Educate me on Star San please

[James0816]

I've read alot now I want to hear real life stories.

I understand I can make up a couple gallons to use at a time and it will keep for a bit. Question is, how long will it retain it sanitizing properties?

I can add some to a gallon carboy, swirl it around for a minute or two then pour back into holding container for future use. I usually fill the carboy all the way and let it sit two minutes then empty down drain.

Turn carboy upside down while I'm preparing everything else then fill.

 

[ehk089]

I often use a starsan batch for a month, including 2 10 gallon brew days, and any kegging or anything else in between. I’ve heard you can make it last longer too.

 

[bleme]

I prefer to make my StarSan with RO water from the grocery store machine - 25 cents/gallon. It stays good as long as it's pH is below 3 so the fewer minerals in your water, the better.

I use it until it gets contaminated, which might be up to a year (but usually much less).

 

[pvpeacock]

No reason to dump newly made StarSan down the drain. You keep it and reuse it for at least a couple of months in my experience. I keep a spray bottle full at all times and keep a bucket (with a lid) with at least 3 gallons of StarSan around as well. I make a new batch about every 2-3 months.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

Don't fear the foam

 

[Keith81]

I make a gallon jug at the start of the year with distilled water to keep on hand for random stuff and dump what's left at the end of the year (I brew outside so I take the winter off). No problems so far but I do make up a fresh batch on brew day with tap water for use that day. If you have a pH meter it is supposed to be good as long as the pH stays low enough, I think they say 3.5 but I'm not positive on that.

 

[Bigdaddyale]

No need to make a full five-gallon batch.- I make a gallon and slosh it around in the keg

 

[Dog House Brew]

If I use my tap water it will only last a short time. My hard water renders it ineffective. Only infection I’ve ever had was when I kept the “cloudy” StarSan.
When I mix it with distilled water it will last several months. It stays clear too.
I mix 5 gallons at a time. It lasts many brews. I use a spray bottle and mist most things. Bottles, hoses, siphon, starter flasks get submerged.

 

[Beer Nuts]

Star San is not just for brewing.
I spray and wipe kitchen and bathroom surfaces
as a mater of habit.

 

[LittleRiver]

I have a 5gal bucket (with a gamma seal screw off lid) that stays full of StarSan made with distilled water. It's one of my most used brewing tools.

For sanitizing vessels (fermenters, kegs) I just dip out a couple of cups, pour it in, and swirl it. The StarSan gets drained back into the 5gal bucket.

For sanitizing small items, I just chuck them into the bucket. I keep a couple of StarSan spray bottles, which are filled by immersing them in the bucket.

 

[mongoose33]

It'll last months. I taught a buddy of mine how to brew, gave him a little star-san at the outset. He made a 5-gallon bucket's worth of it.

Imagine my surprise when over a year later, I discovered he hadn't changed it!

He gave me a sample of it, I checked it with my pH meter. Still good after all these...well, months.

 

[RPh_Guy]

My family has been using the same batch of Star San for 5 generations. It was re-discovered after Prohibition.

 

[SEndorf]

My family has been using the same batch of Star San for 5 generations. It was re-discovered after Prohibition.

My great grand pappy used star-san for amputations in the civil war. I'm still using the same batch...…….

 

[RPh_Guy]

Yeah, they thought grand daddy might have had a contamination in '47 but it turned out it was just yeast rafts.

 

[SEndorf]

Seriously, I probably switch out my star-san more often than needed, but when it gets full of shmutz I replace it. Good practice to clean as thoroughly as possible with PBW before dumping in the star-san bucket. I'm not as careful as I should be.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Given that the active killer in Star-San isn't the phosphoric acid but rather dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, pH is an indirect (though from what I can tell, functional) check.

If I recall, the latter needs a low enough pH to do it's job. So while a pH check may not intrinsically tell you it's good, it can certainly tell you when it's not.

RO or DI water will maintain shelf life a long time. Tap water (with its alkalinity) will buffer the pH up and dramatically shorten the shelf life.

I've always just used tap water, making as little as needed, and tossing after a few weeks. But ultimately I prefer other sanitizers (much more partial to iodophor, easily titratable to assess actual strength and a more broad spectrum killer, though shorter shelf life when mixed, also like 70% isopropyl in a spray bottle).

 

[schmurf]

I believe it depends on your water, it lasts longer for some and shorter for others.

On a side note, apparently starsan and my well water hate each other. I've been fighting a off-flavour I kept having on and off in my brews and just recently found out that the culprit was my starsan water and the residues/foam it left on my equipment.