StarSan Question

[McLovinBeast57]

It's my first time using StarSan and instead of dumping a bucketful of sanitized water, I decided to keep it in the bucket.. I've just been stirring it back up before I use it.. I was planning on using it just to sanitize my thief and stuff but now I am going to transfer my batch to a secondary to make space for my next batch. It's been sitting for about 2 weeks so my question is:

Is it okay to use it to sanitize my secondary? (Contrary to the myth, cloudiness does not affect it)


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[aryoung1980]

I keep my Starsan in a 5 gallon water jug for months. However, I do check the pH before using it each time.


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[McLovinBeast57]

Is there a way to check pH without the test strips?


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[aryoung1980]

Not that I know of. You don't need the extremely accurate strips that show if you're at 5.2. I use the generic, broad spectrum strips that show if it's acidic or alkaline.


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[Wynne-R]

Is it okay to use it to sanitize my secondary? (Contrary to the myth, cloudiness does not affect it)

Where’d you get that? That’s the thing about internet wisdom; it sure is hard to kill.

I got this from Five Star last June:

The official answer is that Star San solutions should be clear and a pH below 3.5.

If you used Distilled water the solution would not turn cloudy. The product can react with hard water and turn cloudy. The Minerals in the water can react with the anionic portion of the star san and cause it to go bad. Yes, when this happens you should consider making a fresh solution. The cloudiness usually forms after a dwell time or when people try and store the solution for multiple weeks. If this is the case then, yes always start with a fresh solution.

Jon Herskovits
Five Star

 

[Puddlethumper]

I figure a batch of StarSan is useless after about 24 hrs. Perhaps, with some testing, I might be able to establish that it is still viable, but what are we talking about here? An ounce of StarSan = 50 cents compared to potential contamination of a whole batch of beer?

I say dump it and start fresh.

 

[Nuggethead]

I mix 5 gallons using distilled water. The batch I have now has lasted 5 brew days and is still clear. As long as you rinse obvious crud from spoons and such, it will last several months. When it turns cloudy, it's bad and time to dump.

 

[McLovinBeast57]

Where’d you get that? That’s the thing about internet wisdom; it sure is hard to kill.



I got this from Five Star last June:

It really depends on your local water table, but this guy did an experiment on StarSan and it's pretty interesting:

[ame]http://youtu.be/_niSffyAXO0[/ame]

Either way I suppose it can't hurt to just dump it!


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[NFryan]

As far as sanstar. I put 1/4 tsp into a normal sized spray bottled with luke warm water. I never soak my equipment, I just mist it all heavily and let it sit after cleaning /drying. I have made over 100 batches of beer this way and never had an issue. A small bottle of sanstar has lasted over a year at this point. I also have never had an issue with it going bad, however, I do however dump any spray bottles over a week old and mix up a fresh batch. Hope this info helps.

 

[pvault98]

Because of my water my StarSan is always cloudy the minute I mix it. I have a bucket that I have been using for 3 weeks and the PH has never changed from 2.24 so I feel confident to keep using it, however I mainly use it for things such as a hop bag going into a keg of finished beer or little odds and ends that are less critical than something such as the flask for a yeast starter. I feel fine to save some money using this for all sorts of tasks where the risk of infection is minimized, but anything involving yeast that will be stored/pitched or unfermented beer on the cold side I mix a fresh batch just to be safe. If the beer is mostly fermented or finished the risk of infection is lower and as long as the PH stays low, I keep reusing it.