Star-San vs. Iodophor - FIGHT!

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Which Sanitizer

  • Star-San

  • Iodophor

  • Other

Results are only viewable after voting.
I've noticed the "stains" iodophor leaves dissappear quite easily on their own. If your bucket is stained orange when you fill it with wort, it won't be orange when you rack the wort out of the bucket. I wouldn't call it a stain at all. Yeah, sometimes the odor can be detected and it does sting my eyes now and then when I pour large volumes of santized water from one bucket to another but other than that, I love the stuff. I don't think I'll ever switch to Star-San.
 
I had to vote other I used BTF for a while then switches to Starsan now I will be using Saniclean its not that I didn't like Starsan . Stupid drunk me ordered Saniclean instead on my last order so I now have 32 oz of it. I don't have any reservations using it to sanitize
 
Starsan works for me. Iodophor works for some people. Live and let live.

Hilarious how emotional a few people get about this debate--like they're arguing over whose kid is smarter. Get a life.
 
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I figure if Iodine swabs are good enough for me to stick an IV in someones arm, its good enough to sanitize my crap equipment.
 
I use to use IODOPHOR. In fact I used it for years. The last time I ran out the guy at More-beer suggested that I use Star-San so I switch. I like Star-San better.
 
Been using Star-san for years. Bought a big thing of it years ago and and still have about 3/4 of it left. I am not sure what the cost is per batch but it's not enough for me to worry about it.

I love the spray it and forget it approach. very easy to use.
 
I use Star-san. I love it. After reading everything on this thread I think I'm doing something wrong. I'll put the Star-san in my carboy and fill the carboy with water. Or fill the carboy with water and then put some Star-san in. Either way, After I let it sit in the carboy, I dump the water out and then just rinse all the bubbles out. I just rinse the inside of the carboy completely. Is this wrong? Am Rinsing away all the sanitizing goodies?

I hope not!
 
eon said:
I use Star-san. I love it. After reading everything on this thread I think I'm doing something wrong. I'll put the Star-san in my carboy and fill the carboy with water. Or fill the carboy with water and then put some Star-san in. Either way, After I let it sit in the carboy, I dump the water out and then just rinse all the bubbles out. I just rinse the inside of the carboy completely. Is this wrong? Am Rinsing away all the sanitizing goodies?

I hope not!
Click to expand...

Yes, you're doing it wrong.
 
Don't let it dry either, you lose 50% of it's capabilities if you let it dry. You should save the starsan too, I had a 2.5 gallon batch last about a year and the PH was still good. Although the way I store it is different then the way others do it.

I have 2 2.5 gallon buckets, I mix and store it in one bucket, and as I use it I pour the used starsan back into the other bucket. That way I am using the "freshest" possible starsan everytime (i go through a bucket every two batches). Once the first bucket is empty check PH of second bucket and repeat. Once the PH is unacceptable, mix a new batch.
 
Both will work just fine... just boil a pint or so of water to clean some of the foam/iodine off your equipment. This will even work well for the bleachers.
 
I bought one of those 4-gallon water bottles for home dispensers, and after using that for brewing, I keep star-san made with distilled water in there. It lasts about a year at a time, but I drizzle a tiny bit of concentrate into it each time I use it.
 
SwampassJ said:
Nothing like suggesting to others to mix bleach with an acid. I hope you're ignorant on the matter and not being a complete jerkoff.
Click to expand...

It's a pretty standard sanitiser actually, you just can't mix them concentrated. The lower pH allows the bleach to be very effective in much lower concentrations than normal and it can be used no rinse if mixed correctly.
 
Your wasting a lot of sanitizer and costing yourself a lot of money by filling the carboy. Mix the sanitizer in a 1 qt spray bottle and spray it on the inside of the bottle or on anything else that needs it. A qt can be made with less than an ounce of concentrate and will last through several brew sessions.
 
SwampassJ said:
Nothing like suggesting to others to mix bleach with an acid. I hope you're ignorant on the matter and not being a complete jerkoff.
Click to expand...

You don't mix bleach and acid by themselves. 1 oz of bleach and 1 oz of vinegar for 5 gallon is all I need. It's not as if I came up with the idea myself, the maker of Star San actually recommends it as a good no-rinse option. But thanks for calling me either ignorant or a jerkoff.
 
Calm down guys. I thought the same thing when I saw the bleach/vinegar suggestion, but done properly, it works. I'll try and find some supporting info tomorrow, when it's not midnight and I'm not tired.
 
Starsan is my sanitizer god.

an Odorless, Non staining, Non rinse, sanitizer that works on contact, and holds for a nice long time. I have only used Starsan and One Step, so I guess I'm biased. Regardless I would still highly recommend Star San to a friend.

Spray Bottle of Starsan ftw!
 
um.. you can drink starsan (mixed properly of course).. nuff said.

Plus, I love watching the foam layer scrub the sides of the carboy as I fill it with beer/wort...

my only question....what to do with the iodophor that came with my starter kit?
 
jfr1111 said:
You don't mix bleach and acid by themselves.
Click to expand...

I called you either ignorant on the matter of mixing the two or being a jerkoff for suggesting to others to mix the two. Lets say next time you include diluting them first instead? Thanks for not suggesting to mix bleach and vinegar undiluted a 2nd time.
 
Sorry I wasn't crystal clear, but every single liquid sanitizer needs proper water dilution to be effective. When people say they use Star San or Iodophor, they don't mean that they use it undiluted straight from the bottle either, but I understand that bleach and vinegar pose the problem of people mixing them togheter beforehand. Charlie Tally mentionned the bleach/vinegar water option as being a viable one in a podcast and it was brought up on this very site by several members, notably here.
 
SwampassJ said:
I called you either ignorant on the matter of mixing the two or being a jerkoff for suggesting to others to mix the two. Lets say next time you include diluting them first instead? Thanks for not suggesting to mix bleach and vinegar undiluted a 2nd time.
Click to expand...


A simple apology would have sufficed.
 
It takes forever to get it off (say in a glass carboy) and for the pros already mentioned in Iodophor, that seals the deal for me......
 
Currently switching from Idophor to Starsan. I've noticed that Idophor drops to teh bottom of my cleaning buckets and spray bottle in thick sludge. Can't be good. Cost is really moot. Bulk order big bottle $10. Cheap to be able to rest regarding infections and wasting batches of $30 beer and time.

Love sanitizers. Both of them (Bleach has way too many negatives for me).
 
i voted "other" because the sanitizer i use is one-step. it's what i used on my first batch and i've been using ever since. i've never had a problem with one-step, so as the saying goes "why fix it if it ain't broke?". :mug:
 
I have only used Star San but I think it is great stuff. I've had some serious spills that would have been complete disasters with bleach or iodophor. Star San mops right up without staining/bleaching. I keep the excess solution from brew days in growlers.

My only complaint on Star San is the foam in a thief makes it hard to read the hydrometer.
 
I think the pros and cons have been covered ad nauseum so I will just say two things that make me love star san: spray bottle that keeps for a long time, and NOT fearing the bubbles! <3 racking into a keg or carboy full of starsan foam, it drives some of my brewer friends nuts. After he sampled my latest, I told him it was "StarSan IPA"...
 
Star-San kills ants and other insects? I'm spraying my whole joint down with the stuff tomorrow! Another fun distraction on Brew Day! Maybe I'll fill up a "Super Soaker" just for blasting at bugs?

The foam "Sculptures" are fun also! JJ
 
yummybeer said:
i voted "other" because the sanitizer i use is one-step. it's what i used on my first batch and i've been using ever since. i've never had a problem with one-step, so as the saying goes "why fix it if it ain't broke?". :mug:
Click to expand...

I appreciate the "why fix it if it ain't broke?" philosophy, but the fist piece of advice I would give to a new brewer is to throw away the packet of one-step that came with your kit, and pick up some PBW and Star-San. I honestly can't understand why it is common place to include it in starter kits.

One-Step is an oxygen based cleanser. It will do a decent job of cleaning up some surface organic matter, but it really does not clean or sanitize as you would believe. It does not clean as well as PBW, or sanitize as well as Star-San. It is like the worst of both worlds (or jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none).

I had used one-step for about 6 months - you will be shocked by the improvements you see using a quality cleaner and sanitizer.

Out of curiosity, assuming you bottle condition, do you get a little ring around the neck of your bottles? I had one everytime I used one-step. That little ring (which is a clear visual of a less than sanitary beer) will dissapear using PBW and Star-San.

I don't want to sound like an ass, but because of experience and what I have learned about these products, I would be doing you a disservice in not pointing those things out.

Give it a try - you won't be upset you did.

Joe
 
I started using bleach and then iodophor in the mid-90s, don't recall if Star San was even available back then, however I've since moved to PBW as cleaner and StarSan as sanitizer. Been real happy with their effectiveness and ease of use.

When I first started brewing I used to steam/boil my bottles to make sure they were clean. What a PITA! Moving to rinsing bottles with StarSan made this process so much easier.

I still tend to do a quick rinse of my carboys and bottles after using Starsan. I know that's advised against, but so far I've never had a bad result using this method. Guess like others I'm still a little wary of the foam, but I think I'll probably quit rinsing my carboys in the future. Beer is unlikely to become infected once you get to the bottling stage so I still will likely use my 'Blast' bottle washer for rinsing Starsan soaked bottles to eliminate foam prior to fill.
 

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