Anyone not use Star San?

Just curious,

when I brewed years ago this stuff wasn't around or available and everyone did just fine. now that I'm back into brewing it seems everyone is a Star sans NAZI.

So I'm just curious, is there anyone out there who goes against the grain and refuses to use it and go with other means?

What do you do? Don't be scared to post up because all those star sans NAZI's will freak out like they do. I'm really just more curious.

And please if all your here to do is post up about how wonderfull it is, how all your beer will be ruined save it. years ago the stuff wasn't around and people did just fine. Not do debate this with anyone please I don't want to go there at all.

 

I use Star San, Idophor and One Step. I prerfer Star San as it is easier to use with my cleaning system. I just order 4 x 1 gallons for the next year. I also have a small steam generator that I use on fittings in place. Phobia? Not really, just have had some bad beer (not mine) that had been infected. Star San uber alles!

 

StarSan Nazis? Not sure I've ever met one of those. Do they hate bacteria AND Jews? There are plenty of people who don't use starsan. OneStep and Iodophor are popular alternatives, as is a very dilute bleach solution.

Out of curiosity, are you a blue font nazi?

Edit: man, too slow.

 

I alternate betwen starsan and iodophor. If a bug survives one, it's not likely to survive the other.

 

My disclaimer is that I do use Starsan but it really depends on what I'm doing. My go to is One Step because it cleans and sanitizes despite not being labeled a sanitizer. I'd rather kill two birds with one stone (or one step in this case).

Starsan does have it's place though. It's a contact sanitizer and it's effective from my experience. It also has it's drawbacks.

I don't think people are fanatical but let's face it, things advance over time and it's a good product for what it does. I started out using bleach but I'm glad I moved on to other options which were ultimately better for the way I brew and my sanitization schedule. I don't miss splashing bleach on my clothes while brewing or wondering if I *really* rinsed everything out well enough.

I say to each his own. Do what works for you.

 

Nahhh just got used to using it. Wanted to be able to search for my posts quicker and easier. and on some forumZ it's easier on the eyes to read.

 

I call Godwin's Law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

StarSan forever

In all seriousness, use whatever sanitizer you want. If it works for you, your beer tastes good and doesn't get infected, awesome! StarSan just works well and it's easy to use, and that's plenty good for me.

 

To each their own, we use One-Step with no issues.

 

Awesome I'm remembering this one for future debates on my car forum

thanks.

 

I use bleach. Been brewing for 18 years and have never had a single infection.

 

Quaternary sanitizing for me.

 

I use easy clean by ld carlson

 

I use One Step and have never had any issues.

 

Iodophor. Have never used Star San.

 

I have a professor who teaches a brewing class who using a custom iodine solution. I'm not sure how I feel about this method though. I tried his beers and they weren't that great. I'm going to one of his brew sessions this weekend though so maybe I'll see if I can figure out what he is doing.

 

Does you beer not have a bleach smell/taste? I use bleach to clean after a brew, but I'm a little too scared of it to use to sanitize right before I put beer in there.

 

Never used Star San, I use One Step then bleach

 

i'm an iodophor communist

 

packet of "white" stuff I got from the homebrew shop? just says "sanatizer" Smell a bit chlorine like, and needs to be rinsed. a year brewing now, never had an infection.

 

I started with one step, then used to iodopher, but now use starsan. I found that it mixes easiest and quickest since you don't have to wait for it to disolve like one step and i wasn't a fan of the iodopher staining my equipment.

To each their own though, whatever works best for someone else has no bearing on me.

 

Iodophor here

 

I generally use Star San but have also used One Step many times.

 

this^ 12 years no problems,no bad taste,no odor.no infections,.Just rinse
well. $1.50 a gallon and it last`s for months.

 

Just Star San. I don't see any reason to switch when it's just so DARN EASY to use.

For all of those using bleach, do you boil your rinse water ahead of time, or just rinse from the tap??

 

Very true. I've always wondered about those "rinse" sanitizers. Wouldn't the rinse screw up the sanitization?

 

I use whatever came with my starter kit. It's a white powder labeled "Sanitizer" with no ingredient info. I assume it's like One Step (which I think is just concentrated Oxy Clean).

 

I am still using the BrewVint Cleanitizer that AHS sells; it's a nice one step, no rinse... but it does lack the cool foam.

 

Guess it depends if you are color blind or not lol.

I forgot to clean my fermenting bucket which had almost 2 inches of US-05 and trub in it. I stuck it in the shed for almost 2 weeks, we had a few 90* degree days, and 40 degree nights. Needless to say there was some funky **** in that bucket.

Rinsed it out put 1 oz of star san in it and topped the bucket off with water and set the lid on. Left it 2 hours, hand washed (skin on plastic) it 2 more times with 1/2 oz of star san.

I have had beer in that bucket a week now with no signs of infection and no funky smells.

 

In a lot of states in the LAW that food preparers sanitize with diluted bleach. Do you taste bleach when you go out to eat? Perfectly safe. I think most brands even include dilution instructions for sanitizing on the bottles.

 

I just rinse with my hot tap water and let air dry.I`m on a well and my
water heater is set at about 125 degrees.Honestly no problems in 12 years.
I`m not knocking star-san,just have no desire to spend the money on it.

 

I do use bleach on batches of used bottles before they go into my normal rotation.

I call it the de-mucking stage

 

I use bleach and Iodophor... sometimes PBW for cleaning, but usually bleach-rinse-iodophor.

 

Not really... I have seen bleach used in commercial breweries, no issues. Also, some breweries that use iodophor actually give a quick rinse afterwards to knock the foam down, it foams like HELL when run through a CIP system and you would have to wait a good while for the stuff to drain out. One of the companies that I worked for did this, we had a microbiologist on staff at a central location and had to send samples to him monthly for intense analysis. Zero issues.

 

I think everyone should use any santizer they want if it is working for them, but I think you are overestimating the price of Star-san as long as you have a sealed container (plastic bucket, Keg) to keep it in it will keep for months before the ph goes above 3. I brew approximetly once every week and a half and my $16.50 bottle of Star-san is on pace to last 3 years.

 

I use Star San. The one thiong nobody has mentioned yet is that you can keep a spray bottle to sanitize things easily. I use the spray bottle when I do things like switching from a blow off tube to an airlock or even when I open my fermenters to take a gravity reading. Just spray and go. Easy.

 

Fair enough,bleach is just more economical for me it has several other uses
around my household.

Brew On

 

I generally use Star San, but will use iodophor if I'm out of Star San. I prefer Star San because it doesn't turn everything yellowish after sitting for a while.

 

Except for this guy . . .

Damn! I've had the same 32oz bottle for well over a year and it's still 1/3 full.

(and that's for about 150 gallon of beer per year)

 

Star San FTW!