I have a dumb question about sanitizing and starsan. When you use starsan do you have to rinse it off after? Isn't the water rinsing it dirty or do you just leave it. For instance I want to sanitize something to dip in the beer to get a sample for my hydrometer. Do I dip the baster thing in starsan then put it in my beer or does it need to be rinsed? Same with cleaning carboys. Do you dump the water out or dump and rinse?
Starsan dumb question
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It is perfectly fine. It will not introduce any off flavor to your beer and rinsing it just cancels out the sanitizing you just did with the Star San.
As long as you are mixing it correctly, the only way to screw it up is to rinse it off.
As long as you are mixing it correctly, the only way to screw it up is to rinse it off.
IchLiebeBier
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I often wonder about the traces of chlorine/chloramine from using tap water with the starsan, but I've never had a detectable off flavor from not rinsing it (at least not that I can pick up).
BTW, I get a kick from watching the big foam snake build up and curl around the tubing when the beer pushes the foam out of the top of the carboy during transfer to secondary.
BTW, I get a kick from watching the big foam snake build up and curl around the tubing when the beer pushes the foam out of the top of the carboy during transfer to secondary.
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Now, that could "maybe" be a concern. I use a carbon filter for my star san water to take the chlorine out of it. I don't know that the chlorine that is in a the film of tap water/star san that is left behind is enough to hurt your beer. But, like I said, I filter mine just in case.
I have a dedicated space for my brewing area in my basement. So, I make up 10 gallons of Star San at a time and I have it in a 15 gallon Tub..... That way it always is sitting there and I can just throw things in or dunk it. Every 4-6 weeks or so I mix a new batch up.
Treat your tap water with 1/4 crushed Campden tablet or a good pinch of K-Meta (powder) per 5 gallons. Add and stir well. Those will remove the Chlorine or Chloramines 100% within a minute.
Running water through a carbon block filter may remove some odd flavor or aroma compounds from your water, but it's highly inefficient in removing chlorine and won't remove chloramines at all. In best cases, the water can't flow faster than 1 gallon a minute. Less than half that rate is recommended.
On the other side, if you don't do that, the amount of chlorinated water carried over into your beer during normal Starsan use is minimal. That is unless you make it habit to leave a gallon of it in your fermentor when adding the wort, or make sure there's a good suck back from your gallon blow off jar during cold crashing.
Not sure I am following here..... Are you just saying that you need to put the water through the carbon filter at 1/2 gallon per minute? That is basically what I do, maybe even slower.
+1 on the campden..... quick way to get it done.
As others have said Starsan is no-rinse, however, since you asked in your last sentence, Starsan is not a cleaner. The surface you want to sanitize must already be thoroughly cleaned using PBW/Oxyclean/Onestep, etc. then rinsed. Starsan will only work if there's no other gunk on the surface. So if you are sanitizing your clean carboy right before use, you'll put in 2-4 qts of Starsan, cover the mouth, then shake and swirl to make sure all interior surfaces are contacted. Pour out the Starsan (don't worry about the foam,) and cover the mouth with a piece of sanitized foil until you rack your wort into it. BTW, another trick, especially for smaller quantities (e.g. spray bottle,) is to make up one gallon using Distilled Water. Your Starsan won't pick up and Chlorine/Chloramines and it'll stay nice and clear. Ed
Yep, that's what I meant.
I used to filter through a carbon filter at that 1/2 g/min rate, but collecting 10 gallons that way was a slow and tedious process. Now a good pinch (1/4 of a 1/4 teaspoon) of K-meta per 5 gallons is all it needs.
Yeah - if I am in a hurry, sometimes i throw in Campden. Usually I just collect the carbon water while I am brewing or doing something else and am in the brew room anyway.... just trickle it into the 5 gallon bucket and check on it after 15-20 minutes.
Yeah - if I am in a hurry, sometimes i throw in Campden. Usually I just collect the carbon water while I am brewing or doing something else and am in the brew room anyway.... just trickle it into the 5 gallon bucket and check on it after 15-20 minutes.
If there are odors in your water sure, the carbon filter can help remove those. Otherwise, there's little point. As a matter of fact, I would still add some K-meta after filtering, for all security.
Prevent splashing water or running it through an aerator. After reading up on LODO I've become more aware of small differences making a larger impact later.
When you heat strike water the little bubbles you see suspended is dissolved gas coming out of solution. Most of that is N2 and O2. Since most of us don't boil our strike or sparge water, any O2 that didn't get "dislodged" will end up in the mash.
IchLiebeBier
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nasty_rabbit
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Starsan concentrate can be diluted with regular tap water but using distilled water, 1 - eliminates any concern of chlorine and 2 - increases shelf life of the ready to use mix.
While we have rather soft and good brewing water, my Starsan gets cloudy after a day of use. I still use it for weeks, even months after it gets cloudy, never seen a drop in performance. Make sure the pH stays under 3, which it will if you don't dump wort or beer into it and clean and rinse (PBW, washing soda) off all your equipment before "Starsan-ing" it.
Apparently some distilled water sold in supermarkets is chlorinated or contains chloramines, so please smell/taste it before brewing with it. If used in Starsan, it won't make much difference.
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nasty_rabbit
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Here we have 3 options for gallon+ jugs (probably more but 3 interested me) Distilled, Spring and Drinking. Spring is untreated, but filtered, ground/spring water. Drinking is basically bottled city water. Distilled is just that, water that has gone through the distillation process. I have never heard or noticed a flavor or odor of chlorine (not saying it's not available somewhere, I just haven't experienced it). I have used all three for different applications successfully. Spring was used for brew day before I added filtration. Drinking was used for campsites where available water sources were questionable. Distilled is for Starsan, Refractometer calibration and added to the iron for steaming clothes. All are the same price, $0.99 per gallon. I make Starsan in 19 liter batches about once every 10 months so it really doesn't break the bank.
