Star San PH

[Brewski_59]

I am constantly seeing people saying that if the star san turns cloudy its not effective. or Star san will last longer using distilled water instead of tap water.
Where does this knowledge come from? I mix my star san with tap water. The PH stays at 2-2.5 for months. whats cloudiness have to do with it at all? After all if its acidic its effective right? Am I missing something?

 

[ColoHox]

The cloudiness if from a component of Starsan (DBSA- a surfactant) complexing with minerals in the water and falling out of solution, thereby forming a haze, and hence why the solution is more stable in distilled water.

I use tap water as well and have never had an issue with cloudiness or increased pH, however it depends on your water.

 

[Brewski_59]

Thanks, that would explain the sediment on the bottom of the bucket over time.

 

[dk21]

I can't explain in great detail, but I spoke with a Five Star chemist at the NHC a couple of years ago. He confirmed that pH is only one part of determining Star San's effectiveness. The cloudiness is a reaction with the minerals in the water. They recommend only using cloudy Star San for the brew day. I assume because they can be confident that it will be effective for the day but can't guarantee anything beyond that due to too many variables. Your mileage may vary, but I don't find it to be terribly expensive when weighed against potentially losing a day's worth of work to trying to stretch the $0.75 an ounce of Star San costs.