I Am NOT a Fan Of Star-San

[Broothru]

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

Before there was Bud Dry, AB actually made Michelob Dry. I was in Daytona Beach in the early 1980s and was tossing a few back with some friends when a Budweiser marketing rep approached our group to offer us some of this new product. He had us at "Free Beer." And Michelob no less!

I actually thought that it wasn't half bad, plus the price was right, which made it taste even that much better. In the intervening years it was marketed in certain regions. I'd buy it from time to time if I saw it, but it never seemed to gain any wide appeal. Eventually it just disappeared from the shelves of my favored liquor stores. Plus my tastes had 'evolved', as the hipsters would say.

Fast forward to 10 years or so ago. Here's this new fangled Bud Dry that AB is advertising in the middle of my favorite football/baseball/golf programming. Did I try it? Hell, yeah! Did I like it? On a scale from "..meh.." to "NO!", I'll have to go with the second choice. Now, of course, AB has Michelob Ultra as well as a few other 'interesting pseudo beers.' If I'm foregoing actually cereal malt beverages, such as for Dry January ("Dranuary") or perhaps Lent (reminds me, today is Fat Tuesday...better drink up!), or if I'm just in the mood for some beer-flavored water, then I might venture to consume an Ultra or two, at least until I regain my sanity.

 

[D.B.Moody]

Seemed like you always had to have another one ready to wash the last one down

Sounds like a great marketing scheme.
I grew up in Webster Groves and moved to Kirkwood in 1971. You?

Before there was Bud Dry . . .

Loved your story. My older brother now drinks Bud Select, but his son still drinks Natty Light. I suppose I don't need to say that they are not home brewers.

 

[Broothru]

Sounds like a great marketing scheme.
I grew up in Webster Groves and moved to Kirkwood in 1971. You?

Opposite side of the state in K.C.(Go Chiefs), left in '68 for college (K.U. Go Jayhawks), but get back only occasionally now to see the few family members on both sides who still reside there. Twenty years in Uncle Sam's Yacht Club for Wayward Boys plus 20+ more in the airline industry has taken my wife and me many places far from our roots, but our souls are still in the Heartland.

 

[Dancy]

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.

This is exactly what I do as well. For me it is convenient. I set up a stool next to the open oven door on my left and the bottling bucket on a cart I front of me. I pull bottles to fill and set on a counter to the right and cap them all afterwards. There’s a lot of ways to sanitize bottles and they all work.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

Sounds like a great marketing scheme.
I grew up in Webster Groves and moved to Kirkwood in 1971....My older brother now drinks Bud Select...

Haha, I think they left that part out of the adds.
I was born and raised a mile from Anheiser Busch Brewery in the city. I left that rat race in 1993 and bought a place in West Ky near the lakes (LBL). I still go to St.Louis for visits and concerts.
Regarding that Bud Select: I gave that stuff a try when it first came out. All I can say is I'm glad I only bought a 12. Your brother is tougher than I am. On occasion I wish I had some of that Bud Dry for comparison and for a memory check. IMO It was way better than their other versions such as Ice, Select, and Light. Just saying Bud Light puts a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

This is exactly what I do as well. For me it is convenient. I set up a stool next to the open oven door on my left and the bottling bucket on a cart I front of me. I pull bottles to fill and set on a counter to the right and cap them all afterwards. There’s a lot of ways to sanitize bottles and they all work.

I'm with Jerrylotto and Dancy on this one. I never use it in bottles. I strive to use as little chemicals as possible in anything that I make or do. When I feel I need to use Starsan, I rinse the item(s) with pre-boiled water.

 

[MaxStout]

This is exactly what I do as well. For me it is convenient. I set up a stool next to the open oven door on my left and the bottling bucket on a cart I front of me. I pull bottles to fill and set on a counter to the right and cap them all afterwards. There’s a lot of ways to sanitize bottles and they all work.

If you don't plan to fill the bottles right away you can cover the mouths with a 2" square of foil before you bake them. Once cooled, put 'em away with the foil still on and they'll be sanitized and ready to go for next time.

 

[bracconiere]

I'm with Jerrylotto and Dancy on this one. I never use it in bottles. I strive to use as little chemicals as possible in anything that I make or do. When I feel I need to use Starsan, I rinse the item(s) with pre-boiled water.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

Thanks Brac, that makes me feel better ! When I was a kid in St.Louis, some nights you could smell the Monsanto plant cooking up some nasties. I bet they are on par with Dupont.

 

[Wolffie]

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

Looks like they are ready to kill that beer. HUM !

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

30+ years of homebrewing. I've never used Star-San. I use bleach or iodophor (for stainless). Occasionally I boil stuff but that's pretty rare. Bleach is cheap - and so am I!

 

[BrewZer]

30+ years of homebrewing. I've never used Star-San. I use bleach or iodophor (for stainless). Occasionally I boil stuff but that's pretty rare. Bleach is cheap - and so am I!

Bleach is my primary sanitizer (bottles, buckets, fermenter, hoses). The spot sanitizing I do with a shpritz of StarSan (nozzles, spigots, airlocks).

But I'm not doing bottle caps with it any more. Maybe it's me, maybe it's my priming sugar, maybe it's the universe telling me to cut back. I don't know. But it's a variable I can control and it seems to have a suppressing effect on head in my beers.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

30+ years of homebrewing. I've never used Star-San. I use bleach or iodophor (for stainless). Occasionally I boil stuff but that's pretty rare. Bleach is cheap - and so am I!

I have a spray bottle for mixed bleach water under the sink and use it a lot. Instead of boiling starter and other items I now put it in an insta-pot on high pressure for an hour. It doesn't steam up the house in the summer and I like being able to set it and forget it until I need the items or starter. Props to you for being cheap ! I am too. I love good deals and saving $

 

[bleme]

When I first started brewing, I drank a full 12oz glass of StarSan with no ill effects, not that I would recommend such, but a dare is a dare...

I can't imagine it taking a tan off. I am up to my elbows in it regularly and it sure hasn't done anything to my freckles.

I also keep 5 gallons stored in a PET water jug. I've used the same jug for over 5 years and it's no worse for wear.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

you guys do realize that phosphoric acid is in soda, especially coke and people drink it every day

 

[MaxStout]

When I first started brewing, I drank a full 12oz glass of StarSan with no ill effects, not that I would recommend such, but a dare is a dare...

Old and busted: the Tide Pod Challenge.

New hotness: the StarSan Challenge.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

Been using StarSan exclusively for my sanitizer and have never had anything odd happen with skin irritation or reactions with my equipment. I can say that it will react on Formica counter tops(the kind the Wife does NOT approve of). Thankfully there are a number of other sanitizers out there, so have at em and give me your left over StarSan.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I spray it on my hands before handling yeast and spray everything the yeast touches when growing a large amount, it just makes sense in my opinion

 

[soccerdad]

I wouldn't brew without it.

 

[Dancy]

you guys do realize that phosphoric acid is in soda, especially coke and people drink it every day

You’ve reminded me of an “experiment“ I saw in a film many years ago where Coke is poured on a raw steak and dissolves it rather quickly.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

and to clean your battery cables

 

[bleme]

I brewed with a friend last weekend and he said that he wanted to make a fresh batch of StarSan so I went and dumped out his bucket. In the bottom were a couple of carboy stoppers, a crusted-over airlock, and 2 bottle caps that dissolved in my hand when I tried to pick them up! I bet you could sanitize with Coke too, but StarSan is much cheaper...

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

and for anyone complaining about star san, first read the directions, it requires a 1 to 2 minute contact to be effective, you should not soak anything in star san

 

[Yesfan]

Can Star-San go bad? The last batch I made had a funny smell to it. I used filtered water to mix a 5 gallon batch. I bought another bottle as I am close to finishing this last bottle, which I've use for quite a long time! (nearly 8 years).

 

[Chorgey]

I received info from Five Star. Apparently, there is a shelf life.

 

[soccerdad]

I bet you could sanitize with Coke too, but StarSan is much cheaper...

OTOH - My millennial friends tell me it's really hard to do lines of StarSan.

 

[YeastFeast]

I received info from Five Star. Apparently, there is a shelf life.

12 hours for mixed solution! Wow! I was mixing and using for weeks, sometimes longer!

 

[beernutz]

All of you who are unhappy with your starsan please post your address and I'll send a box and postage.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

All of you who are unhappy with your starsan please post your address and I'll send a box and po
stage.

Watch it, you'll get a gallon of bleach.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

Watch it, you'll get a gallon of bleach.

..that smells like ammonia