Star San - tips?

[greggus]

I am brewing again after a hiatus for several years, was an active brewer previously. Last time I was brewing, I used a chlorine bleach (Chlorox) for sanitizing. When I bought some brew supplies recently for my latest batch, the homebrew supply store recommended Star San. (I am a total Star San novice by the way...)

Reading the directions, it says NOT to rinse it out after sanitizing. I have to tell you, it was freaky to see all that foam from the drained Star San still in the carboy when I was adding the boiled wort to the carboy with water. I was dreaming of chemicals killing the yeast, etc. However, it's now fermenting in my basement, so it must be ok...

1.) Do any of you have any tips you can give a back again Intermediate brewer on using Star San?

2.) Also, was there anything bad in having a good amount of foam still in my carboy when I was filling it with boiled wort and water?

thanks all!
Greg G in Golden, CO

 

[jharres]

Greg, check out the following thread. I had very similar questions to yours and the posts by Revvy (Yoda) helped quite a lot.

Sanitizer Question

 

[Nurmey]

Welcome to HBT Greg!
Don't fear the foam! It is good for your yeast as it turns into food as it breaks down. Just enjoy the Starsan worm that crawls up your tubing as you are racking. Once you start using it, you will wonder how you ever lived without it.

 

[BigKahuna]

Welcome Greg.
I can only sugguest you get a weed sprayer, fill it with StarSan, and Use it for everything!
Like Nurmey said, DON"T FEAR THE FOAM!

 

[Revvy]

Also take a listen to this podcast.

Basic Brewing

March 29, 2007 - Sanitizing with Bleach and Star San
Charlie Talley from Five Star Chemicals tells us best practices in using household bleach and Star San in sanitizing equipment.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr03-29-07.mp3

And like so many have said...Don't Fear The Foam

 

[Edcculus]

Don't fear the foam!

 

[Saccharomyces]

The foam is part of what makes this sanitizer so effective. Since you have foam on top of your wort and in your bottles while filling, any yeast or bacteria that fall in while you are filling/transferring are toast, yet it's harmless to your wort and food grade (it breaks down into ingredients found in sodas).

In fact, I was thinking yesterday that I could fill a garden sprayer with StarSan and spray foam on top of my wort as I chill in my kettle. This would be a lot easier than keeping the lid on since I use an immersion chiller and need to stir the wort while it cools!

 

[Beerrific]

HOORAY FOR FOAM!!

 

[Bach7210]

Don't fear the foam!

Love the foam. Embrace the foam...be...the foam! :rockin:

 

[greggus]

I...will...not...fear...the...foam....!

You guys are great, thanks for the feedback on Star San.

Greg