Star San and spray bottle question

[mhochman]

Hi, I just got a big bottle of star san and I'd like to put some in a spray bottle to make tasks easier (especially stealing for gravity readings). I just want to be sure that the fluid that I put in the spray bottle needs to be diluted, right? I can't just pour directly into the spray bottle, right? Thanks.

 

[chrisknight]

Correct. You must dilute Starsan down to a usable level. 1oz starsan to 5 gallons of tap water. Allow 1 - 2 minutes of contact time to sanitize.

Mix up 1 gallon and fill your spray bottle.

 

[arch1tect]

Chris is right. 1oz to 5 gallons. If you use star san direct it will etch glass. I simply refill my spray bottle on brew days when I make up the 5 gallon batch to. Simply dunk in the spray bottle to fill it up.


I tend to keep it around the kitchen and use it for other purposes as well.

 

[mordantly]

+100. works nice on counters, cutting boards, and the like. hell, a cat pissed on my front door and dribbled on the threshold yesterday, so out came the spray bottle of starsan!

 

[mhochman]

Hmmmm, the only excuse I can come up with right now to make a 5 gallon batch of Star San would be...a brew day! Gosh darn it, and I just happen to have a kit ready to go. Damn the luck.

 

[wyzazz]

6ml per gallon. ;0)

 

[Tilldeath]

Dumb question but what's an easy way to measure 6ml??

 

[mordantly]

a oral syringe.. or 1.25 tsp.

 

[wyzazz]

An oral syringe, you can pick them up at any pharmacy.

 

[Erythro73]

Dumb question but what's an easy way to measure 6ml??

If you have a scale, and knowing this is 1 oz /5 gallons, thus 0.2oz/gallon, you can measure it with the scale.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

I use distilled water to mix StarSan that I am going to keep around for a while (like a spray bottle). I buy a 2.5 gallon "jug" of distilled water, add .5 oz of StarSan and it will last for for a long, long time (ph stays constant in distilled water). I refill the spray bottle(s) from the jug.

Depending on your tap water, the StarSan may not do the job after a while.

StarSan is only effective when the ph is below 3.

Ed

 

[mordantly]

If you have a scale, and knowing this is 1 oz /5 gallons, thus 0.2oz/gallon, you can measure it with the scale.

this is fluid oz not dry oz.

 

[snevey]

If you have a scale, and knowing this is 1 oz /5 gallons, thus 0.2oz/gallon, you can measure it with the scale.

Is that fl. oz. or regular oz.? :cross:

Steve

 

[Tilldeath]

Thx will grab a syringe, also how long average would a bottle of distilled water starsan last, I made a gallon of it back about 3 months ago and was gonna use it tomorrow for the brew day. Sorry no ph strips to test.

 

[mordantly]

i had distilled solution for 6 months and it was still good and no floaters.

 

[Hang Glider]

add some pH test strips to your pile of brew stuff. I have StarSan I mixed months ago, sitting in a spare corny. (very shiny inside!). As said earlier, if it's below a "3" it's still good.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Thx will grab a syringe, also how long average would a bottle of distilled water starsan last, I made a gallon of it back about 3 months ago and was gonna use it tomorrow for the brew day. Sorry no ph strips to test.

I have StarSan mixed with distilled water that is still fine after several months.
I check it occasionally with ph strips just to make sure.

As for if your's is still ok... I don't know? Quite honestly, the cost of a gallon of distilled water and an oz of StarSan is not worth the question in my opinion.

I'd hate to see you waste ingredients and wait several weeks, just to have a problem and then not be 100% sure it was even related to the StarSan you used weeks earlier.

If you don't have test strips, I'd mix up some more with tap water for this brew and test the stuff you currently have mixed with distilled water when you get strips(if you want to save what you have).

I often brew with a group of other guys... I usually mix 5 gallons of StarSan with tap water for communal use. At the end of the day... it gets dumped.

Have fun brewing,
Ed

 

[mdgtarheel]

The bottles of Star San that I buy have a little measuring cup that you squeeze the solution up into before pouring.

Also, instead of a squeeze bottle I have a hand-pump spayer which I bought from Lowes or Home depot for like 5 bucks. It works great and it holds about a gallon which as was stated in this thread is about 6 ml of Star San. So it is easy to measure and fill up and stays full for a while.

If you have it handy all the time it encourages you to be diligent about sanitizing everything that comes in contact with the Wort/Beer. Plus you end up using a lot less solution when you are spraying as opposed to mixing some up everytime.

 

[mhochman]

All great information. Thanks guys!