um...about this "don't fear the foam" thing

[Saccharomyces]

Recently switched to Star San. Before racking onto it I ate some foam to see if it had a noticeable taste. It didn't. The foam overflowed the carboy, which was a little weird. But I love this stuff. Easier than One Step and it lasts for a week in the bucket for taking samples etc.

- Eric

 

[Trencher]

Okay, I'm convinced. Been using StarSan for a while, but letting carboys and bottles sit inverted for hours or even overnight while the foam drained, or rinsing them lightly. I switched to StarSan because of some infection issues but have still had a few bad batches with the StarSan. Now I suspect those may have been because of equipment sitting too long after sanitation, or contamination from tap water used to rinse.

If I could get a thick column of the foam pouring out of the neck of my carboy I'd feel much safer about the entire carboy being sanitized. Plus it looks really cool!

Should I still leave carboys inverted so that the foam collects in the neck, or just let it settle in the bottom and rack beer or wort into it? Does anyone have a preference?

 

[BADS197]

I don't fear the foam but my gf does.

 

[Brocster]

When I rack into a carboy, sometimes the foam comes out in a cylinder that gets almost 2ft high before falling over!!! Star san is all I have ever used and I love it. I keep a spray bottle handy and right before I slide my racking cane into my beer, I give it a quick spritz.

+1 on the Spray bottle. I keep one full at all times.

I also keep an extra keg partially full at pressurized at all times. I can use this a number of ways. Mostly, it is an awesome way to work with beer serving lines. I keep picnic tap lines and even fridge tap lines filled with Star-San until I use them again.

 

[Arkador]

The foam does make it hard to tell when the keg is full though. I ended up beer on the floor on time. Now whe I think 'm close I start scooping out the foam until I can find the beer and know where it's at.

first time I didn't rinse the foam out of my keg before filling, this happened to me...... had i not lost it, I probably could have filled a 6pack from what ended up on the floor, or removed from the keg, because my gas in tube was buried under the beer....

I don't fear the foam, but will continue to rince my kegs because of this.

 

[springer]

first time I didn't rinse the foam out of my keg before filling, this happened to me...... had i not lost it, I probably could have filled a 6pack from what ended up on the floor, or removed from the keg, because my gas in tube was buried under the beer....

I don't fear the foam, but will continue to rince my kegs because of this.

what do you use to rinse? Seems like defeating the purpose of the no rinse sanitizer.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

what do you use to rinse? Seems like defeating the purpose of the no rinse sanitizer.

No doubt...I'd fear the rinse water, unless it's been boiled.

Arkador, you can avoid this problem by not creating too much foam in your keg. Just carefully pour in a pint or two of Starsan, and gently turn/rock the keg to make sure all internal surfaces have been coated. Then slightly pressurize the keg and drain the Starsan with a picnic tap, to ensure the dip tube is sanitized. (I recover it right back into the jugs I store it in.) Purge, re-pressurize and purge again. When you pop the lid your keg will be sanitized, full of Co2 (to prevent oxidation while racking) and have just a tiny bit of foam.