I Am NOT a Fan Of Star-San

[Eddy Monsoon]

No mention of the yeast nutrient that starsan supplies ?

Or is that fake news ?

 

[DavidWood2115]

As long as the pH is within normal range, it is still an effective sanitizer. In an open soaking tub it'll be depleted in a day. Bottled up in a sprayer it's good for at least a week.

StarSan is effective so long as the pH remains below 3.5, how long it stays that low varies depending on your water chemistry. I have quite hard water and I find that StarSan still lasts weeks or months in an open HDPE bucket. I use RO water to dilute StarSan in my sprayer which I keep for months.

There are a couple of podcasts with Charlie Talley (creator of StarSan) that discuss this and other issues. Here is one thread that points to these and summarizes many of the key points.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/charlie-talley-five-star-chemicals-notes-from-brewcasts.58928/We’ll worth a listen.

 

[Broothru]

Star San can be saved in a sealed container for "a few days" after mixing. I add about 5 ml into a small pint spray bottle. That roughly works out to the recommended dilution of 1 fl oz per 5 gallons. If I haven't used it up in a week I'll toss it and mix a fresh batch.

As long as the pH is within normal range, it is still an effective sanitizer. In an open soaking tub it'll be depleted in a day. Bottled up in a sprayer it's good for at least a week.

Oh.

I guess that must be the reason I haven't had any infections lately. Oops.

 

[Novacor]

Allegedly it breaks down plastic. I don't claim firsthand experience or the scientific background to back up that claim. It's just something I read here from a poster that seemed like they knew the chemistry well enough.

I made a gallon jug of distilled water into Star San that I kept for about 8 months. One day I found it sitting in a puddle because it had eaten through the jug. It will eventually eat through some plastic, but the contact time required is significantly more than your day to day brewing use.

 

[madscientist451]

Use what you like, I've been using Star-san for years without any issues.

 

[Knkbrand]

Allegedly it breaks down plastic. I don't claim firsthand experience or the scientific background to back up that claim. It's just something I read here from a poster that seemed like they knew the chemistry well enough.

Everyone's water is different, but I have kept my star san in a home depot bucket for the last 5 years, it doesn't seem to harm the orange beast.

 

[Beavis740]

Thought I’d heard it is bad to use with stainless especially if in contact with it a long time as it can corrode it

 

[passedpawn]

Thought I’d heard it is bad to use with stainless especially if in contact with it a long time as it can corrode it

You might be thinking of bleach, which I have proven the hard way will etch a hole right through the bottom of a SS cornie keg.

 

[scrap iron]

I keep star-san in a good spray bottle that I got at a farm and home store. These are better quality than the regular bottles at big box stores. They are made for around the farm. I use 1 1/2 ml per quart bottle mixed with RO water. 1oz per 5 gals when downsized to 1qt [29.57ml in 1oz for 5 gals divided by 20 qts in 5 gals = 1.47 ml]. I write the this on my bottle to remember. Math never lies.
I keep the spray bottle around for weeks with no ill effect. Spraying into bottles when bottling and also spraying down the inside of my SS fermenter bucket, inside hoses etc. I also make a batch in a plastic bucket with RO and it keeps for a long time.

 

[MaxStout]

I keep star-san in a good spray bottle that I got at a farm and home store. These are better quality than the regular bottles at big box stores. They are made for around the farm. I use 1 1/2 ml per quart bottle mixed with RO water. 1oz per 5 gals when downsized to 1qt [29.57ml in 1oz for 5 gals divided by 20 qts in 5 gals = 1.47 ml]. I write the this on my bottle to remember. Math never lies.
I keep the spray bottle around for weeks with no ill effect. Spraying into bottles when bottling and also spraying down the inside of my SS fermenter bucket, inside hoses etc. I also make a batch in a plastic bucket with RO and it keeps for a long time.

Home Despot sells Zep "chemically resistant" quart spray bottles. I do the same, 1.5ml per quart RO water. I also keep 5 gallons in a food-safe bucket for soaking gear, dunking bottles, etc. Never any issue with corrosion.

 

[beerisyummy]

I use PBW for cleaning & StarSan for sanitizing. No issues.

 

[bwible]

PBW will leave a white residue on bottles sometimes. But I’ve only had it happen when the bottles have been soaking for a long time (I’m talking I’ve left them soak for over a week) are not completely immersed. Like if the top of the neck is above the liquid. When this white residue forms I haven’t found anything thst will remove it. Nothing.

 

[eric19312]

I use PBW for cleaning or similar alkaline cleaner and star san for sanitizing. make the star san 5 gallons at a time and save it for 2-3 months before making again.

I find PBW drys my skin terribly. Even with a good rinse I can feel my skin turning into soap. Used to be after a brew day I'd be looking for hand lotion for 2-3 days after. But then I found out a quick dip in my star san bucket stops the PBW reaction. Hands not nearly so dry after a brew day.

 

[balrog]

I use PBW for cleaning or similar alkaline cleaner and star san for sanitizing. make the star san 5 gallons at a time and save it for 2-3 months before making again.

I find PBW drys my skin terribly. Even with a good rinse I can feel my skin turning into soap. Used to be after a brew day I'd be looking for hand lotion for 2-3 days after. But then I found out a quick dip in my star san bucket stops the PBW reaction. Hands not nearly so dry after a brew day.

Very interesting...

 

[day_trippr]

Basic chemistry

 

[RufusBrewer]

No mention of the yeast nutrient that starsan supplies ?

Or is that fake news ?

I think the yeast like the phosphorus (or something like that) that StarSan provided.

I am going to question how much it actually provides. if you go with 1 oz per 5 gallons, that is pretty diluted to start with. then you pour most of that 5 gallons out.

What do you have left? Foam. The foam ain't that much and what foam there is is almost all air. So you have a small fraction of almost nothing.

I am going to believe that StarSan foam is harmless. But it ain't going to help very much either.

 

[Deadalus]

Any time I get a new bottle I transfer my note for spray bottle and pints View attachment 760884

That's completely accurate to decimal places (top line, I didn't check the bottom one). 6ml to a gallon is just slightly over but what I use since I usually mix up a gallon or less since I use a gallon pitcher pretty often.

4.25 milliliters is the appropriate dilution amount for 92 ounces (2720 ml) of water. You're going in with a huge overdose.

The mixture of ml and ounces doesn't bother me, but this is an odd ratio to use. Is there a reason why?

 

[jerrylotto]

I don't understand why people use chemical sanitation for bottles. After clearning, I just put them into the oven, heat it to 350F and then just let everything cool off overnight.

 

[HB2 HughBHomeBrew]

+1000000000000

IMO it's one of the single-greatest homebrew-related products that has ever existed.

I had a 20 year hiatus from home brewing. Star-San and online supplies (especially with no LHBS for 100 miles) were the biggest improvements for me coming back. A stainless steel fermentor was good too. And BIAB. But I digress.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I don't understand why people use chemical sanitation for bottles. After clearning, I just put them into the oven, heat it to 350F and then just let everything cool off overnight.

I don't even do that. After rinsing sediment from the bottom, I just put them in the dishwasher with the other dishes and then store them in the basement (my fermentation, bottling, and conditioning area) for their next use. No StarSan and no problems for 28 years of brewing. YRMV.

 

[Spivey24]

I honestly wouldn’t brew without StarSan. I can’t imagine having to sanitize without it. I use a spray bottle and the stuff seems to go everywhere, so I am actually scared of the iodine based cleaners. I do tend to up the concentration on spray bottles. The thought being I am often spraying wet things which will dilute on surface. I had a bottle tip and leak a couple of months ago and at full concentration it etched the concrete in my garage. Otherwise love the stuff.

 

[Broothru]

4.25 milliliters is the appropriate dilution amount for 92 ounces (2720 ml) of water. You're going in with a huge overdose.

Yeah, found my math error (I think). One ounce to five gallons is proportional to 'x' over 12 ounces,
or:
[29.574 ml x 354.888 ml] : [ 'X' x 18,927.36 ml]
10,495.56 ml^2 = 18,927.36 ml x 'X'
'X' = 0.5545 ml

There's a reason I never made it as an engineer. I was off by a factor of 10 (I think).

 

[BrewZer]

The mixture of ml and ounces doesn't bother me, but this is an odd ratio to use. Is there a reason why?

I've got a 3-quart glass jug I use for Star-San dilution.

 

[BrewZer]

Whats the problem with going over .?

Star-San is a no-rinse sanitizer at recommended dilution levels. I don't know (and wouldn't recommend testing) if that still applies at dilution rates leaving more Star-San in the solution than recommended.

 

[hout17]

I don't even do that. After rinsing sediment from the bottom, I just put them in the dishwasher with the other dishes and then store them in the basement (my fermentation, bottling, and conditioning area) for their next use. No StarSan and no problems for 28 years of brewing. YRMV.
View attachment 761109

That Bud Dry box is giving me PTSD. Lol

 

[D.B.Moody]

That Bud Dry box is giving me PTSD. Lol

I hate to tell you that the case in front of that is Natty Light. What can I say? The bottles were free and already empty.
Underneath the Schafly Pale Ale box is a Busch case, and not seen are two Budweiser cases. The Busch and Budwieser bottles are old school, heavy, returnable bottles. (It may be obvious from all this that I live in the St. Louis area.)

 

[Broothru]

I hate to tell you that the case in front of that is Natty Light. What can I say? The bottles were free and already empty.
Underneath the Schafly Pale Ale box is a Busch case, and not seen are two Budweiser cases. The Busch and Budwieser bottles are old school, heavy, returnable bottles. (It may be obvious from all this that I live in the St. Louis area.)

Hey, that reminds me. I've got two cases of the old Michelob hour glass bottles from the 60s. Yeah, I'm a sentimental hoarder.

 

[Plastic Brewkettle]

So I got these mad scientist's gloves. Now I can use fluoroantimonic acid. It kills everything.

 

[skeeterman]

PBW will leave a white residue on bottles sometimes. But I’ve only had it happen when the bottles have been soaking for a long time (I’m talking I’ve left them soak for over a week) are not completely immersed. Like if the top of the neck is above the liquid. When this white residue forms I haven’t found anything thst will remove it. Nothing.

I also have "ring-around-the bottle" when soaking for extended periods. But since I use only water for the soak, the answer is the chemicals already in the water. We have hard water and that is what forms deposits. A stainless steel pot scrubber will remove the ring nicely. Or completely submerging the bottles.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

I hate to tell you that the case in front of that is Natty Light. What can I say? The bottles were free and already empty.
Underneath the Schafly Pale Ale box is a Busch case, and not seen are two Budweiser cases. The Busch and Budwieser bottles are old school, heavy, returnable bottles. (It may be obvious from all this that I live in the St. Louis area.)

I grew up there and I drank a lot of that Bud Dry back in the day. Never liked the Ice, but that dry was named well. Seemed like you always had to have another one ready to wash the last one down