Cloudy starsan question

[Ceb2652]

Brewed my third and fourth batches on Sunday at the same time (Irish red and porter.) Pitched and moved both fermenting buckets to a dark, cool space. Put in the airlocks and decided to fill with Starsan. Cloudy! Researched cloudy Starsan on HBT and got cloudy = ineffective. So 24 hours later fermentation started in both and magically I have CLEAR Starsan in the airlocks. So where am I now? Good sanitizer? Bad sanitizer? Or RDWHAHB from my two batches bottled two weeks ago?

Thanks for all of the advice,

Chad

 

[Breck09]

My Starsan is cloudy the minute I make it so I have never paid much attention to it. I will check the pH every now in then if the batch has been sitting for a while.

 

[DrawTap88]

Cloudy star san is only bad if it has been sitting out for a few days. My star san is also cloudy the minute I make it, so no worries. RDWAHAHB. Just make sure your airlocks are constantly full. Evaporation sucks.

 

[ColeBeer78]

If the cloudiness bothers you, use distilled water for your starsan mix.

 

[phuff7129]

My Starsan is always cloudy, don't know why. Works perfectly, never had a sanitization issue. Mine will clear in the airlock too, again not sure why but don't worry about it cause it works.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

My Starsan is always cloudy, don't know why. Works perfectly, never had a sanitization issue. Mine will clear in the airlock too, again not sure why but don't worry about it cause it works.

I know that around here, it's the hard tap water that causes the clouding. Like other's have said, try using distilled if the cloudiness bugs you. FWIW, what I understand about StarSan solution is that if the pH is right (~3.2, I think below ~4 is ok)), it's effective, regardless of cloudiness.

 

[inhousebrew]

I've heard hard water or something also causes it so that should not be the worry. So I bought the pH strips but never really use them, I just replace it every so often and have never had an issue.

Is it bad when the pH gets high or low???

 

[unionrdr]

The higher the number gets,the less acidic it is. 3 or 3.2 or less is good. Cloudy isn't an issue as fast as it would seem. PH is more important.

 

[tnsen]

I mix my starsan with distilled water...but I have no ph strips...soooo how long do you think it is still good?....3 weeks...8 weeks?...

 

[unionrdr]

I've gotten about 3-4 months out of mine. No infections yet.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I mix my starsan with distilled water...but I have no ph strips...soooo how long do you think it is still good?....3 weeks...8 weeks?...

Covered? Like Union said, months.