Am I going WAY overboard in my sanitation?

[linusstick]

Carboys, fermenters and kegs; I fill them up all 5 gallons and use the appropriate amount of Star San. I've been watching videos with people just putting a gallon in with the appropriate amount of Star San, closing the lid and swirling around. Am I overdoing it?

 

[pkeeler]

I use iodophor, never used star san. But the idea is the same, you don't have to immerse to get effective sanitation. You only need to coat the surface for the required time. Remember, to a bacterium, a drop of solution is an ocean of liquid. I put .5-1 gal. of iodophor solution at 12.5 ppm in a carboy and swirl and shake to keep it all coated for 1 minute, then invert and let it rinse. Done.

 

[ayoungrad]

I have read on here that Star San apparently works with 20 seconds of contact.

I use a small amount to sanitize carboys or pails.

 

[jerryalan]

I have a 25oz spray bottle that I mix a 1/4 tsp of Star San in. Everything I sanitize simply gets a heavy spray. Carboys and kegs get a little extra so there's a couple of ounces at the bottom to swirl around. Honestly, I can get through an entire brew life cycle (from yeast starter to kegging) with a single 25oz spray bottle and still have a couple ounces to spare. I've never had an issue with contamination.

 

[Revvy]

You're doing nothing wrong, nor are the rest of us who use far less and spread it around. You're spending more money that way. But it's all about your process and your preference.

 

[jerryalan]

You're doing nothing wrong, nor are the rest of us who use far less and spread it around. You're spending more money that way. But it's all about your process and your preference.

Agreed. IMHO you should do whatever it takes for you to be confident that your equipment is sanitized. If SWMBO brewed she'd probably go through a bottle of Star San every brew day.

 

[VegasBrew]

Even the foam of StarSan will kill, don`t fear the foam!! HAHA!! Honestly I do as Jerryalan, spray bottle everything and I put 1/4 to 1/2 a gallon in my bucket/carboy and swish it around. I mix up 2 or 3 gallons at a time with distilled water and leave it in a home depot bucket, lasts for months. I even poor it back out of my bucket/carboy to my holding bucket to save some. As long as it isn`t cloudy your good to go.

VB

 

[Irrenarzt]

I doubt it lasts for months. Taste it after a week, it loses its' tartness which means the acid is mostly neutralized. You can verify this with a pH strip test when you first make it and then after it has sat for a week. It will be less acidic and more neutral. So after a week, you will lose effectiveness big time.

 

[two_hearted]

I mix up a fermenter load and use that to sanitize everything. I like to siphon it back and forth from fermenters/kegs to make sure I get all of my tubing sanitized. Then I throw it in a better bottle, cap it and save it for another application. I also have a spray bottle which I use to sanitize other things. I don't have the confidence yet to only spray, I feel like a good bath puts my mind at ease.

As pointed out, use pH strips to make sure it is still effective.

 

[Hokie_Brewer]

THIS is overboard:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f45/has-anyone-seen-yeast-starter-saga-234201/

 

[Irrenarzt]

That dude is just plain crazy OCD

 

[Mike_A]

THIS is overboard:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f45/has-anyone-seen-yeast-starter-saga-234201/

Hahaha I looked at this thread just to see if it was the guy in the video making this post. That dude has seeeerious OCD issues and apparently doesn't realize it.

All methods mentioned in this thread are suitable. I keep a spray bottle handy for when I need to sanitize/resanitize things multiple times on brew day, and I sometimes fill an entire bucket or carboy with sanitizer and syphon it around just so I can leave it syphoning/soaking while I'm running around doing other things.

 

[ayoungrad]

I'm at work so I could only watch the video and not listen, but...

It is funny. And you can call me a cynic but I'm not buying it. From my perspective (and I'm pretty damn anal) anyone who is really that obsessive compulsive wouldn't be wearing those clothes or be working in a room clearly under construction. Does the audio add something that I'm missing?

 

[bruin_ale]

I doubt it lasts for months. Taste it after a week, it loses its' tartness which means the acid is mostly neutralized. You can verify this with a pH strip test when you first make it and then after it has sat for a week. It will be less acidic and more neutral. So after a week, you will lose effectiveness big time.

I never really taste my star-san, are you using RO water? If I mix it with my tap, it gets cloudy in a week - if I mix it with RO water it never gets cloudy. I can tell it's still pretty acidic because my hands are all f'ed up after stickin them in santizer during the brew session.

 

[MNDan]

RO water + StarSan is a beautiful thing. I've been using the same 5 gallons I mixed up 3 years ago and it's still perfectly clear and works on everything. You are spending way too much on StarSan if you are mixing up a new batch every time and soaking everything. My SOP is to pour 16 ounces or so into a carboy, shake vigorously, let sit a minute, shake again, and pour out all that I can (leaving the foam). No infections or off flavors to date. I do this with all of my kegs as well - works great!

 

[beerand420]

I'm pretty much like the OP except I transfer my initial 5 gallons from keg to carboy under pressure, and then into an old bottling bucket where I toss just about everything else I'm using. At the end of the day I have a full spray bottle to use in the kitchen for the next week or so, and I usually drain (waste) the rest. I am trying to reduce the amount of water I end up wasting for a 5 gallon batch. Thinking I'll scale back to 1 gallon next brew.

 

[Jbear]

I'm also like the OP... I have always filled the entire vessel with sanitizer - the the point where it pours over the top a bit to make sure every square millimeter is sanitized.

Lately though I've been looking at ways to reduce water waste from brewing and this has me thinking that I could probably save about 5 or 6 gallons of the 7.5 I have been putting into a fermenter for sanitizing... I'm not concerned about the cost of the sanitizer, but more so the water. Our water/sewer bill has gone up considerably since I started brewing and I'm trying to mitigate that a little.

 

[IrregularPulse]

You're doing nothing wrong, nor are the rest of us who use far less and spread it around. You're spending more money that way. But it's all about your process and your preference.

I understand everyone does things there way but it doesn't mean he's not wasting a lot of starsan and money and therefore doing it "wrong".

I am a spray bottle man myself and love it. Just a heavy spray on everything.

 

[beerand420]

I have to wonder why every kitchen I've worked in has a sink full of fresh sanitizer for all of the dishes to go through if spray was enough... does the health dept agree? I've had quite a few cheap bosses in the past that would probably just use a spray of tap water if they could pass an inspection that way. I think going just the spray route alone is probably the other side of the spectrum in the too much vs. not enough conversation. I think the main thing is if you've never lost a batch of beer to bugs, you're doing something right.

 

[theredben]

beerand420 - once you start talking about food contamination, sanitation issues change. We are not concerned with any human pathogens, and the bugs our beer get are pretty easy to kill with sanitizer. So yes, a spray bottle is all you really need.

 

[Homercidal]

I found a 3Quart jug of "water" in the closet the other day. Turns out it was StarSan that I had mixed with some Distilled water WAY back. Was perfectly clear and had that tart flavor you all know if you've tasted Starsan. I forgot that I made it up so I could top off my spray bottle between brewing sessions, like for my kegging stuff.

Normally, if I mix with tap water, it's cloudy almost instantly. With all of the alkalinity in my water, I can't keep it fresh unless I use store-bought Distilled water.

 

[beerand420]

beerand420 - once you start talking about food contamination, sanitation issues change. We are not concerned with any human pathogens, and the bugs our beer get are pretty easy to kill with sanitizer. So yes, a spray bottle is all you really need.

Ok, agreed, but only if I get to define a low pressurized keg with a gallon or 2 of starsan in it as a spray bottle and a bucket to catch my 'over spray' I'm all about efficency. Who cares about a dollar of Starsan. I do like to clean my beerlines, taps and keg valves from time to time without having to take everything apart to the poppet level. I can connect racking canes, hoses, etc, all inline from the keg and sanitize the inside of those pieces together in seconds. While someone probably could justify using a spray bottle even in those cases, I'll be done cleaning and making beer by then. I think it really depends on what you are cleaning, but I could never agree that a spray bottle is all you need for everything. I guess I enjoy finding holes in generalizations of any kind.

 

[kaiser423]

I have to wonder why every kitchen I've worked in has a sink full of fresh sanitizer for all of the dishes to go through if spray was enough... does the health dept agree? I've had quite a few cheap bosses in the past that would probably just use a spray of tap water if they could pass an inspection that way. I think going just the spray route alone is probably the other side of the spectrum in the too much vs. not enough conversation. I think the main thing is if you've never lost a batch of beer to bugs, you're doing something right.

They have the same regulations as we impose upon ourselves essentially. X number of seconds wet with sanitizing solution.

The thing is that you could get away with a spray bottle if all of your employees were good, you have good processes, etc.

The thing is that it's about a thousand times simpler and faster to as you're cleaning dishes toss them in the sanitizer and then dig 'em out once they're all in there. It's pretty much foolproof and therefore the health inspectors like it much, much more.