Never use Iodophor/Iodine to sanitize with

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BeerLoverHere

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
279
Reaction score
26
Location
Fishers
This leaves awful after flavors and coats the inside lining up bottles and kegs. A respected brewer once told me to switch sanitizing methods from time to time as germs build up resistance to different sanitation products. I never could really identify why some of my batches had an awful metallic aroma funky taste, but now I have traced it back to Iodophor. I always used less than the required amount as directed when mixing with water. Usually I use Star San about 90% of time. I will now be using Star San 100% of the time.

Anyone else agree/disagree?
 
This leaves awful after flavors and coats the inside lining up bottles and kegs. A respected brewer once told me to switch sanitizing methods from time to time as germs build up resistance to different sanitation products. I never could really identify why some of my batches had an awful metallic aroma funky taste, but now I have traced it back to Iodophor. I always used less than the required amount as directed when mixing with water. Usually I use Star San about 90% of time. I will now be using Star San 100% of the time.

Anyone else agree/disagree?

I use iodophor once in a while. I've never used less than the amount recommended (as then, why bother?) but my beer tastes great whichever sanitizer I use. I've never had a flavor impact, even in a very light cream ale.
 
I did make the switch to Star San a few years ago because I could taste the iodophor. Only a couple of my friends and family could taste it. HOWEVER, I'm also aware it's easy to be persuaded by the power of suggestion, and it is possible that the taste is in my head. I don't care enough to do a blind tasting, as Star San has yet to stain anything I own, so I don't care to switch back.

But the header of this thread...now THAT I would never have used. :cross:
 
i've only used iodophor, and haven't noticed bad or metallic flavors. it does make a mess though.
 
StarSan is so cheap by use, it's completely safe and flavorless and stores well in spray bottles with distilled water for super-easy application. I'd never use anything else.

Also - I'm not sure about what your friend said about building a resistance. StarSan works by killing bacteria with a low pH. It seems to me, that would be like building a resistance to fire.
 
Also - I'm not sure about what your friend said about building a resistance. StarSan works by killing bacteria with a low pH. It seems to me, that would be like building a resistance to fire.

Agreed. The analogy to antibiotic resistance doesn't apply here.
 
StarSan is so cheap by use, it's completely safe and flavorless and stores well in spray bottles with distilled water for super-easy application. I'd never use anything else.

Also - I'm not sure about what your friend said about building a resistance. StarSan works by killing bacteria with a low pH. It seems to me, that would be like building a resistance to fire.
Star San doesn't have a 100% kill rate, so the theory is that anything that survived can reproduce, and its "offspring" may also then be hard to kill, and so on. It's part of the reason that Monsanto and agribusiness is in trouble with the Roundup resistant weeds - the strong survive and make more.
 
Star San doesn't have a 100% kill rate, so the theory is that anything that survived can reproduce, and its "offspring" may also then be hard to kill, and so on. It's part of the reason that Monsanto and agribusiness is in trouble with the Roundup resistant weeds - the strong survive and make more.

I can't argue your point with any level of certainty. I'm a salesman, not a scientist, but even if you had survivors in your equipment if infection takes over you're likely going to dispose of the equipment anyway so the stronger generation can go ahead and keep getting stronger at the local landfill.

If infection doesn't take over, that generation of microbes will die off with nothing to feed on (and the desired yeast taking over fermentation).
 
If you accidentally tasted improperly diluted starsan like I have, you wouldn't say it was flavorless.

I'm not a fan of citric acid based cleaners in general. I would have to wear nitrile gloves to keep it from drying my hands out.

I've never noticed off flavors from idophore. I've been using it for 8 years.
 
If you accidentally tasted improperly diluted starsan like I have, you wouldn't say it was flavorless.

I'm not a fan of citric acid based cleaners in general. I would have to wear nitrile gloves to keep it from drying my hands out.

I've never noticed off flavors from idophore. I've been using it for 8 years.

While you might be right about improperly diluted StarSan the same can be said in spades for Iodine.

StarSan can dry your hands out, true, but I've never had issue with it in it's proper dilution. I did once use it on a sponge, undiluted to kill some mold in an A/C at my parents' house. That definitely dried my hands.

To each his own. Whatever works for you. Both are widely accepted solutions. :mug:
 
I can't argue your point with any level of certainty. I'm a salesman, not a scientist, but even if you had survivors in your equipment if infection takes over you're likely going to dispose of the equipment anyway so the stronger generation can go ahead and keep getting stronger at the local landfill.

If infection doesn't take over, that generation of microbes will die off with nothing to feed on (and the desired yeast taking over fermentation).
I agree. It's a problem easily solved by trashing all the possible sources of "hiding places" for the microbes. I'm not going to bother switching sanitizers. If I get a "house infection", I'll just purge the plastics.
 
It's not so much which type of sanitizer. It's getting the sanitizer into the places where germs hide. I just did a drain-pour of an entire batch of rye beer last night. 45 bottles of foaming, sick-smelling goo. My first infection, and it has me rethinking EVERYTHING. Improper handling, dirty valves, tubing, racking canes, fermenter, plastic bottling bucket that needs replacing, not to mention all the other nooks and crannies in things that contact on the cold side.

I've had great success with Starsan, but it doesn't help if it can't get in to where you need it.
 
Star San doesn't have a 100% kill rate, so the theory is that anything that survived can reproduce, and its "offspring" may also then be hard to kill, and so on. It's part of the reason that Monsanto and agribusiness is in trouble with the Roundup resistant weeds - the strong survive and make more.

Lol I don't think you understand why that analogy doesn't work, and by reading your posts you probably don't want to. Just do whatever you please as apparently the rest of us are clearly not as smart as you.....

:mug:
 
I switch between both. I also rinse with distilled/or pre boiled water sometimes. I think the main point is to kill everything you can while getting as little chemical residue in the finished beer.
 
I mostly use iodophor. It's just so darn cheap and I've never had a flavor issue. I put 1.5ml in about 32oz of water and I have a no rinse spray solution. I've also never had an infection that I didn't do intentionally (except for one time but that was due to leaving too much head space in a carboy of wine).
 
Lol I don't think you understand why that analogy doesn't work, and by reading your posts you probably don't want to. Just do whatever you please as apparently the rest of us are clearly not as smart as you.....

:mug:
This was uncalled for. There was nothing in my posts that deserve this disrespect. Maybe you're having a bad day, maybe you're just trolling, I don't know, but it was really not contributing to the conversation in any useful way, other than to perhaps make me dig a little deeper into my "analogy".

While I'm not a chemist, a microbiologist or anything resembling, I have read a few things. This from the book "Principals of Food Sanitation" (2006)

"Potential Microbial Resistance
The ability of microorganisms to adapt to adverse environmental conditions presents a challenge to sanitarians. It is probable that bacteria develop a resistance to sanitizing compounds, especially quaternary ammonium compounds, similar to antibiotic resistance. Those sanitizers that kill then rapidly disappear (oxidizers) seem to create less opportunity for resistance to develop (Clark, 2003). It has not been fully resolved if resistance to sanitizers is the reason why bacteria survive and proliferate.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics and environmental stresses results from changes in the bacterial genome and is driven by two genetic processes: mutation and selection known as vertical evolution. It is uncertain if mutations occur in response to environmental stresses and if antibiotic resistance is involved. Many of the biocides incorporated in food processing facilities provide such a powerful attack on microorganisms that the development of resistance to the attack is difficult.
Microbial populations may not develop resistance to chlorine or quaternary ammonia because of their powerful lethal effects. Bacteria are more likely to develop resistance to organic acids than halogens. Milder organic acid treatments are safer to use and more effective in some applications, but they may generate resistant strains of bacteria because they can adapt and become acid tolerant. However, a broad-spectrum biocide like chlorine is powerful enough to prevent such change."

I don't know if Star San is considered "milder organic acid treatments", but the authors suggest that bacteria can become resistant to them.
 
I've been brewing for about 1.5 years and have always used Star San. It took me a while to "don't fear the foam" but I've never had a contamination to date (about 25 batches). I was recently listening to the Basic Brewing Radio archives and there are two episodes dedicated to sanitizing with Iodophor, bleach, and Star San:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr03-22-07.mp3
http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr03-29-07.mp3

If you haven't already checked them out, they are worth a listen. They address many of the issues being discussed in this thread.
 
I use both, Star San for general use, especially anything involving clear plastic (eg: tubing), and Iodophor for sanitizing kegs.

Never had a problem with either of them...

Cheers!
 
I use oxidizing agents and iodine for cleaning and sanitation. I use phosphoric acid as fertilizer and rust remover.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top