Star San in Keg?

[Lbarney516]

Any one leave star San in there kegs for long periods of time? What I do is put five gallons of star san in my carboys on brew day, when the brew day is done I siphon to a corney and hit with some co2. Anyone see any problems with leaving star San in your kegs for several weeks or months?

 

[JoshuaW]

The Star San should stay good in the keg, and as long as it isnt eating at your keg (it is slightly acidic) it should be fine. I personally wouldnt leave it in there because of the fact that it is acidic, but if it is working for you, I dont see any other potential problems.

 

[Chap]

I keep a couple gallons of Star San mixed up in a corny for a couple months at a time. I don't waste CO2 on it just the lid. So far no problems.

 

[discooby]

I thought I remember reading somewhere that, if left in long enough, the acid in star san will begin pitting stainless steel… maybe I heard it on the basic brewing podcast about star san...?

 

[evandy]

I usually leave the pint or so of starsan that I use to sanitize my kegs in them. That way, when I'm ready to keg, I can use that to sanitize my autosiphon before dumping it out.

 

[Hammy71]

I always leave about a gallon of star-san in my kegs after cleaning. On kegging day I just shake the thing and the keg is sanitized. Even after months, no problems. It's a pretty mild compared to many things.

 

[Lbarney516]

Thanks everyone. The pitting was what I was worried about. I think it's a non issue.

 

[emprbasist]

I thought I had read that the sanitizing properties in Star San is only active for a few days after diluted in water. Wouldn't this cause it to be useless for sanitizing if left in the keg for extended periods of time?

 

[acuenca]

I thought I had read that the sanitizing properties in Star San is only active for a few days after diluted in water. Wouldn't this cause it to be useless for sanitizing if left in the keg for extended periods of time?

Star san is good as long as the pH is below 3 and its wet...

 

[Hammy71]

+ I make mine with RO/DI water. As long as I keep the keg air tight I shouldn't have any worries.

 

[bschoenb]

I always clean my kegs; then Distilled water star-san them and drain it out..(it leaves behind several tablespoons); I then store them w/C02 for a long time, then rack right on top the star san/co2 when the day comes. Not a single issue to date

 

[ValleyBrew]

Remember, these kegs were used for soda... Coke/Pepsi is highly acidic. Ever see what it does to a penny...?

There are several threads on here about this, but it seems the consensus is that you will be fine.