Starsan - recommended?

[WelshPaul]

Has anyone used Starsan and can vouch for its effectiveness as a non-rinse steriliser?
I need to get some new steriliser soon and I just saw this online at £13 for 16 fluid ounces (whatever that is). Is it good stuff?

 

[Rwilts]

Yes bought it half way through year and did about 10 kits using it . Saves a lot of time.

 

[WelshPaul]

Coolio, thanks.

 

[oz11]

+1 for starsan.Would recommend it without hesitation.

 

[Jimmy321]

I have a bottle of this but have not yet used it as non-rinse sort of scares me, watched some vids where the foam gets forced out when filling the keg but still.

What do you guys dilute it by to make it safe for non-rinse.

 

[oz11]

1.6ml/L... take a tip from the other forum and write it on the bottle in permanent marker.

 

[Dr Mike]

I have a bottle of this but have not yet used it as non-rinse sort of scares me, watched some vids where the foam gets forced out when filling the keg but still.

I can't remember where I saw it, but I read somewhere that the yeast actually eats up any residual Starsan in the beer !

 

[alanywiseman.]

Check out the podcast in this thread

I use starsan and it last ages. Just make sure the pH is 3 or below :thumb:

 

[Dieseljockey]

It's good stuff, check out their site..Here. it'll give you the low down on, what it is and how to use it....like

Never add water to chemicals. Always blend cleaning or sanitizing chemicals into water.

:wha: I don't know why but if that's what they say..that's what I do.

Also a page HERE from Mr Palmer....worth a read. :thumb:

 

[rpt]

Definitely recommend Starsan. Just ignore the foam. So much easier than having to rinse.

 

[just_steve]

It's good stuff, check out their site..Here. it'll give you the low down on, what it is and how to use it....like

Never add water to chemicals. Always blend cleaning or sanitizing chemicals into water.

:wha: I don't know why but if that's what they say..that's what I do.

I reckon I could guess why. Chemicals which are concentrated or not dissolved in water, if they do dissolve in water, in most cases will release a lot of heat on dissolution in water. Water is good at dissipating that heat, and so it's effective to add chemical to water without the water boiling. However if you add water to chemical, initially there isn't that much water mixed with the chemical, and so the water heats up very quickly and could boil. Worse still, the chemical itself could boil. I wouldn't fancy breathing in steriliser/sanitiser vapors.

 

[tazuk]

+1 starsan :thumb: dont fear the foam 1.6mils per ltr i use dionised water :thumb:

 

[WelshPaul]

Well the water around here is fairly soft anyway so hopefully dionised water won't be necessary.

 

[Dieseljockey]

I read somewhere, apparently if the water you use goes cloudy when you mix them, then it's not good. I use Tesco Ashbeck Mountain Spring about 80p a bottle.

 

[Asalpaws]

I find mine goes cloudy but the pH remains below 2, so I've continued to use it without any issues.

You can re use the starsan many times, I keep mine in an old FV.

I have found that if it's really cold the foam freezes into star San snow!

 

[michking]

used Starsan for first time last night with bottle cleaner (shoots liquid into bottles) and bottle tree... wanted to bottle after 1 hour but there were 'soapy bubbles' near neck of all the bottles so gave them a quick rinse before bottling...

Do I just need more patience and wait for soapy bubbles to go away or maybe concentration was wrong?


i'm unable to test PH at this time...

 

[BeerEagle]

Don't fear the bubbles. By rinsing you've possibly undone some of the goodness.

The StarSan bubbles are there by design. It allows the active ingredients to cling to surfaces. Just like firefighters use foam to dowse fires - it's more efficient that runny liquid.

It doesn't taste, gets eaten up by priming and is totally safe in that concentration. Hence it's known as a "no rinse" sanitiser.

 

[Asalpaws]

As per BE just pour the beer onto the foam. Most comes out when you bottle, however it has no effect on taste, it really is no rinse. T

 

[alanywiseman.]

How long does you Starsan last?

I was looking at the John Palmer page posted in a link about and he says a few days. I tend to keep mine for a month or 2 before making up fresh. I am in Glasgow so the water is soft and it does not cloud like I have seen but I do not believe that the cloudyness is a sighn of it going off.

It is an acid based steraliser so then you add your beer/wine/cider it dilutes the acid to normal levels. So my thinking is that if the pH remains below 3 then it is good to use as above pH 3.5 it becomes a nutrient for the yeast. does anyone other than Asalpaws think like this?

 

[BeerEagle]

As long as the ph is low it will continue to be effective.
Cloudiness is caused by hard water chemicals reacting with the acid which may or may not lower the ph to below-effective levels.