Star San - no rinse

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Herbiehep

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Hi folks
Thought I would try this sanitiser to save all the rinsing involved with chlorine based sanitisers.After cleaning 40+ bottles in VWP I made up 10lts of Star San for a final rinse.I didn't notice at first because of the bubbles but half way through rinsing ,the solution was obviously cloudy.Apparently if it goes cloudy then its no good because its too alkaline , and this is an acid cleaner.My tap water is between 7.3 and 7.7 ph but should be 6ph or less for this cleaner to work properly . Have I wasted a tenner cos I don't fancy using bottled Ashford 6ph to rinse or could I up the Star San doseage to get rid of the cloudiness. Any thoughts on this from those of you that have used this sanitiser.?
 
Looks like I'll have to get some Ph indicator paper and try to get Ph down to around 3 for the Star San to work properly. Thanks Chippy.
 
Looks like I'll have to get some Ph indicator paper and try to get Ph down to around 3 for the Star San to work properly. Thanks Chippy.


Not necessarily, only if you want to be 100% sure your using the star san in the correct manner. I have been using starsan for about a year now. It's usually cloudy when I use it and I always reuse it 2,3 or more times. I've never bothered about PH. The only thing I do is filter the water with a brita filta to get the chlorine out. I've never had any problems with cloudy star san and never had an infected beer (fingers crossed). So it's just a matter of how scrupulous you want to be about using star san in a 100% correct manner
 
fwiw i use tesco ashbeck water to mix up my sanitiser and apply the starsan solution with a garden centre trigger spray bottle, 5 litres of solution has a shelf life of many many months (ive had one mix for 9 months im sure, never went cloudy) and at a £ a bottle (5l) with a free pet demijon (the bottle) not an expensive option at all, adding 10-20p perhaps to a brews total cost.

the cloudy state isnt a definate that the sanitiser is spent, just an indicator as you have sussed a simple ph test will reveal the truth.

its also useful in the kitchen as its pennies a bottle compared to the detol type surface wipe down sanitisers found on the supermarket shelvs..:party:
 
I used Morrisons 5l bottled water and it went a little cloudy after the starsan was added - but testing with ph paper shows its still at ph 2 (which is fine - needs to be at ph3 or lower to remain effective).

Only way to be sure your starsan is effective if cloudy is to test ph.
 
Thank you for your comments/advice.
This is a good sanitiser - not cleaner .So now that I have all my bottles kegs FVs etc in good state of cleanliness , I will be able to use Star San in smaller qtytys.So I will get a spray bottle for things like beer paddle, hydrometer ,jar, thermometer etc.I like the idea of the bottle rinser (f-rrari)and bottle tree for draining.So I will be mixing up 5ltrs of mineral +star san and keeping an eye on it with some ph indicator.The drinking water where I live is horrible and we filter all our drinking water. Just ordered 25lts ashbeck from tesco.
This is the way forward - To infinity and beyond
 
If find its easier to dump 5l of starsan into a spare fermenting vessel and dump all your bits in - ie. jug, thermometer, turkey baster for taking a sample, hydrometer and sample tube, stirrer etc.

Once finished I then empty the starsan back into its 5l bottle (using a funnel of course).

I have some in a spray mister as well but the 5l in a bucket works well most of the time - the sprayer tends to spray the bench top, the wall etc as well as what you are aiming for !

You can re-use many times as long as the stuff you dump in it is alway clean before hand, I wouldn't want any beer gunk/floaty bits in my starsan solution I am re-using.
 
Have a listen to this, about an hour in.....

This is the guy who invented the stuff, if he don't know then I guess no one does.... No need to mix gallons of the stuff up.... and for bottles get an avinatore, only needs half a litre of solution and will do 40 or more bottles..

I have tested a litre mix with 1.6ml of Star San made up with mains water at PH 6.8 after a week and left open to absorb CO2 and it still reads a PH of 2.6, run same test with bottle water at PH 7.2 and 1.6ml SS and reads PH 2.8 also after one week (7 days). Both samples were well cloudy!!! Charlie says as long as PH is <3 this its good to go :-)

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/...Session-03-19-06-Sanitation-w/-Charlie-Talley
 
Hi all, I have just got my first bottle of Star San and after much reading and listening to the above radio interview with Charlie from Five Star, I am still at a loss of how much of each to mix together. I have the 473ml bottle btw!

The instructions are very limited. Can anyone help? I was looking at making about 10 litres of this up in an old FV and using it that way for bottle sanitation!

All help is much appreciated. Thanks!
 
Get a small medicine syringe from the chemists to measure it and Mix at 1.6 ml per litre. So for 10 litres its 16 ml of star san, just a dribble over 3 teaspoons (if 5 ml teaspoons)..
 
Cheers alexbb, but how much of each do I need, I have a small tub at the top with only 15ml in and the main chemical part has over 450ml. 1.6ml of what ratio? The label tells me nothing.

Many thanks,
 
The bottle only has one liquid in it. The bottle is designed to be squeezed gently (with the lid off the small compartment) which pushes a bit of starsan up into the small compartment and you can then remove some - as has been said best to use a small syringe which your local chemist will probably give you (the sort of syringe you use for measuring calpol/medicine for kids).

The small syringe should have measurements on the side to allow an exact number of ml to be extracted from the bottle and then carefully squeezed out into your water to make the solution.

Use 1.6ml of starsan to 1 litre of water (= 8ml of starsan to 5 litres of water).

Ideally you want to use some rubber gloves and safety glasses when mixing the starsan. The neat starsan can mark bench surfaces etc so don't splash it around. Once diluted and you have made the solution you will use for sterilising I thinks its fine to handle without gloves/glasses etc.

Worth getting some ph test paper booklets (couple of quid off ebay) to test your starsan. You can re-use it time and again but the ph needs to remain at 3 or less to be effective. Only by using the ph paper trips to test can you be sure your starsan hasn't gone off/been diluted to a point where you need to bin and mix a fresh batch. You should only be using starsan as a final sterilise (not a cleaner) so your solution should remain fairly clean as you aren't washing things in it just sterilising already cleaned stuff.
 
. Once diluted and you have made the solution you will use for sterilising I thinks its fine to handle without gloves/glasses etc.


I can definateley assure you of this as I once had a little taste of the diluted starsan to see if there would be any noticeable taste I should be looking out for in my beer

Defineatly do not recommend anyone should repeat my little experiment :lol:
 
I can definateley assure you of this as I once had a little taste of the diluted starsan to see if there would be any noticeable taste I should be looking out for in my beer

Defineatly do not recommend anyone should repeat my little experiment :lol:

Now thats a dedicated brewer!!
 
Thank you Spapro, as soon as I read your reply it clicked! I must lay off the hb during the week, it's making my brain hurt! I feel like such a plonka now as it is so bloody obvious with a clear head and daylight!

Many thanks! Now I can get on with trying it out!
 
Thank you Spapro, as soon as I read your reply it clicked! I must lay off the hb during the week, it's making my brain hurt! I feel like such a plonka now as it is so bloody obvious with a clear head and daylight!

Many thanks! Now I can get on with trying it out!

No worries, it did take me a little while to work the starsan bottle out when I first got mine, rotating as I expected to do didn't seem to work - only a gentle squeeze gets the liquid up into the smaller chamber.

Starsan is great stuff, makes everything easier/quicker, enjoy mate !
 
I have been using Starsan for about a month and have 5ltrs which I have been reusing . Its made with Ashbeck and stored in its own bottle.Everything that has been sanitised with it has been cleaned first . But now the Starsan solution has developed a pong - abit sulphury or rotten eggy.Some of you guys that have contributed to this thread have had Starsan that has been recycled for months.Has anyone else had this pong happen to them ?.I did listen to the radio interview with 'Charlie Starsan' but there was no mention of anything like this.Do you think its ok to use or just make some fresh?.Iwas looking to use it for longer and have checked the PH which is less than 3
 
well as a 5l solution costs about 20p in starsan to make up i would bin it.. and make a fresh one,

FWIW i use a trigger spray bottle to apply 90% of the starsan, and only reuse the solution thats been used in well washed and rinsed kegs/lines and the maintenance soak of things like bottlecaps and other sundries before use.

the solution i use for a hand dip when kegging and transfers is always binned after
 
Good point Fil except I did make it with Ashbeck which cost me a quid.So from now on I'll make it up with tap water .
I like the idea of a separate 'hand dip' and binning it after use.
Chucking the pongy stuff out now and making up some fresh starsan mix.See how it goes with tap water.
 

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