Steriliser solution advice

[Carl Green]

Hi all, i'm relatively new to home brewing, have done 4 kit brews so far, the advice i'm after is whether its ok to keep my sterilising solution for a period of time and re-use, i have been making up about 3 gallons of VWP at a time when i start a brew and have kept it in a bucket after the initial use and used it for hydrometer an jar and other tools as i use them, and make up another 3 gals for sterilising before the next brew, this feels a bit wasteful, how long is the steriliser potent for?

Cheers

 

[Llamaman]

I only use VWP for cleaning when needed and use Starsan for sterilising.

I make the Starsan solution up with Tesco Ashbeck water (my tap water is very hard).
It seems to keep indefinitely. I occasionally test with a litmus paper but it’s always acidic enough (pH needs to be under 3). It might go off eventually but a 5L batch lasted months and was still fine by the time I finished it.

 

[Carl Green]

Thanks for the reply was starting to think it was a stupid question:)
i've done a bit more research on the forum now and now realise i should be cleaning then sterilising my equipment immediately before using
i was using my VWP as a steriliser then rinsing well when starting a brew and being left with a few gallon of the mixture at the end
will order some Star San for future use
Cheers

 

[LeeH]

Good luck finding some.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

will order some Star San for future use

Star San is becoming scarce heres why - https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/star-san-withdrawn-from-sale-in-eu.81745/

.

 

[Clint]

Just to clarify...there are NO stupid questions...

 

[Carl Green]

Thanks gents, if cant manage to get some through my dark web connections....:)
would you recommend anything similar in its place?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Thanks gents, if cant manage to get some through my dark web connections....:)
would you recommend anything similar in its place?

Plenty of info in the thread i linked to in post #5 :thumba:

 

[Clint]

Malt miller have some 4oz bottles left.

 

[An Ankoù]

VWP is an effective cleaner and steriliser. I've used it and, if I remember correctly. it's like Brupacks Brewclean. Neither of these will keep, but should be used as needed. Yes you can soak heavily soiled items overnight, but you can't use it again days later as the chlorine dissipates fairly quickly.
Looking at their spiel, which is repeated on Maltmiller's site, they really have it in for sodium metalbisulphite. This is nonsense, you have to rinse VWP washed items thoroughly to get rid of the surfactants and the chlorine. metabisulphite is excellent for this as it will remove all traces of chlorine.
However, while sodium metabisuphite is excellent sanitiser and can be used "no-rinse" (but drain well), it is not a cleaner. My regime would be to clean thoroughly in a bleach solution or with VWP, or with Brewclean (bleach works for me although I'll use hot brewclean to soak overnight) and then rinse with water followed by sodium metalbisuphite solution to destroy any last vestiges of chlorine. Note that sod meta doesn't kill all bacteria, but also note that in 45 years I've never had a problem. You can also keep a lidded bucket half full of a strongish solution to keep your plastic things clean and sweet in. You can also put half a teaspoon in some water in your unused FVs and pressure barrels, but don't it will corrode metals, even brass, after several weeks or months.
I'm so glad the world is having to find an alternative to StarSan, it's an over-rated and over branded phosphoric acid based cleaner, which is more suited to cleaning concrete and masonry. For those who insist, it should be easy enough to knock up some of your own.

 

[Keruso]

I only use VWP for cleaning when needed and use Starsan for sterilising.

I make the Starsan solution up with Tesco Ashbeck water (my tap water is very hard).
It seems to keep indefinitely. I occasionally test with a litmus paper but it’s always acidic enough (pH needs to be under 3). It might go off eventually but a 5L batch lasted months and was still fine by the time I finished it.

Hi, I use VWP for cleaning and sterilization, afterwards I use starsan, while I still have some left sadly, to rinse and sanitize. Starsan is not a sterilizer, just a sanitizer.

 

[lancon]

I spoke to VWP company a few years ago, apparently only active for a few hours.

 

[Hopperty]

sodium metabisuphite

where do you buy this ?
and what sort of quantities do you need ?

 

[An Ankoù]

where do you buy this ?
and what sort of quantities do you need ?

Brewuk, thehomebrecompany, among others. It's the same as campden tablets, but in powder form. A teaspoon to the gallon used to be the standard solution.

 

[An Ankoù]

Hi, I use VWP for cleaning and sterilization, afterwards I use starsan, while I still have some left sadly, to rinse and sanitize. Starsan is not a sterilizer, just a sanitizer.

If you've just used VWP you don't need to use anything else apart from water to rinse all the VWP stuff away. If you want to sanitise after the rinse (in case you're suspicious of your tap water) then use Sodium metabisulphite solution.