Anyone use StarSan instead of vodka to make a tincture?

[SpeedYellow]

I need to sanitize some citrus zest (orange and lemon peel) for secondary and am trying to find a good way to do that. Some folks use a couple ounces of vodka when making a spice tincture for secondary, but why not just use a standard dilution of Starsan? I'd assume the couple ounces of Starsan wouldn't have much impact on the beer acidity. But perhaps there are other ingredients that could impart off flavors?

 

[JonM]

No.

 

[BrewCityBaller]

No.



But seriously... I get the "don't fear the foam" thing, but why would you purposely add chemicals to your beer when there is a perfectly suitable alternative MEANT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION?!?!

 

[TimLa]

Vodka is a solvent (good)
Vodka has no flavor (good)
Vodka was made by yeast (good)
Vodka will naturally extract the flavors you're looking for (good)

Starsan is a sanitizer (bad)
Starsan is probably the last thing you want for this.

 

[hunter_le five]

Just because it is technically safe for human consumption doesn't make it a good idea to deliberately add it to your beer.

Use vodka.

 

[SpeedYellow]

Not surprised to hear "no" but I'm hoping to hear the actual reasons why 3-4 oz of diluted Starsan would be bad for the beer. The ingredients:

15% dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid
50% phosphoric acid
35% inert ingredients

Obviously the phosphoric acid is ok, but I have no idea about the other 50%. And of course we're just talking about literally a few drops of this concentrate.


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[SpeedYellow]

...
Starsan is a sanitizer (bad)
...

That's not bad -- that's the entire point of this exercise.


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[fearwig]

You will shift your finishing pH, mostly. It's not a terrible idea, just a bad one.

 

[TimLa]

That's not bad -- that's the entire point of this exercise.


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I think I was getting tired - what I was getting at is that starsan may/may not extract or modify any/all of the aromatic organic chemicals you're trying to add to your beer. If (say) you soak the zest in a couple ounces of vodka for a day, then add that (zest and vodka) to your fermenter, you'd be set. Using starsan would be an experiment.

 

[BrewCityBaller]

Not surprised to hear "no" but I'm hoping to hear the actual reasons why 3-4 oz of diluted Starsan would be bad for the beer. The ingredients:

15% dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid
50% phosphoric acid
35% inert ingredients

Obviously the phosphoric acid is ok, but I have no idea about the other 50%. And of course we're just talking about literally a few drops of this concentrate.


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Correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't it supposed to be 1oz per five gallons of water? So are you going to make a 15-20 gallon tincture? Or just say to hell with it and slurp up the acid?

And dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid is a surfactant, most commonly used in laundry detergent. Again, it is one thing to get a little into your finished product, but purposely adding many times the proper dilution just seems absurd.

 

[j1n]

Correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't it supposed to be 1oz per five gallons of water? So are you going to make a 15-20 gallon tincture? Or just say to hell with it and slurp up the acid?

And dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid is a surfactant, most commonly used in laundry detergent. Again, it is one thing to get a little into your finished product, but purposely adding many times the proper dilution just seems absurd.

He said "3-4 oz of diluted Starsan". If you dont get that then ill break it down. 1 oz sarsan to 5 gallons of water, take 3-4 oz of that sanitized water and that's what hes talking about.


Either way i think its a horrible idea. Just use vodka.

 

[chip82]

The alcohol is better at bringing the flavor across as well


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[BrewCityBaller]

He said "3-4 oz of diluted Starsan". If you dont get that then ill break it down. 1 oz sarsan to 5 gallons of water, take 3-4 oz of that sanitized water and that's what hes talking about.


Either way i think its a horrible idea. Just use vodka.

Okay, now that makes more sense. I read that the other way in my head.

In that case, I don't think it would even be effective as a good solvent.

Vodka, end of story.

 

[JonM]

Try the empirical approach. Steep a vanilla bean in vodka for a couple weeks and steep an equally-sized bean in an equal amount of starsan. Taste the resulting tinctures side-by-side. I bet the starsan one will be sour and crappy tasting.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I boil my zest in a small amount of water for 5 minutes. When it cools, I add it to secondary. No problems.

 

[ChuckO]

Safety concerns aside, a tincture is defined as a solution in alcohol, so you can't make one with StarSan without also adding an alcohol such as vodka.

 

[fearwig]

I just skip the beer and drink Star San.

 

[Denny]

You don't need to do either StarSan (which is bad idea, BTW) or vodka. Just put the orange peel in the secondary. The alcohol content and low pH of the beer at that point makes it pretty resistant to infection. I've put mushrooms right out of the woods in like that with no problem.