Star-San vs. Iodophor - FIGHT!

[Brewham]

Your wasting a lot of sanitizer and costing yourself a lot of money by filling the carboy. Mix the sanitizer in a 1 qt spray bottle and spray it on the inside of the bottle or on anything else that needs it. A qt can be made with less than an ounce of concentrate and will last through several brew sessions.

 

[jfr1111]

Nothing like suggesting to others to mix bleach with an acid. I hope you're ignorant on the matter and not being a complete *******.

You don't mix bleach and acid by themselves. 1 oz of bleach and 1 oz of vinegar for 5 gallon is all I need. It's not as if I came up with the idea myself, the maker of Star San actually recommends it as a good no-rinse option. But thanks for calling me either ignorant or a *******.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Calm down guys. I thought the same thing when I saw the bleach/vinegar suggestion, but done properly, it works. I'll try and find some supporting info tomorrow, when it's not midnight and I'm not tired.

 

[SkylerChaBro]

Starsan is my sanitizer god.

an Odorless, Non staining, Non rinse, sanitizer that works on contact, and holds for a nice long time. I have only used Starsan and One Step, so I guess I'm biased. Regardless I would still highly recommend Star San to a friend.

Spray Bottle of Starsan ftw!

 

[HItransplant]

um.. you can drink starsan (mixed properly of course).. nuff said.

Plus, I love watching the foam layer scrub the sides of the carboy as I fill it with beer/wort...

my only question....what to do with the iodophor that came with my starter kit?

 

[Hegh]

my only question....what to do with the iodophor that came with my starter kit?

You can use it for starch testing after mashing... That's the only use I've found for mine.

 

[SwampassJ]

You don't mix bleach and acid by themselves.

I called you either ignorant on the matter of mixing the two or being a ******* for suggesting to others to mix the two. Lets say next time you include diluting them first instead? Thanks for not suggesting to mix bleach and vinegar undiluted a 2nd time.

 

[jfr1111]

Sorry I wasn't crystal clear, but every single liquid sanitizer needs proper water dilution to be effective. When people say they use Star San or Iodophor, they don't mean that they use it undiluted straight from the bottle either, but I understand that bleach and vinegar pose the problem of people mixing them togheter beforehand. Charlie Tally mentionned the bleach/vinegar water option as being a viable one in a podcast and it was brought up on this very site by several members, notably here.

 

[EoinMag]

I called you either ignorant on the matter of mixing the two or being a ******* for suggesting to others to mix the two. Lets say next time you include diluting them first instead? Thanks for not suggesting to mix bleach and vinegar undiluted a 2nd time.

A simple apology would have sufficed.

 

[razorbrewer]

How much Starsan is required for a 1qt spray bottle?

 

[yuanyelss]

It takes forever to get it off (say in a glass carboy) and for the pros already mentioned in Iodophor, that seals the deal for me......

 

[raymcgill]

Currently switching from Idophor to Starsan. I've noticed that Idophor drops to teh bottom of my cleaning buckets and spray bottle in thick sludge. Can't be good. Cost is really moot. Bulk order big bottle $10. Cheap to be able to rest regarding infections and wasting batches of $30 beer and time.

Love sanitizers. Both of them (Bleach has way too many negatives for me).

 

[Whut]

How much Starsan is required for a 1qt spray bottle?

.375 tsp or 1.8 ml for a 1qt spray bottle. I a use syringe that I picked up from a drug store that's used to administer medicine to children. Also, 1.2tsp for 1 gallon.

 

[yummybeer]

i voted "other" because the sanitizer i use is one-step. it's what i used on my first batch and i've been using ever since. i've never had a problem with one-step, so as the saying goes "why fix it if it ain't broke?".

 

[TheSeether]

I have only used Star San but I think it is great stuff. I've had some serious spills that would have been complete disasters with bleach or iodophor. Star San mops right up without staining/bleaching. I keep the excess solution from brew days in growlers.

My only complaint on Star San is the foam in a thief makes it hard to read the hydrometer.

 

[Mike_A]

I think the pros and cons have been covered ad nauseum so I will just say two things that make me love star san: spray bottle that keeps for a long time, and NOT fearing the bubbles! <3 racking into a keg or carboy full of starsan foam, it drives some of my brewer friends nuts. After he sampled my latest, I told him it was "StarSan IPA"...

 

[MotleyBrue]

Star-San kills ants and other insects? I'm spraying my whole joint down with the stuff tomorrow! Another fun distraction on Brew Day! Maybe I'll fill up a "Super Soaker" just for blasting at bugs?

The foam "Sculptures" are fun also! JJ

 

[backe]

I stick with 70% EtOH and a lint free towel.

 

[jfowler1]

i voted "other" because the sanitizer i use is one-step. it's what i used on my first batch and i've been using ever since. i've never had a problem with one-step, so as the saying goes "why fix it if it ain't broke?".

I appreciate the "why fix it if it ain't broke?" philosophy, but the fist piece of advice I would give to a new brewer is to throw away the packet of one-step that came with your kit, and pick up some PBW and Star-San. I honestly can't understand why it is common place to include it in starter kits.

One-Step is an oxygen based cleanser. It will do a decent job of cleaning up some surface organic matter, but it really does not clean or sanitize as you would believe. It does not clean as well as PBW, or sanitize as well as Star-San. It is like the worst of both worlds (or jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none).

I had used one-step for about 6 months - you will be shocked by the improvements you see using a quality cleaner and sanitizer.

Out of curiosity, assuming you bottle condition, do you get a little ring around the neck of your bottles? I had one everytime I used one-step. That little ring (which is a clear visual of a less than sanitary beer) will dissapear using PBW and Star-San.

I don't want to sound like an ass, but because of experience and what I have learned about these products, I would be doing you a disservice in not pointing those things out.

Give it a try - you won't be upset you did.

Joe

 

[Carter1932]

I started using bleach and then iodophor in the mid-90s, don't recall if Star San was even available back then, however I've since moved to PBW as cleaner and StarSan as sanitizer. Been real happy with their effectiveness and ease of use.

When I first started brewing I used to steam/boil my bottles to make sure they were clean. What a PITA! Moving to rinsing bottles with StarSan made this process so much easier.

I still tend to do a quick rinse of my carboys and bottles after using Starsan. I know that's advised against, but so far I've never had a bad result using this method. Guess like others I'm still a little wary of the foam, but I think I'll probably quit rinsing my carboys in the future. Beer is unlikely to become infected once you get to the bottling stage so I still will likely use my 'Blast' bottle washer for rinsing Starsan soaked bottles to eliminate foam prior to fill.

 

[yummybeer]

I appreciate the "why fix it if it ain't broke?" philosophy, but the fist piece of advice I would give to a new brewer is to throw away the packet of one-step that came with your kit, and pick up some PBW and Star-San. I honestly can't understand why it is common place to include it in starter kits.

One-Step is an oxygen based cleanser. It will do a decent job of cleaning up some surface organic matter, but it really does not clean or sanitize as you would believe. It does not clean as well as PBW, or sanitize as well as Star-San. It is like the worst of both worlds (or jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none).

I had used one-step for about 6 months - you will be shocked by the improvements you see using a quality cleaner and sanitizer.

Out of curiosity, assuming you bottle condition, do you get a little ring around the neck of your bottles? I had one everytime I used one-step. That little ring (which is a clear visual of a less than sanitary beer) will dissapear using PBW and Star-San.

I don't want to sound like an ass, but because of experience and what I have learned about these products, I would be doing you a disservice in not pointing those things out.

Give it a try - you won't be upset you did.

Joe

thanks for the advice, as said before, i'll stick with what i've been using for over 5 years. by the way, the one-step did not come in a starter kit.

 

[agtaylor78]

Personally, I use pure elemental iodine. I work in a laboratory and we have lots to use. I calculated the ppm and fond that with a stock solution of 3.33g/L and a working solution of a cap ful (~20 mL) to 5g I get close to desired concentration of the comercial brand.

Works for me, and my iodine is free. Never had an issue with it at all.

just my 2-cents

 

[Dondlelinger]

I have only use starsan so I cant say much about the other. I will say that starsan smells good, is reusable many many times. I have cleaned 120 beer bottles and 5 fermenters with my 1st mixture. You can eat starsan (diluted) if u want. I have never had an infection (that I know of). Its no rinse and the foam is like a second layer of protection + yeast food in 1. I'm very happy with it.

 

[edmanster]

I have been going back and forth on my vote for a long time but lately I'm loving the starsan... (don't fear the foam) I've used both going straight from soaking straight into the wort or just drained the keg and racked right on top of a little.. Their both great and it comes down to my brew day for wich one I will use..

 

[SixFoFalcon]

Generally I use Iodophor for bottling, & Star-San for everything else.

I keep a spray bottle of Star-San solution (prepared with distilled water) hanging in the kegerator. It's great to be able to spray my keg posts, QDs, and faucets when I'm swapping kegs. It's also great to have on hand when an airlock pops loose or gets gunked up from blowoff--I can just rinse it in the sink with hot water, then spray it down with Star-San solution, and I never have to go through the hassle of mixing up solution "to order" for these little unforeseen projects. If you use distilled or RO water when you prepare it, it lasts over a year (BTDT, checked with pH paper) in solution.

I also use it to clean/sanitize cutting boards, knives, grinder parts, etc. when I'm butchering pigs in a barn that has no running water.

For bottling, I use the "Vinator" spray sanitizer gadget that sits on top of the bottling tree. Star-San foams too much when you are blasting it into 50 bottles in rapid succession. And I worry that it might make the corks too slick when I'm bottling wine. In these cases, it's Iodophor all the way.

Another thing Iodophor has going for it is that while it may stain your soft plastic stuff yellowish, it won't make hoses all gummy and gross if you leave them sitting in the solution overnight. Star-San produces some sort of slime on plastic and makes soft vinyl sticky if you soak it for several hours. Fortunately, there's really no need to soak anything for more than a second or two with Star-San. Just wet it, remove it, and 30 seconds later it's ready to use.

If I had to choose only one sanitizer I guess it would be Star-San, but Iodophor is superior in some cases, so I keep both on hand.

 

[tylerdmichaels]

I use Oxy-San.

It was developed for the Milk Industry, and (apparently) it sanitizes within aprox. 10 seconds of contact. Also, it takes about 1tsp for 1L of H2O, and with 1L I am ALWAYS able to sanitize all of my equip (again - no immersion needed. Just fill bottles/carboy with 1L solution and shake for 15 seconds)

Pros:
10 second contact time,
No-rinse,
No staining,
No Foam,
CHEAP (usually about 4$ for 250 grams)
Safe to handle without gloves etc.
No residue/doesn't stain clothes carpets or counters

Cons:
Powder doesn't dissolve easily
1 year shelf-life (dry)
12 hour sanitizing power (once mixed)
Slight odor

-Tyler

 

[Madtown1]

Star San...

 

[MrAverage]

I have both. I use idophor because the instructions on the Star San bottle are too frikkin' small for me to read and I lost my magnifying glass.

stupid reason, I know, but it's the truth!

 

[bredstein]

And what is wrong with the bleach? Seems to be cheaper and more effective than anything else. I am a beginner though and may be missing something.

 

[raymcgill]

Bleach:
1. Inexpensive, but irrelevant on the scale of cost.
2. Can leave taste: Others don't
3. Stains clothes: others don't - How many shirts/pants does it take to add up to the $5 difference?
4. Multiple steps to use because you HAVE to rinse it.
5. Rinse? With what? The NON SANITIZED tap water???
6. Bleach works. Yes, it does. But I am in this hobby for enjoyment (and beer). Bleach does not make me happy as the other choices.
7. Time: Bleach takes longer to work.

So, I see no good reason to use bleach. Even if its free, its a bad deal. Idophor or star-san or anything equivilent, but not bleach.

Raymond