store star san in carboys

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bobbyw

Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Does anyone store a starsan mixture in their carboys to keep them sanitized and ready for next batch? If not do you think it will stay active / sanitary in the mean time?
 
Star San mixed with distilled water will last for a very long time. We're talking years here. You'll know the Star San has lost effectiveness when it's pH gets above ~3.5. You'll likely see it happen, it turns cloudy.

Honestly though, you're wasting Star San. Pour in a gallon of water, add a bit of Star San to formula, and shake the hell out of your carboy for a few minutes. Pour it out, let it dry, then seal with sanitized tinfoil. That will last for months, and will use a lot less Star San then filling it up.
 
Yeah that was the idea, to be able to reuse the star san. That is a good idea with the tinfoil. I think that is what I will do. Do you (llazy_llama) use them right after you pop the tinfoil off? I feel like I would get paranoid that something snuck in there under the foil. What about a sanitized solid bung? I would just like to sanitize when I am finished with the carboys and have them sanitized and ready for next time.
 
Yeah that was the idea, to be able to reuse the star san. That is a good idea with the tinfoil. I think that is what I will do. Do you (llazy_llama) use them right after you pop the tinfoil off? I feel like I would get paranoid that something snuck in there under the foil. What about a sanitized solid bung? I would just like to sanitize when I am finished with the carboys and have them sanitized and ready for next time.

I'd like to note how you used the word paranoid... Sanitation is important. Paranoia is not unless you have issues with successful batches.
 
Yeah that was the idea, to be able to reuse the star san. That is a good idea with the tinfoil. I think that is what I will do. Do you (llazy_llama) use them right after you pop the tinfoil off? I feel like I would get paranoid that something snuck in there under the foil. What about a sanitized solid bung? I would just like to sanitize when I am finished with the carboys and have them sanitized and ready for next time.

After cleaning, sanitizing, and drip drying, I use sanitized tinfoil to cover the neck of my carboy. When it's brew day, I leave the tinfoil on until it's time to pour the wort. Sometimes my carboys sit for weeks, even months. When it's brew time, I pull off the tinfoil and pour my cooled wort in. A sanitized solid bung would do the same thing as the sanitized tin foil, but would cost a bit more. I guess the advantage here is that a bung is reuseable. Then again, tinfoil forms a much more effective barrier than a bung does, so I'd guess the tinfoil would last much longer inbetween uses.
 
On the topic of reusing, I've been sanitizing my carboy, then dumping that solution into a large flat container (that has a lid) and let my racking equipment, turkey baster, etc sit in that container. Makes it very convenient when I need something quickly.... it's sanitized and ready to go.

This reuse of starsan seems to work well for me.
 
The last time that I filled a keg I mixed the Star San in a keg and left it there. Last week (about a month later) I wondered if it was still good? I called the number on the bottle to ask 5 Star if it was still good and the man I talked to said if I didn't use distilled water that I should probably throw it out. He said if I had some litmus paper & could test the PH then it would be OK if the PH was 3.5. Since it is so cheap to just mix another batch I threw it out. The next time I order I will probably order some strips. He said if it was still clear then it was most likely OK but he didn't think it was worth the risk.
 
I like keeping it in one of those square plastic containers with a spigot. Its a lot easier to dispense it than trying to pour it out of a carboy.
 
I just use a spray bottle filled with starsan. Give everything a quick spray down when it's time to sanitize. You use a TINY amount of starsan doing that and it gets things just as sanitary as dunking it or filling a carboy to the top.
 
The last time that I filled a keg I mixed the Star San in a keg and left it there. Last week (about a month later) I wondered if it was still good? I called the number on the bottle to ask 5 Star if it was still good and the man I talked to said if I didn't use distilled water that I should probably throw it out. He said if I had some litmus paper & could test the PH then it would be OK if the PH was 3.5. Since it is so cheap to just mix another batch I threw it out. The next time I order I will probably order some strips. He said if it was still clear then it was most likely OK but he didn't think it was worth the risk.

Yeah. I wouldn't risk it either. The strips are cheap and so is distilled water. Mix up a batch with distilled water and you'll have it for a long time to come.

The minerals and whatnot in tap water don't play well with star san.
 
OK, you guys are going to love this one. I've been using the same Starsan for almost a year or more, no infections and, get this, it's cloudy.

Ever since I listened to Charlie from 5 Star on that podcast I no longer dump the stuff for at least 4 or 5 months.
 
I leave about a cup or two in the bottom of the carboy and put a stopper in it. Then right before I put the wort in I'll swish that around and dump it out, then spray the neck area and pump through the chiller right in to it. I also cover the opening of the carboy with a paper towel soaked in star-san.
 
I saw a video about brewing where the guy used a garden sprayer to sanitize his equipment. I got a small one at HD and it works great. You can store the StarSan in the sprayer. When I want to sanitize the carboy I just stick the nozzle in and spray a thin layer. If you use the stream control on the wand to make it the widest and hold the tip in the neck of the carboy, it streams down all the sides. Then I just swish it around a little, dump out the excess, and put on a piece of sanitized tin foil - ready to go. For my small pieces, I spray them in a small bowl and let them soak. Since it's portable, if I'm outside, I just spray the sh...t out of the necessary items right before I use them. When you're finished with the equipment, the spray under pressure will knock off the crud that sticks to the articles before you soak them in your cleaner. The total volume that I use is probably a quart or less. What's left is stored for the next use. Just make sure that you mark the sprayer, sanitizer only so you or someone else doesn't put the weed killer in it!!
 
Back
Top