No rinse sanitiser?

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Hedley

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Hi Brewers,

I need to prepare some glass bottles for beer next week. Previously I have used a sanitising solution that requires rinsing with water after, but someone on here helpfully mentioned that Star San requires no rinsing.

I have some Star San HB, five star. It says to put 15-25 ml of it with 10 Litres of water and immerse the bottles (for a mere one minute!) then let air dry.

I don't have a bottle drying rack to hang the upside down bottles on while drying. What if there is still some liquid in the bottles after soaking in Star San? Can I add the beer to the bottles or do they need to be bone dry? Are small amounts of diluted Star San okay to drink - in the same way that small amounts of water would be okay? (The thing confusing me is that even though it says 'use as final rinse' it says to wear protective gloves and talks about calling a poison centre if inhaled. Maybe this just refers to the undiluted solution?)

Also - the instructions say 'May be corrosive to metals'. Does this include the metal bits of the bottle caps? I am thinking maybe I just sanitise the ceramic/plastic/metal caps with boiling water.

Any pointers most appreciated.

Ross
 
Ross, it'll work just fine. No, it won't corrode the bottle caps.

I use it with a Vinator that spritz's Star-San solution up into the bottle, and the bottle just sits draining. You invert the bottle on the vertical spindle aand press it down a couple times. My routine is to dip the mouth of the bottle in the star-san, spritz to rinse a couple times. I let that drain for 10-15 seconds, then do the same to a second bottle which I leave on the vinator. By the time I have filled the first bottle the second has drained and I repeat.

Here's what I mean by a vinator; by the way, if you don't have one, you don't know what you're missing. :) Put the bottle caps in the solution to sanitize them and you're all set.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C8YCM5G/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

BTW, that bottom part is designed to fit on a bottle tree. it comes off so the vinator will sit flat, if that's your desire. That's what I do.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I put my caps in starsan with no issues.

They don't need to be totally dry, supposedly.

Do you have a dishwasher? You can spray the top rack down with sanitizer, then put your sanitized bottles on that.
 
Thanks all!

The Vinator looks great. I won't be able to get one in time for this bottling but will look into getting one in future.

I guess soaking is the way for me then and I may use the dishwasher to dry - good tip!

Do you wear gloves when handling the bottles soaked in Star San? I'm still a bit concerned about all the mention of needing to wear protection and calling a poison centre on the back. This is for use with foodstuffs!

Ross
 
Hedley said:
I guess soaking is the way for me then and I may use the dishwasher to dry - good tip!

Do you wear gloves when handling the bottles soaked in Star San? I'm still a bit concerned about all the mention of needing to wear protection and calling a poison centre on the back. This is for use with foodstuffs!

Ross
Click to expand...

To clarify a few things:

1) You don't need to soak anything, you need ~30 seconds of contact time so as long as the inside of the bottles are wet for 30 seconds (no need to stay immersed) you're good to go. Dunking the bottles then immediately pouring out is fine.

2) You do want to leave them wet, as others mentioned. Letting a little starsan drip out is good so you aren't diluting the beer with it. Dunking the bottles, then putting them on the top rack of the dishwasher is a great way to do it. Just don't wait too long between dunking and bottling.

3) The star san concentrate is a relatively strong acid, once it's diluted to the proper concentration it's less acidic than some sodas. Take care when pouring the concentrate out (it can stain some counter tops and definitely don't get it on your hands) but after that no worries. It will dry out your skin a bit, that's all.
 
The dosage rate for Starsan is 1 oz / 5 US gallons, or 28 ml per 21 liters. At that dilution it is definitely no-rinse.

You mentioned using 15-25 ml in 10 liters. Where did you get that from? 15ml in 10 liters is a bit too much already, but 25 ml is almost twice the recommended dosage!

There is no need to make it stronger. It won't sanitize twice as well, or twice as fast. ;)
 
I love Starsan and also have used Saniclean extensively which is another Fivestar product. My first beer, I used a "one step" sanitizer and had cloudy beer. It didn't taste infected, but after that first brew I started using Fivestar products and have always had clean clear beer. I'm in a very small camp of let it dry before I fill people. There is a detergent in Starsan that I don't want in my beer. It is true that the sanitizing action ceases after it drys, but since it says in the directions on the bottle to let it dry, I figure I'm ok. That said if there's a drop or two here and there, I don't worry about it.
 
AZCoolerBrewer said:
I love Starsan and also have used Saniclean extensively which is another Fivestar product. My first beer, I used a "one step" sanitizer and had cloudy beer. It didn't taste infected, but after that first brew I started using Fivestar products and have always had clean clear beer. I'm in a very small camp of let it dry before I fill people. There is a detergent in Starsan that I don't want in my beer. It is true that the sanitizing action ceases after it drys, but since it says in the directions on the bottle to let it dry, I figure I'm ok. That said if there's a drop or two here and there, I don't worry about it.
Click to expand...

Not trying to be "that guy", but just because it is dry, doesn't mean the detergent is gone. It just means the water part of the solution has evaporated. Ever see "water spots" on a dry glass?
 
The directions do not really apply to homebrewing. They talk of mopping it on. So I take that as a kitchen counter type application. When it is dry, there is no more acidic contact, so it is no longer doing what it is supposed to do.

Thousands if not more don't worry about the tiny bit of detergent in there. Your dishwasher uses an astronomically higher amount that probably remains on your equipment cleaned in there. Remember the proper dilution is just one ounce in five gallons.

OP, the diluted solution is only a problem for people with very sensitive skin. I never use gloves and have no issues.
 
Brewenstein said:
Not trying to be "that guy", but just because it is dry, doesn't mean the detergent is gone. It just means the water part of the solution has evaporated. Ever see "water spots" on a dry glass?
Click to expand...

Sure, many detergents leave a residue, but the kind in Starsan is a liquid and evaporates along with the water.
 
Extremely helpful people! Thanks!

I got the 15-25ml per 10 litres from the back. It also says 1oz/5 gal to 1oz/3 gal. I don't know what that means.

IMG_2524.jpg
 
Even with the explanation from Five Star in the link above, it does not sound like it is exactly the same. The label pictured says "high foaming". Unless you like a lot of foam, either get the Regular Starsan or prepare for or ignore the foam. That link was also 2009. I started brewing in 2011 and got the "regular" Starsan.

Still I would mix that at the weakest dilution that keeps the pH under 3.0. If you can't measure the pH, I would use 1 ounce in 5 gallons of water.
 
I'm helping a buddy get started in brewing and he has a terrific fear of Star-San, and I don't know why. I told him don't fear the foam, that it doesn't really matter, but he's almost anal about trying to keep it away from the beer.

As for me, I love Star-San. Easy to use, doesn't burn, keeps a long time in a 5-gallon bucket, works out of a sprayer or as a sort of topical rinse.

Use it as per directions and don't fear the foam.
 
mongoose33 said:
I'm helping a buddy get started in brewing and he has a terrific fear of Star-San, and I don't know why. I told him don't fear the foam, that it doesn't really matter, but he's almost anal about trying to keep it away from the beer.

As for me, I love Star-San. Easy to use, doesn't burn, keeps a long time in a 5-gallon bucket, works out of a sprayer or as a sort of topical rinse.

Use it as per directions and don't fear the foam.
Click to expand...


Ask him why he fears it. He is probably misinformed.

I use it exclusively. I keep some in a 5 gallon water bottle. When I get a little low, I just top it up at the proper ratio.
 
I dunk my bottles in Star San, empty them and out and place them in a rack upside down. Soon as I have 108 bottles sanitized I start filling bottles and many still have foam in them. No biggie! Worst case is I get some foam running down the side of the bottle into the drip tray I use to keep the floor dry.
 
Thanks people. I think I will use the HB stuff at the low level of 15ml in 10 litres water, which is about 1oz to 5 US gallons I believe. And I won't fear the foam!
 
I used Star San (HB) for the first time last night. I didn’t fear the foam!

A couple of queries:

The bottles, once soaked, had a slippery texture to them (like washing up liquid). Is this normal?

I also used the Star San to sanitize the siphoning tube, bottling wand and racking cane. I am guessing other people use Star San to sanitize everything (not just the bottles)?

Ross
 
Hedley said:
The bottles, once soaked, had a slippery texture to them (like washing up liquid). Is this normal?
Click to expand...

Can't say I have ever noticed a slippery feeling. They should feel wet at the proper concentration but slippery sounds like it might be overly concentrated or something else in the water.

How did you measure the dosage? I use a syringe to accurately measure the starsan, $2 from the pharmacy, and jugs for measuring the water.
 
Sadu said:
Can't say I have ever noticed a slippery feeling. They should feel wet at the proper concentration but slippery sounds like it might be overly concentrated or something else in the water.

How did you measure the dosage? I use a syringe to accurately measure the starsan, $2 from the pharmacy, and jugs for measuring the water.
Click to expand...

I agree, starsan seems to make everything less soapy. It feels a lot like hard water to me.
 
I have just realised that I did use too much. I accidentally double dosed! (I used 1oz in 2.5 gallons instead of 5 gallon).

Is my beer likely to be affected?
 
My friend sanitizes his bottles in the oven. He puts foil of the open end, puts 'em in the oven at...350? for an hour in the evening, then lets 'em cool in the oven overnight. He then stores them sanitized with the foil "cap" and, at bottling time, pulls the foil and fill as normal. He's been doing this for years with about 50 gallons a year going into bombers with zero issues.

Anybody else do this?
 
Hwk-I-St8 said:
My friend sanitizes his bottles in the oven. He puts foil of the open end, puts 'em in the oven at...350? for an hour in the evening, then lets 'em cool in the oven overnight. He then stores them sanitized with the foil "cap" and, at bottling time, pulls the foil and fill as normal. He's been doing this for years with about 50 gallons a year going into bombers with zero issues.

Anybody else do this?
Click to expand...

I have heard of some doing this, or using the sanitize cycle on a dishwasher. The only worry I would have about this is weakening the bottles by all the heat/cool cycles.
 

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