Sanitiser

[crilly]

Being a cheapskate, just wondering that alternatives to Star San you use, prefer no rinse.

 

[kelper]

Suresan at £8.95 per kilo is good and won't harm stainless steel

Supermarket baby bottle sterilisers can be very cheap - see https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/302169753

 

[Clint]

Smart price bleach.
10ml per gallon..? Make 100 gallons for 1 litre.
Asda cheap bleach 2l for 38p...I win!!

 

[Leon103]

Being a cheapskate, just wondering that alternatives to Star San you use, prefer no rinse.

It's lasts years. Well worth the initial outlay

 

[The Baron]

I'm with Leon on this its false economy I have had a bottle for 3 years now and still some left well worth the cost and convenience of use

 

[GerritT]

Lasts a year for me (12 brews@16L): https://www.braumarkt.com/en/arsegan-puro-oxi-1-kg
And it's no-rinse.
And I tasted it: doesn't taste nice, but won't spoil the brew.

 

[SkyBlue]

I’ve just bought the 118ml Starsan but am yet to use it. Once diluted how long does it last and can you keep reusing it once diluted as I just assumed you used it once and then chucked it away!

 

[Drunkula]

Said this dozens and dozens of times but not Charlie Talley's no-rinse acidified bleach unless you shake the crap out of the bleach in the shop and open it to check there's absolutely zero foaming so there's no residual surfactant in it from a different run of bleach.

Again I'm joining the throng, Star San is fekking great. You don't need to make it up every time you needed it like the acidified bleach, it won't ruin that really nice jumper and it won't sneak up, bite you in the arse and ruin a load of beers with polyphenol issues. Star San really saves you so much time.

I’ve just bought the 118ml Starsan but am yet to use it. Once diluted how long does it last and can you keep reusing it once diluted as I just assumed you used it once and then chucked it away!

No, you keep reusing it. Not if you're using it in the spray bottle, clearly, but for a bucket where you soak things, yes. And it keeps pretty much forever even when mixed. There's the thing about it going cloudy meaning you can't use it but that's not exactly true. As long as the pH is around 3 (check that) then it's still good to use. Cloudiness can happen straight away and be due to minerals in your water reacting.

 

[Clint]

All my pipes,plastic spoons,paddles,auto Syphon and other stuff are left in a spare fv of starsan solution.

 

[BarnBrian]

Beware of leaving your Starsan bottle near a sunny window. I lost more than half a bottle due to it getting hot and leaking past the cap.

 

[Cwrw666]

Boiling water.

 

[Sadfield]

I bought a bottle of maltmillers version of Starsan when I started brewing. Five years on, the bottles getting a bit low. And I don't often save and reuse it.

 

[dan125]

I bought a bottle of maltmillers version of Starsan when I started brewing. Five years on, the bottles getting a bit low. And I don't often save and reuse it.

I've been well pleased with it too but they don't seem to be doing their own brand cleaners/sanitisers any more - the 'Ulimate Brewery Cleaner' was excellent, and sooo much cheaper than PBW

 

[An Ankoù]

Bleach to clean at 99c for 5l- dilute to taste. Sodium metabisulphite to sanitise and remove any vestiges of chlorine from the bleach. Would never trust a "no rinse", I prefer to know what chemicals I'm putting in my beer.

 

[strange-steve]

I prefer to know what chemicals I'm putting in my beer

Phosphoric and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acids, sounds delicious right

 

[An Ankoù]

Phosphoric and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acids, sounds delicious right

Ah yes. The usual precursors of Novichok!

 

[Sadfield]

Phosphoric and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acids, sounds delicious right

Probably best to steer clear of a detailed water report, too. Cyanide, arsenic, benzene. Yummy.

 

[strange-steve]

Probably best to steer clear of a detailed water report, too. Cyanide, arsenic, benzene. Yummy.

Don't forget lead and mercury too

 

[LED_ZEP]

I use bleach as per Charlie Talley method for fv's, dj's and bottles (but I do rinse before I use). I've only ever lost one bottle of wine due to an infection so unless that changes I've no reason to swap.
For things like the hydrometer I use isopropanol it's also good for putting in bubblers.