Does Undiluted Starsan "Go Bad"?

[superslomo]

I've taken a year off of drinking at all (sort of an experiment), and over a year without brewing a drop.

I've still got my sta-bil style squeezey dispenser bottle of starsan, unmixed/undiluted. Does the stuff go bad at any point, or am I still in good shape to trust that it's going to keep the nasty stuff at bay when I crack open my remaining stale kits and go to town on some marginal kit beer this spring?

Thanks...

 

[IslandLizard]

No, it doesn't go bad. Starsan's expiration date is total BS.

I'd shake it up after all that time. Before you do make sure the lids are intact and haven't split the top off. The lids expire.

 

[kh54s10]

My bottle is over 4 years old now. I check the pH with test strips, still fine.

 

[IslandLizard]

I've taken a year off of drinking at all (sort of an experiment), and over a year without brewing a drop.

I've still got my sta-bil style squeezey dispenser bottle of starsan, unmixed/undiluted. Does the stuff go bad at any point, or am I still in good shape to trust that it's going to keep the nasty stuff at bay when I crack open my remaining stale kits and go to town on some marginal kit beer this spring?

Thanks...

Speaking of stale kits, most ingredients should be fine, let your eyes and sniffer be the judge.

But the hops and yeast most likely need to be replaced. If the hops smell cheesy do not use them. They may also have lost their aroma and bitterness over time. Cold or frozen storage is best for them.

If the yeast the dry variety, it may or may not be viable. Fridge or freezer storage for dry yeast is recommended.

 

[superslomo]

Thanks all. I guess the tops are okay, but do you mean the actual plastic on the lid, or the seal has gone crappy?

I'm figuring on getting a brew day in in the next couple of weeks, returning to drinking after this hiatus is best done (I think) not just with homebrew (which I still have some of from the last intense phase) but with a new batch, done with a wildly stale kit, in the season where I might still have a prayer of it fermenting without getting far too warm.

 

[superslomo]

For the yeast I was figuring that I'd pitch it, and if nothing happened within a day or so, I'd go get extra from the local HBS and chuck that in as well... for the hops, they're in pellet form, locked in the vac-packs with nitrogen in them, so I figured they'd probably be fine, they've stored at cellar temps.

 

[flars]

The caps on the Starsan bottles can get brittle. The very top of the cap may split away as you screw it down.

 

[superslomo]

Northern Brewer is tellin' me that the kits altogether are probably kind of janky and should just be replaced... AT LEAST THE STARSAN STILL WORKS, RIGHT??

Thanks everybody. Advice is much appreciated.

 

[IslandLizard]

Northern Brewer is tellin' me that the kits altogether are probably kind of janky and should just be replaced... AT LEAST THE STARSAN STILL WORKS, RIGHT??

Thanks everybody. Advice is much appreciated.

NB benefits from tossing it.

Dry malt extract should last years if stored dry and well sealed. Liquid malt is more touchy, depending on packaging and storage environment. Most grain will be fine for years, slowly losing some potency over time.

Really your hops need to be evaluated. Do so a couple days before you brew and before you go the store. And get a back up package of dry yeast. Store in freezer.

 

[superslomo]

It's liquid malt extract and some steeping grains. It's the northern brewer branded stuff in the big plastic jugs... it's been in the dark, in a dry basement not terribly warm in summer, and reasonably cool through fall/winter/spring. It's somewhere between a year and two years old... I called NB to find out about the chance to just replace the hops and the guy I spoke to basically said he'd be concerned about throwing good money after bad with LME that would taste like cardboard from the oxidization.

I'm sufficiently skeptical about anyone selling something, but they've always been pretty good folks, and I don't want to waste a huge amount of effort on beer that is eventually utterly undrinkable, but it seems like the fact that I have all the stuff, it seems absurd to just chuck it, other than the amount of useless effort involved...

We're not talking any crazy complex stuff (mostly), so I'm inclined to just go with everything as it sits and try and see whether it sucks when it's finished

 

[IslandLizard]

You can take some of the LME and dissolve it in some water and smell and taste it before committing to the whole shebang. Heck, boil some up and see what it does. It could be oxidized, sure, and if so, I expect that staleness to come through immediately.

 

[MNDan]

I've had the same batch of StarSan/RO water mixed up in a 5 gallon keg for years. If it's clear, it's fine. You can double check with a pH meter if you like, but they engineered StarSan to turn cloudy when the pH is too high so really you just need to peer through it to see if it's clear.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Star San expiration is based on the fact that they guarantee that the bottle that holds it will last. The chemicals inside the bottle will last much longer than the bottle. This information is direct from five star.

For those of you that have 4 year old starsan I think you need to brew more. I use about 2 qts a year and I am frugal with the stuff.

 

[kh54s10]

Someone liked my post on this old thread - so a comment.

My bottle is over 4 years old now. I check the pH with test strips, still fine.

I saw a quote of a shelf life of about a year. I hope not since that 16 oz. bottle lasted about 8 years and 106+ beers. I have since bought a 32 ounce and hope it lasts about 16 more years.....

Star San expiration is based on the fact that they guarantee that the bottle that holds it will last. The chemicals inside the bottle will last much longer than the bottle. This information is direct from five star.

For those of you that have 4 year old starsan I think you need to brew more. I use about 2 qts a year and I am frugal with the stuff.

You are not frugal. You must be wasteful or you brew a hell of a lot of beer. Look at how long mine lasted.

 

[Robert65]

Made me look. Don't see an expiration date. But I have half a 16 oz bottle with a lot number ending in 17 which might indicate a manufacture or expiration date. I use Star San only as a spray bottle emergency sanitizer and in my airlock jar, my primary sanitizer is iodophor. Don't think I need to brew more, I brew at least twice a month and just use optimal products for the job. Please update if there is in fact a known shelf life on this stuff.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm on the last ounce of a five year old bottle of Star San and all I know is the pH of a standard solution is still down around 2.5.
I checked it and a fresh bottle I picked up a couple of months ago and no note of a "best used by" or expiration date.

Given the rather simple makeup of Star San I wonder what the degradation process might be, assuming the container is reasonably gas impermeable so oxidative effects could be discounted...

Cheers!

 

[augiedoggy]

I've had the same batch of StarSan/RO water mixed up in a 5 gallon keg for years. If it's clear, it's fine. You can double check with a pH meter if you like, but they engineered StarSan to turn cloudy when the pH is too high so really you just need to peer through it to see if it's clear.

star san turns cloudy right away depending on the your water mineral makeup.

 

[kh54s10]

star san turns cloudy right away depending on the your water mineral makeup.

And if the pH is below 3 it is supposedly still good. I hope so since my present water turns mine cloudy and I am not about to buy water for that purpose...