Can i keep starsan in a covered fermentation bucket?

[fun4stuff]

I recently made 5 gallons of starsan to purge a cleaned keg.

I know starsan is good as long as it’s not cloudy, ph < 3, and there isn’t a bunch of gunk in it.

but will it leached stuff out of my food grade plastic buckets?

 

[tellyho]

I keep mine in a decommissioned fermentation bucket. No issues so far. It's not good for plastic long-term, but...

 

[TallDan]

I've been keeping it in an open top bucket for years now. I don't even cover it. I check the ph if it's been a while since i've used it and I need to sanitize something, but it seems to keep in it's effective ph range for a LONG time. I think it will all evaporate before the ph gets out of range.

 

[TallDan]

Additional thoughts:
I've been using the same bucket for at least 5 years. It seems to be fine.

Mine is always cloudy, even when made fresh with my tap water. I don't worry about that.

I once caught a mouse with my open bucket of starsan. That time I dumped it out and made a new batch. Have found a few crickets in there.

 

[IslandLizard]

No problem, I've always been keeping several brew buckets with Starsan around for 3-6 months. The ones that got grimey/gray get dumped.

Cloudiness doesn't seem to be a problem. If left undisturbed for a few (2-6) weeks there will be a white precipitate on everything in there, even inside hoses. It washes off though, but you may need to use a rag or brushes to get some friction, it's kinda powdery.

Due to the precipitation, the Starsan above will become crystal clear over time, pH is <3.0 and fine. I just pour it into another bucket, without tilting it back until the end, thereby leaving 1/2 gallon with the white residue behind. I'm not sure what dropped out and if it still works/sanitizes the same, though. I just use it for pre-purging clean kegs or filling clean fermenters to "thoroughly sanitize" for a few days, for which it seems to do an adequate job.

 

[Spartan1979]

I keep a 5 gallon bucket with Star San in it at all times. I'll replace it a couple of times per year. I keep a lid on it just to keep junk out of it.

 

[TallDan]

I keep a 5 gallon bucket with Star San in it at all times. I'll replace it a couple of times per year. I keep a lid on it just to keep junk out of it.

When I kept a lid on mine, i ended up with a small amount of mold on the underside of the lid. So I stopped that.

I do not have kids or pets at home though. That would change things.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Cloudiness doesn't seem to be a problem.

+1. Cloudiness doesn't matter, only the pH.

No leeching occurs with food grade plastic.

 

[mattdee1]

Open top bucket for me, works fine.

A bucket of Star San can continue to do its job effectively for a long time. Early on I would make up a batch and roll with it for months and months. I never had any infections but admittedly, I overdid it a bit. It would get to the point where the Star San bucket was getting kind of gross with little dead flies and leaves and crap floating around in it. One day, I finally said "Ok, this is silly... Star San isn't expensive for what you get, time to stop being so cheap with it." Now I refresh it a lot more than I probably need to, but I decided I don't like stray flies getting into my beer when they can be prevented for about $0.25 a batch.

Re-use of Star San is definitely a must, though. I'd go through way too much of it otherwise. Especially since I started using it to do full purges on kegs prior to packaging.

 

[fun4stuff]

Cool good to hear. Just want to make sure these buckets could withstand Star San acidic pH. I guess certain foods (eg tomato purée, citrus based) also have pretty low pH’s. Tomato sauce can get down to 3.5, i believe. Apples, orange, grapees, grape fruit are pretty low too.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Just want to make sure these buckets could withstand Star San acidic pH.

The concentrated Star San comes in a plastic (HDPE) container.

 

[Spartan1979]

When I kept a lid on mine, i ended up with a small amount of mold on the underside of the lid. So I stopped that.

I do not have kids or pets at home though. That would change things.

I do see a little bit of that too.

 

[LittleRiver]

When I kept a lid on mine, i ended up with a small amount of mold on the underside of the lid...

I get the same after a while, but I continue using a lid. I occasionally give the underside of the lid a thorough cleaning. To me that amount of effort is worth it to keep the dust and insects out of the StarSan.

 

[fun4stuff]

The concentrated Star San comes in a plastic (HDPE) container.



View attachment 664381

I get the same after a while, but I continue using a lid. I occasionally give the underside of the lid a thorough cleaning. To me that amount of effort is worth it to keep the dust and insects out of the StarSan.

i would think you could just spray underside with starsan every time you open it. I have pets and kids. Def can’t just leave it open.

 

[IslandLizard]

i would think you could just spray underside with starsan every time you open it.

I'm the mopping guy, so... a small washcloth in the Starsan bucket is my tool of preference. Also wipe the sides above the Starsan level, but yeah, the lid seems to attract mold quicker.

 

[day_trippr]

I get the occasional spots of black mold on my Star San bucket lid. Seems seasonal - our winters are pretty dry and I've been busy in the brewery since early December and no signs of mold over that duration. Otoh, come late May, I make sure to dry the lid any time I've used the sanitizer because leaving it wet will definitely accelerate the mold thing.

Anyway...I haven't noticed any issues with the bucket itself - I've used the same one for probably 10 years now for holding Star San mix. But in that same time I've gone through three bucket spigots because the threading on the body dissolves to the point the lock nut (which is a different material) could slip a thread.

Literally drained a bucket the first time, fortunately it was in my work shop adjacent to our garage where it ran through out to the driveway. The second time the bucket was weeping around the spigot hole and I caught it in time. On my third spigot now, same model, but I'm thinking I probably should find a different type of spigot

Cheers!

 

[Yesfan]

Same with me. I have a decommissioned fermenting bucket I use for Star-San. If I see any of the black mold/mildew, I just wash and dry the lid. Besides that, no issues with the bucket itself.

The biggest issue I've had with Star-san is the caps on the squeeze container. Both of mine have split. I don't know if that's from it "eating away" at the caps' insides due to its concentration before diluting with water or where I'm squeezing the contents up into the mixing portion from the bottom too hard. I've had to use 2L Coke caps as replacements.

Anyone else have this issue? Mine is the 32oz bottle.

 

[day_trippr]

That's a historic problem with Five Star bottle caps. You can go back 10, 15 years and see the same cracked cap complaints.
Having read about that ages ago I make a point of barely seating the cap - like, almost zero tension on the threads.
Haven't cracked a Star San cap yet...

Cheers!

 

[Robert65]

Cracked one once, realized you can tighten them down too far, nothing to stop them, and the neck punches through the cap. Been very careful since. In the case of the one I cracked, I was lucky enough to be able to repurpose a cap from something else, but as long as you can keep crap from falling in, I don't see the concentrate being harmed by a little air getting in. Foil would probably do.

I get the seasonal spots on the lid too, BTW. Just rinse them off. Never occurred to me to use the Star San itself on the lid. You is sum smart peeple heer. [emoji482]

 

[Yesfan]

That's a historic problem with Five Star bottle caps. You can go back 10, 15 years and see the same cracked cap complaints.
Having read about that ages ago I make a point of barely seating the cap - like, almost zero tension on the threads.
Haven't cracked a Star San cap yet...

Cheers!

Good to know. I'll do the same when I replace this bottle in about 10 years. LOL!

I'm still on the same bottle I bought about 6-7 years ago! I think I have about 6oz left in this bottle.