Starsan turns white immediately

[osoling]

So, I've not had a problem... Yet. When I add the Starsan to my local water, even following the directions, the water turns cloudy almost immediately. I know people store Starsan to use again. I never do that because by the end of a session, it's milky white. From what I understand, this has to do with the ph of my water.

Do I care? Do I have a problem? How do I fix the problem?

Thanks!!


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[flars]

The solution turning cloudy is a reaction with the minerals in the water. Not a problem. Starsan is an acid sanitizer. As long as the pH is below 3.0 (or maybe 3.2?) it is effective. The test strips are handy to have on hand.
Saves dollars on unnecessary purchases of Starsan.

 

[osoling]

Thanks. Now I have a way to see how effective it actually is.


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[Hammy71]

If I use my tap water, my starsan turns milky after a few days. If I use RO/DI water, it stays clear for months. The milky stuff feels slick, so I only use the starsan for one day then toss. Maybe a gallon of spring water would work if you want to keep some long term. I would think if your using it that day, it would be OK.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

The cloudy stuff is less effective. I use RO water now and it stays clear unless I get some wort or beer in it. If it stays clear you can keep using it, so I've been stretching mine a lot further these days.

 

[unionrdr]

Craigtube did a test on a cloudy batch of Starsan & a fresh,clear one with PH test strips. There was no difference in PH. Cloudiness has little or nothing to do with PH. But it is true that distilled water & the like will stay clear longer. The chlorine &/or chloromine kills microbes,but doesn't filter or settle them out. I think that's where the discoloration comes from.

 

[Queequeg]

Starsan goes instantly cloudy with my water. Its is the calcium being knocked out of solution. According to Fivestar customer support, you can make a 1oz/3 gallon solution and still use it no rinse. This apparently will cause the calcium to return to solution and the solution will go clear.

This is what five star told me via email

"If Starsan is cloudy it is an indication that the PH is rising. If it turns cloudy immediately try increasing the concentration to 1oz/3gallons of water. If the amount of ddbsa can overcome the Calcium in the water then it will turn clear again. The use on star san is 1oz/5gal to 1oz/3 gal. As long as the PH reads below 3.5 Starsan will be effective."


This didn't work for me, but when I pH tested (1oz/5 gallon) it was something like 2.63, so all good to go. Personally unless you filter with a 0.2um water filter I wouldn't keep it. At my previous place of work most disinfectants had a shelf life of 24hours unfiltered and 1 week filtered. This is the sort of standard the FDA expect and after all the FDA's standards for disinfection is what fivestar follow and what most home brewers accord to.

I make a new batch each time I brew, the extra expense is minimal imo, especially given the peace of mind I get.

 

[40watt]

I'm going to go with Charlie Talley, the maker of Star San, over Craig's experiment.
Charlie says it's no longer effective if it's cloudy.

My tap water turns it cloudy immediately. So my star san gets mixed with bottled water.

Use the cloudy stuff if you feel lucky.

 

[unionrdr]

Watching craig's video,both the fresh clear one & the cloudy one both gave red on the PH strips,which is supposed to be good. Mine get slightly cloudy after a few days,but not much. It still works just fine. Distilled water being cheap though,I might just switch to that if it is indeed calcium in the water clouding it. Calcium lowers the acid in solution. didn't think of that.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I just did a quick test (since I've never done one) to see where the pH came out with my tap water vs RO. I used 1 pint of each water and put 10 drops of star san in each. I have a pH meter. The tap water solution came out at 3.6 and was slightly cloudy. The RO was 2.7 and crystal clear. The harder your water is, the cloudier and less effective it will be.

 

[unionrdr]

I think I'll get some PH test strips & to a little testing of my own. Sanitizing being such an important step,I guess it's about time I got pickier & found the numbers for myself. It's worked fine,slightly cloudy out of the jug,but it'll be interesting to see. It usually takes up to a couple days to get slightly cloudy with plain tap water. Might just do a video for my Brewvision channel on youtube...

 

[Crafty_Brewer]

If I make a Star San solution with my city water it turns cloudy as well... I just use distilled water. I would imagine the extra cost of the distilled water is offset by the extra shelf life. Plus I just like mine to be clear. If I didn't have distilled water on hand, I would use the cloudy solution...but IMO if you can, might as well just use distilled water.

 

[Callacave]

I Use tap water, and always leave it in a bucket covered. I've had Starsan sit in there for a couple of months with no issues. pH was still in the acceptable range.

 

[unionrdr]

Here's a good one. The Starsan I keep in my spray bottle stays clear while the stuff in the SunnyD jug gets a little cloudy in a few days. Maybe the caps aren't sealing tight enough to keep air out? I keep the nozzle in the off position on the spray bottle & it stays clear. Maybe the air got to it?

 

[pablosbrewing]

Here's a good one. The Starsan I keep in my spray bottle stays clear while the stuff in the SunnyD jug gets a little cloudy in a few days. Maybe the caps aren't sealing tight enough to keep air out? I keep the nozzle in the off position on the spray bottle & it stays clear. Maybe the air got to it?

It could be the sunnyD plastic -I have heard of Starsan eating through milk jugs.

 

[unionrdr]

That's why I switched to the SunnyD jugs,heavier plastic. The milk jugs have an "X" seam on the bottom that leaks in a couple months time. Maybe find heavy plastic jugs with a tighter cap?

 

[BigFloyd]

My tap water makes it go cloudy pretty quickly, so I started using 88 cent per gallon distilled water from Wally World. It now remains clear for several weeks. I usually keep 2-3 gallons of it handy in a 5g white food grade bucket w/ lid plus a spray bottle. Great stuff.