Starsan in bottles causing flat beer?

[QJoshH]

Check my thinking here:

I'm bottle conditioning, and I'm getting varying degrees of carbonation (and sometimes off flavors) within batches. In some cases, perfect carbonation and nice head; in other cases carbonated, but no head; and in some cases totally flat. I would assume that this is an issue of cleaning and sanitizing the bottles, but they're all getting the same treatment: soak and scrub in PBW, followed by rinse in water, then final rinse in Starsan. Only thing I can think of is that some bottles have more time to drain after the final rinse in Starsan than others, meaning that some bottles have more Starsan... could this affect carbonation? If so, what about this solution:

What if I get a 30-50 gallon trash can, put a bulkhead at the bottom, and fill it up with Starsan, then place all my bottles in for a soak a day or two before bottling. I could then drain off the Starsan (and reuse? or no?), and put all the bottles on a tree to dry overnight before bottling. Would this solve the problem?

I know it would be easier, but I'm just not interested in kegging yet...

 

[eastoak]

you don't have to soak in star san, it's no more effective than spraying it on right before bottling. star san is not affecting your carbonation, time or priming sugar are.

 

[mpcluever]

I would not let the bottles dry before bottling. The inconsistent carbonation is due to the priming sugar not mixed properly so some bottles get more sugar than others. Just gently stir, trying to avoid oxidation, and I bet you get more consistent carbonation. Make sure your caps are truly secure as a cap that hasn't been crimped well enough could leak under pressure.

 

[RacingRam]

I agree that it's probably a mixing issue with your priming sugar. Are you dissolving the sugar in a cup or two of water and boiling prior to adding to your bottling bucket? When do you add to the bucket? I've found that if I add the dissolved sugar to the bucket early when racking into it, the priming sugar solution mixes in fine on its own. If I forget to add until I'm done racking, I usually give it a few gentle stirs before bottling.

 

[Stauffbier]

+1 to the above comments.

One thing that should be added is the fact that Starsan is a "wet contact" sanitizer. It's only working while it's wet. If you let it dry over night you would have to sanitize again. So, when you bottle you do indeed want the bottles to be wet with starsan. Sanitize a few (10-20), and let them hang upside down as you fill them.