize an acre of equipment and is not worth saving for me.

 

[Yooper]

Rather than mix five gallons, I just mix a quart or two and swirl it to cover and wet the entire surface, I find it easer and just throw it out....a bottle of star San lasts a long time this way.

Yep. I'm on my second bottle of star-san, in 10 years. I mix up a gallon at a time, and keep 3/4 of it in a one gallon jug and the rest in a spray bottle.

TY, This is great to know. Any benefits to keeping Star San in an available keg for future use?

I wouldn't. Star-san is great, but I wouldn't store long term in stainless steel. I store mine in a plastic or glass jug.

 

[jmill]

For some reason bugs love to swim & die in open containers of starsan and PBW solutions.

Indeed. After scooping out a number I finally learned to use a lid.

And I'm glad I saw this thread. For some reason I thought it'd be fine to store in an unused keg. Luckily I've only had it in the keg for a week, so plan on transferring to a plastic bucket tomorrow.

 

[stonebrewer]

I bought a gallon jug of Star San and will likely never need any more. I reuse it all the time, and only toss it out when it falls outside of the effective PH range or gets fouled by using it before I clean. As @Yooper says, don't store it in stainless...pour it into a bucket or glass carboy or jug.

 

[masonsjax]

Stainless is inert, and phosphoric acid is non-oxidizing, and fairly weak when diluted properly (around 3.0 pH) and stored at ambient temperature. Why not store in a keg?

The creator of StarSan once drank a glass of it to prove it is safe. I've actually tasted it undiluted. Very tart but didn't burn or anything. Certainly not a scene from Aliens like you might imagine.

 

[PlexVector]

Indeed. After scooping out a number I finally learned to use a lid.

And I'm glad I saw this thread. For some reason I thought it'd be fine to store in an unused keg. Luckily I've only had it in the keg for a week, so plan on transferring to a plastic bucket tomorrow.

It's not a problem in winter and of course you get out of habit of keeping it covered, so in spring you get busy and forget to keep it covered. I keep a container of PBW and starsan in buckets with a gamma lid. Seems I'm always pulling from one or the other in between brew days cleaning and sanitizing something.

 

[dstockwell]

i mix up a gallon at a time, and keep 3/4 of it in a one gallon jug and the rest in a spray bottle.

x2

 

[Yooper]

Stainless is inert, and phosphoric acid is non-oxidizing, and fairly weak when diluted properly (around 3.0 pH) and stored at ambient temperature. Why not store in a keg?

The creator of StarSan once drank a glass of it to prove it is safe. I've actually tasted it undiluted. Very tart but didn't burn or anything. Certainly not a scene from Aliens like you might imagine.

The pH is actually under 3.0- when it gets above 3.0 is when it loses effectiveness. It's something like 2.5 when mixed up.

While it's true that it may not hurt (probably won't, in fact), I have seen some reports of pitting in kegs from star-san. Perhaps it wasn't properly diluted, but maybe it was. It's just easier for me to use an old Carlo Rossi wine bottle (glass) and not worry about it. I'm definitely NOT a metallurgist and don't feel confident about keeping it indefinitely in my stainless kegs. I know that lots of people do it successfully, so I'm probably in the minority.

 

[jddevinn]

Rather than mix five gallons, I just mix a quart or two and swirl it to cover and wet the entire surface, I find it easer and just throw it out....a bottle of star San lasts a long time this way.

TY, This is great to know. Any benefits to keeping Star San in an available keg for future use?

I mix a little over 5 gallons and keep it in a keg. I need a full keg of sanitizer anyway when it comes time to purge before filling

 

[masonsjax]

The pH is actually under 3.0- when it gets above 3.0 is when it loses effectiveness. It's something like 2.5 when mixed up.

While it's true that it may not hurt (probably won't, in fact), I have seen some reports of pitting in kegs from star-san. Perhaps it wasn't properly diluted, but maybe it was. It's just easier for me to use an old Carlo Rossi wine bottle (glass) and not worry about it. I'm definitely NOT a metallurgist and don't feel confident about keeping it indefinitely in my stainless kegs. I know that lots of people do it successfully, so I'm probably in the minority.

Gotcha. I hadn't seen the reports of pitting, but yeah, probably mixed too strong if that's happening. I generally keep mine stored in a 5 gallon bucket with the lid on, but have in the past stored it it my empty kegs without issue. Hey, if some of the sour beers I make don't damage the kegs, I don't think anything will