StarSan ruined my beers

[Tonypr24]

I just tried another beer I have been fermenting for 7 days and I have a similar taste on that one. At this point I'm thinking it's my water. I have never had any issues with it before but I was told the town water sometimes changes depending on the weather and conditions. I think I found the problem. I will be brewing this weekend and this time I will buy water and hopefully it will turn out better.

Thanks guys for all your help

 

[jotakah]

I seriously doubt this. He only left it in the fermenter 2 weeks. I've left mine for over 2 months at room temp without the soapy flavor and another guy I converse with left his beer in the fermenter for 8 months without off flavors.

Yes, I do primary-only ferments on 99% of my beers (except for say, a Russian Imperial Stout or something else uncommon and strong). Four to five weeks is about the earliest that I ever rack off into a keg, never had problems with soapy flavors. If anything, I believe it tastes better that way because it gives the yeasties time to "clean up" after themselves

 

[Foosier]

The OP never really talked about how he controls fermentation temps. As others have said, not the starsan, but I agree water and more likely fermentation temp related off-flavors. I had what I would describe as a "soapy" flavor to some of my first beers. Once I spent time ensuring I got the wort all the way down in temp for fermentation and then controlled the fermentation temp I got rid of the off flavor.

While I would not discount the possibility that it could be water, because it could be, I never changed my water source from the time I had issues to after. This leads me to think it is fermentation temp control. If you don't have a fermentation chamber, look at swamp coolers with ice bottles. You'd think this time of year that would not be an issue, but if you don't have a spot with an ambient temp around 62 degrees, you are probably fermenting at less than optimal temps.

 

[Brewsncrabs]

You don't rinse Starsan.

 

[helibrewer]

Guys
So I finally Kegged my Pale Ale and my Stout I made about a month ago. I had no issues with the fermentation as I kept them in a control temp room at 68 degree. I do remember when I cleaned both my secondary fermenters for both beers seeing a lot of foam on top of the beer the same was when I kegged both beers, there was foam all over the inside and on top of the beers in the kegs. Now a day later the beer is not carbonated yet but I wanted to have a glass of my Pale ale but it tasted like soap and I see very little foam when I pour out of my keg on top of my glass. I tried my stout and same soap taste on it. I thought it was the StarSan so I started to do some research online and a some people are complaining about the same thing but almost everyone replying to their post are saying no that is not the starsan...so I decited to pour another glass of both my Pale Ale and Stout and I put 2 fingers in the beer and started to shake the glass. Guess what? I got a glass full of foam out of it....The beer is not carbonated yet so its not carbonation foam..it was just like when you mix starsan in a glass of water. So why did this happened and what can I do to fix it? I Plan to filter the beers to see if that will help.

I would suspect a cleaning issue (agent) used in the secondary and kegs before beer ever entered them. How do you clean your vessels after use? You could also have glassware with residue but since you are seeing foaming in your keg and secondary, I suspect the problem is with how those vessels were initially cleaned (not sanitation, but cleaning).

 

[Puddlethumper]

There are two obvious variables in the OP's situation:

1. Fermentation temperature - too high and too long will lead to "soapy" flavors as Palmer states.
2. Water issues. Municipal water can and often does change from time to time (as happened in my case). The OP seems to have recently discovered it has happened in his case as well.

So the suggested course of action would be just what he has decided to do: Get his water from a reliably safe source. And as we all seem to agree, watch those fermentation temperatures.

 

[unionrdr]

Try RO water or spring water,putting a couple gallons in the fridge a day or two before brew day to get really cold. Chill the wort down to 75F or so. Strain into fermenter & top off to recipe volume with the fridged water. It should get down to 65F or so for a 5 gallon batch. works every time for me. Then at least keep the fermenter in a cold room where the initial ferment temps will stay between,say,64-69F. Works well for me,& my pb/pm biab beers are getting pretty good. Even the WL029 kolsh yeast gives a beer with a bit of a crisp finish at the temps I mentioned.
And I wish brewing authors/authorities would be more precise with what these "fatty acids" are that cause us to produce "salts of fatty acids" or soap in our beers under adverse conditions. They're all pretty fague on the subject.

 

[Puddlethumper]

try ro water or spring water,putting a couple gallons in the fridge a day or two before brew day to get really cold. Chill the wort down to 75f or so.

+1

 

[Nightshade]

Starsan tastes more like hydrogen peroxide than soap and it will not ruin beer if a small amount gets into your beer. I use it daily in a production environment and have never...let me repeat NEVER had a soapy taste unless there was an issue somewhere else in the chain.

I would start looking at ferm temp issues

 

[itsratso]

you could always taste star san you know. i wouldn't drink a mouthful straight or anything, but it won't hurt you. mix up a small normal batch and dip your finger in it and taste it.

 

[CUrchin]

I wet sanitize bottles with Star San and never, ever rinse them, and I've never experienced an off flavor. As everyone else is saying, it's not the Star San. My guess would be water first, then maybe fermentation issues.

 

[Braufessor]

Lots of good advice/perspectives on this. I have foam all the time with starsan....... no problems.
It was mentioned at least once, but I will second it - Hops. For whatever reason, and I don't know why, if I use a fairly high percentage of Centennial hops........ the beer has a "soapy" flavor to me. Generally, only with Centennial, and only if I am using 3 ounces or more in the beer.
A possible additional variable for some people.

 

[opiate82]

Something I didn't see mentioned to add further to the "it isn't the StarSan" commentary is the fact that your yeast will actually (basically) eat the StarSan. It acts as a nutrient for them (when properly mixed).

Check out this podcast for more info: http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/...Session-03-19-06-Sanitation-w/-Charlie-Talley

 

[Tonypr24]

Ok tell me if this makes sense.. I went and got myself a beer filter and filtered both beers and that took care of the weird taste. I filtered with 5 microns and the beer taste delicious.

 

[Doctor_M]

Ok tell me if this makes sense.. I went and got myself a beer filter and filtered both beers and that took care of the weird taste. I filtered with 5 microns and the beer taste delicious.

Sounds like a fermentation problem then, either low pitch rate causing stressed yeast or to high of fermentation temperatures. Or both.

 

[kombat]

When I use an IC, it's dripping with Star San when it goes in the BK

Why are you guys sanitizing your chillers right before you dunk them in boiling-hot liquid?

 

[boscobeans]

Why are you guys sanitizing your chillers right before you dunk them in boiling-hot liquid?

It's really not a sanitizing step, but more like giving the copper a quick rinse with acid to clean off any corrosion from the coil. A vinegar or StarSan rinse gives me a nice bright coil to go into the pot.

bosco

 

[day_trippr]

^ Exactly.

If an IC goes in the BK dark and comes out bright, where did all the dark stuff go?

In the beer.

No thank you!

Cheers!

 

[Disintegr8or]

^ Exactly.

If an IC goes in the BK dark and comes out bright, where did all the dark stuff go?

In the beer.

No thank you!

Cheers!

Mmmmmm Adjuncts!

 

[krackin]

Cuperic oxide, no big deal.

 

[beernutz]

In my opinion I think as a courtesy to the hard-working people at Starsan, threads like this generally should be titled something like:

"Starsan may have ruined my beers"

or

"Did Starsan ruin my beers?"

 

[clarksc4]

^ Exactly.



If an IC goes in the BK dark and comes out bright, where did all the dark stuff go?



In the beer.



No thank you!



Cheers!

I haven't noticed my IC coming out any brighter than when it went in.

 

[orangemen5]

I remember sanitizing my carboy with about a gallon star sans. Forgot to empty the star sans and started filling the carboy with cooled wort. At the same time wondering why it was foaming over as I'm filling the carboy. Oh **** forgot to empty the star sans. It was a pale ale. Turned out excellent. A bjcp judge said it was a good beer and he didn't notice it had a gallon of star san in it. It is a yeast nutrient.