[Pope of Dope]

In my 10+ years of brewing I've only ever used Star San, the brown stuff, and it works very well.  Accidentally, I bought some Saniclean, never used before, and today I sterilized my keg with it before dumping in my beer.  It looks gnarly, thick like whale semen, overly foamy, and a faint odor like hand sanitizer.  I'm sure it's fine to use, but the obsessive person that I am, I can't help but think that I just put some toxic avenger sludge into my beer.  Anyone have a comment on this?  Like, "don't worry bro, I drink that stuff with my Lucky Charms, it's fine." 

[Robert]

Sure you said what you meant?  Star San is clear, not brown.  It is foamy.  Saniclean is brown, low foaming and does have an aroma to it like you describe. Star San is capable of sanitizing with a 30 second contact.  Saniclean is marketed as an acid rinse after caustic cleaning, and for removing odors from draught lines.  But it is actually capable of sanitizing, just takes longer. I really wouldn't try it as a no rinse, but that's me.  I don't like anything in my beer.
  If you followed the instructions on whatever you got, you should be good.
  I use Star San in some cases where it's more practical, but for all purposes I prefer Iodophor (maker of Star San and Saniclean sells it as Io Star.) Works at a very low concentration, and unlike the other two which are acid sanitizers, it kills a wider spectrum of organisms.

[Pope of Dope]

Yeah. Switch that and reverse it.  So I used Star San like I would Saniclean.  Didn't rinse, submerged parts of keg and made a solution of it to fill keg, and a spay bottle.  Dumped it all out except some foam and residue, then siphoned beer right on top and sealed the deal.

[Robert]

Yeah. Switch that and reverse it.  So I used Star San like I would Saniclean.  Didn't rinse, submerged parts of keg and made a solution of it to fill keg, and a spay bottle.  Dumped it all out except some foam and residue, then siphoned beer right on top and sealed the deal.

Sounds like you're good.  They're supposed to be very similar, but they don't call Saniclean a sanitizer because they didn't want to spend all the coin to get it FDA licensed.  The Star San foam is annoying, but everybody seems to just ignore it.

[Pope of Dope]

I prefer Saniclean.  The Star San residue is viscous.  Still on my hands.  Gross. 

[Robert]

I prefer Saniclean.  The Star San residue is viscous.  Still on my hands.  Gross.

Did you mix it the same?  Star San is more concentrated, you use only 1 oz in 5 gal. 

[Pope of Dope]

uhhhh oh.  Looks like I doubled the dose.  2oz in 6 gals.  Whoops.  Still drinkable?  I read in past posts that it's not dangerous, that my fingers won't start turning blue and I probably won't bleed out. Right?

[Robert]

uhhhh....no.  Looks like I doubled the dose.  2oz in 6 gals.  Whoops.  Still drinkable?

Yeah, you just wasted some sanitizer.  The stuff's made to kill bacteria, not you!  Hey, if you've never tried it, next time try an iodophor.  Thay say 1 oz in 5 gal, but it's effective at half that with a 2 minute soak ( hospital standards at 10 min)absolutely no foam, drains really clean (doesn't have that slick foamy busines that makes Saniclean or Star San cling in your keg) and it's a broad spectrum sanitizer.  You might like it.

[Robert]

^^^^
Add-on:  One thing good about Star San :  If you mix it with distilled water and keep it in a covered container it will keep indefinitely.  If it turns from clear to at all cloudy, that tells you it's no longer effective.  It's handy to have around for a quick dip of a small item, or to keep in a spray bottle. (If yours looked cloudy today it doesn't mean it was bad, just the minerals in tap water mess with that visual indicator. )

[klickitat jim]

Basic rule of American beer. If you can taste your sanitizer, you didn't use enough hops.

[Robert]

^^^^^
And if you're worried you cleaned and sanitized TOO MUCH?  Well, RDWHAHB.

[klickitat jim]

I think it's 6ml of starsan per gallon of distilled and .6 oz of iodophor per corny keg filled to the brim for rinse free mixture.

[Joe Sr.]

Is no one else concerned that the OP is familiar with the consistency of whale semen? 


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[Robert]

Is no one else concerned that the OP is familiar with the consistency of whale semen? 


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Tried to let that go.  Maybe it's an occupational thing? If my job gave me that kind of information I'd be brewing lots of beer.

[ultravista]

whale semen - I bet it's super slippery yet tacky, like Elmer's Glue.