Trying to use less star-san

Hello, I have a question I'm trying to use less "star-san". I use "star-san for everything when I brew. From sanitizing the primary fermenter, wort chiller, brew pot, hydrometer, and ect. Using five gallons water, one ounce of "star-san". Then to secondary fermentation five gallon glass carboy, five gallon plastic bucket, my racking cane-siphon hose, and ect. Last too my keg same set up, as going to secondary. All three step use about fiifth teen gallons of water, and three ounce of "star-san". Just tring to find different sanitizar no rinse preferably, or better methhod than i am doing now. Any suggestions?



Thanks,

 

I use star San for a month or so before i toss it out. That will sanitize 3 kegs, primaries, secondaries, and racking canes. That is a good deal on 1oz of star san

 

I mix up 2.5 gallons of Star San on brew day and just cover the bucket for using it later too. Sounds like you're using the solution one time and dumping it. Not needed. It's effective for longer than that. You also do NOT need to fill vessels with it. 2-3 quarts is plenty to sanitize your vessels (fermenting). Just cap the sucker and swirl it around to fully coat the inside. For the small bits, submerge what you can in a bucket. For the racking cane, get a wallpaper tray and put Star San in there to submerge it. Done. Get a quart spray bottle (<$3 at HD or Lowe's) and spray what you can't submerge.

Took me a LONG time to go through the last 16oz bottle of Star San by being smart. I've yet to open up the new one, but using about 1/2 oz per batch means I should easily go a full year on it.

You can either get some PH test strips to make sure the Star San solution is still effective, or wait until it's cloudy before tossing. Depending on your water, it could be cloudy right off the bat. I easily keep mine in a covered bucket for 3-4 weeks. Unless I've used it a LOT. Then it might go 2 weeks.

 

Save and reuse your starsan. It is fine as long as the ph is below 3. Invest in cheap ph strips to make sure. If you use distilled water it will last a long time.

 

I make 1 batch and use it for multiple batches. I mix up a batch in my primary and use that to sanitize everything. I empty it into another bucket, or bottling bucket, with lid on. When it's time to bottle I use this to sanitize the bottles and if necessary, the bottling bucket, as week ad every thing else. If I plan to brew again soon I empty it back into my fermenters with a lid in it and repeat the process.

Something to keep in mind though, you cannot sanitize dirty things so everything that goes into my santizer is already clean.

 

Why are you mixing up 5 gallons at a time? You only need 30 seconds of "wet time," not submerged time to sanitize.

I only mix up 1-2 gallons when I do a primary/bottling bucket/keg using tap water. I also have a gallon mixed up with distilled that I keep in a spray bottle for spraying down the racking cane or other items.

 

Bottle calls out a full minute wet/contact time minimum...

 

That was going to be my second question. I was wondering about how long star-san last long as you keep it clean. Do you just throw it in the kegs and ect, and let is sit? Or do you just use a little at a time?

 

I mix up 5 gallons at a time also but keep it in a dedicated bucket and have used it for 3-4 months at a time. It lasts a long time.

 

Guess i was just being overcautious, and wasting my money thats for sure. lol

 

CLEAN all your stuff before you go to sanitize it. PBW is wonderful stuff for cleaning. If your stuff is clean, the Star San solution will last a good amount of time. Easily 2-4 weeks, if covered too. The spray bottle will last a good amount of time too.

As I posted, you only need 1-3 quarts to sanitize the insides of most things. That includes fermenters, kegs, bottle buckets, etc. Depending on if you bottle, you could just make sure you have enough to dunk the bottles to fill and dump. Just make sure they are CLEAN inside first.

 

Well, at least you now know... So, adjust your methods to use what you mix up for longer and waste less. I even dump the solution back into the bucket after using it in kegs and fermenting vessels (if it's still fresh enough). If it's been used a few times, depending on how it looks, I might toss those amounts. That way I'm getting ready to mix up the next batch.

 

Thats what i am going to do from now on thats for sure. Do you have a keezer or a kegerator? If so what do you use too clean your beer lines?

 

Brew fridge


current taps:


I run hot PBW through the lines from a just kicked keg (use the keg to run it through) then some clean water (also via the keg) then some Star San solutions (all from the keg)... I leave the Star San in the line until it's on a keg. Then just push that out with the first pull.

 

Oh okay so PBW then water to clean out the PBW. Sounds good. I will post some pic of mine as soon as we are done with the keezer just putting the finishing touches on it right now. Have to say love the tap handles. Is one of those a .50 and 20mil?

 

Yeah, 50 BMG on the left, 20mm Vulcan inert/practice in the middle. I have one that doesn't look like brass. Debating setting that one up as a tap handle too. My father used to have one just like it (see attached pic)... If I can locate the one he had, I'll turn one into a tap handle.

 

you sanitize your boil kettle and your wort chiller with star-san? the boil process will sanitize the bk, so you really just need to clean it just after and just before use; no star-san needed. the wort chiller? clean it right after use, then again right before use. put it in the boiling wort 15 minutes before flameout. that sterilizes it

 

Sweet thats a great idea i think I'm going to take that. I have an old 20mil sitting around here somewhere.

 

I remember hearing a podcast with one of the creators of Star-San. He said the reason the bottle says a full minute is because the shortest duration the government tests is a full minute, and that in reality it's much shorter.

 

You'll get it sanitary within a few seconds of putting it into the boiling wort. It will be as sanitized as it can get after a few minutes. So anything more than 5 minutes is 100% brewers choice. Actually, anything over about 30 seconds above/at 200F is not going to do anything more. You can only get it truly sterilized by using an autoclave or pressure cooker (to hit 250F).

 

I just use tons of starsan. It's cheap and it makes me feel better knowing I'm doing my best to sanitize and not scrimping.

 

A little late on this one but:

1) anything before the boil doesn't need to be sanitized.
2) make up a spray bottle of solution. I use less than a quart on an average brew day.
3) reuse the starsan until the ph goes below 3.0
4) An immersion chiller can be put into the wort for the last few minutes of the boil to sanitize it.

 

As others have pointed out, you don't need to make up 5 gallons evytime you need to sanitize something. Directions always call for a large volume because they want to sell you more product. I always make up just enough for what I need. Sometimes I'll mix up just a quart if I'm sanitizing a beer line or something. You can also reuse it. Use distilled water and it will stay good a lot longer. You can also use other sanitizers for different things. For instance I use iodophor for my kegs, carboys and starter vessels because I like to fill them all the way up and let sit for a while. Mixing up 5+ gallons of iodophor is a lot cheaper than star san. Also, I commend you on your attention to detail, but you don't need to sanitize your BK. As for the chiller, just knock the dust off with some tap water and throw it in for the last 5 min of the boil.

 

You're using a lot there. You must spray just about EVERYTHING. I might go through 8-16 ounces when I'm going nuts with it.

You mean above 3.0... Lower is acidic, higher is alkaline. So if you were going lower, it would be into the 2.x range. Neutral is a PH of 7.0...

Already gone over that one.

 

I mix StarSan in a spray bottle, which usually lasts at least a couple brew days. I run out of StarSan maybe once or twice per year.

 

Well actually I fill a spray bottle and never empty it. I don't know how much exactly. But less than a quart,surely.

Well 3.0 is the often stated threshold and since it is an acid based sanitizer you would want it to be more acid than alkaline wouldn't you?

And yes I know that putting the chiller into the wort before the end of the boil had already been gone over.

From 5 Star, makers of Starsan:
Part Soaking: Use 1 ounce of STAR SAN per 5 gallons of water. Parts must have contact with solution for
30 seconds and put on wet. When solution begins to cloud, sweeten with Star San or Phosphoric Acid.
Solution must remain at a pH at 3 or below to maintain proper sanitizing level.

(Red highlight is my addition)

 

Which means, once it goes above 3.0, toss it... I'll have to test mine with the next batch I mix up. I'll just need someone else to read the strips, since I'm not always sure what color I'm actually seeing.

 

i did use the dreaded "sterilized" instead of the true "sanitized". thanks for the correction, GD. i also said 15 minutes since i drop my chiller in at 15 when i put in the irish moss and flavor hops (15-20 minutes left, usually), since it's more convenient. if you want to put it in for less, yes, you can. it's my habit to drop in hops, irish moss, and wort chiller all at one time

 

Not saying to not do it when it's convenient, just saying that anything over a couple/few minutes is over-kill. I think a lot of noobs are led to believe they MUST get it in there at the 15 minute mark or they'll have a ruined batch.

With my plate chiller, I recirculate boiling wort through it during the final minutes. I make sure it at least reaches 200F at the wort out end, and stays there for at least 30-60 seconds. Zero issues from this method. Increasing it a few more degrees really won't do anything different. At least not on our scale. I could fill the chiller with Star San solution as I'm setting up, dump it before connecting up everything and then not even worry about running boiling wort through it.

 

Thanks for all the good info. I'm going too be cutting way back i tell you that.

 

I add 3 cc's or (ml's) to 1/2 gallon of RO. It is enough to sanitize everything needed to both brew a 5-6 gallon batch as well as bottle it.

Providing everything is CLEAN to start all you need is a spray bottle (wet down all surfaces with the mix) put some in the vinator and a some in a bowl for your caps.

Still have a spray bottle left over for kitchen use.


bosco

 

Ah yes, I meant to say as long as the ph stays below 3.0 it is ok. Can I blame my error on it being late when I replied?

 

Well I learned a lot from this thread! Hooray. Thanks to all who provided input. I'm a noob I guess, always been probably overkill on sanitization. I'm just paranoid about making someone sick I guess.

 

Nope... Same time zone here Hoss...

 

Same here, or just bad beer.

 

Oh wow, good thread!! I've been using waaaaaaaayyyyy too much, and I've been griping about the price my LHBS charges me for it. Did the price like double in the past year?!

Just had an idea: http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail...&gadtype=pla&gclid=CP6x0t2Xp7QCFe1xOgodoFsAbw

Seriously, I was going through like ten gals (formulated) each brew session and for awhile I Was brewing every other week.

 

I think I used maybe 7.5 gallons, total, since September. The combination of a spray bottle and using enough to coat is what really makes a difference. You don't need to fill something with solution in order for it to be sanitized. Unlike cleaning solutions (like oxy or PBW).

 

If you have any questions on the time, since I see there are a couple of people disagreeing with the length of exposure - Post #4 in the following thread has links to the two sanitizer podcasts from the Star-San and Iodophor makers

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/sanitizer-question-54932/

A little over 3/4 through the Star-San podcast, he says "kills in 30 seconds, but the EPA test is always 2 minutes, and you are required to put on the label what the EPA test used."

 

I mix up a quart or two when I need to sanitize. I started off using a medicine syringe to measure the 1/40 of an ounce but now I know that it is about a smidgen. You only need a quart to sanitize a keg when shake up to coat all surfaces. Starsan last me a long time