[Pspengler]

Hi Everyone -

I've brewed for years and always thought of cleanliness as THE most important ingredient.  No matter how studious (eg dismantle valves, thorough use of Star San) once in a while I get a contaminated beer from some microorganism.

I JUST learned that the Star San site says to use their product within an hour!  They say, "Star San is an EPA registered sanitizer and must be used immediately. We do not recommend using it if has been in solution longer than an hour."

THERE's my culprit!  I've saved Star San in mixture from one brew to the next, usually changing out wfter two brew projects.  I further read on their site that Star San converts to sugar (thus the reason it is not harmful to us humans). 

I've been sanitizing with sugar water!

I just wanted to share to save others from the same problem!

[denny]

It does not need to be used within an hour, but it's possible you've been reusing it too many times. Do you check the pH? If it's under 3, it's still good.

[Bob357]

I've been reusing StarSan solutions for several months before disposing of it and never had an infected batch. If you plan on reusing it, be sure to mix it with distilled or RO water, keep it in a closed container and make sure it doesn't become further diluted while cleaning equipment. This will help keep the solution in the proper pH range and ensure it's viability.

[Kevin]

I don't reuse Star San but I do mix up a spray bottle and have kept that on the shelf for 1 to 3 months. I think you need to keep searching for your problem.

[neuse]

When Charley Talley was the company president, he was on many podcasts and discussed Star San. He gave practical advice and discussed how practical considerations differ from the official guidelines. Now that Mr. Talley is no longer president, Five Star has gone back to strict EPA guidelines. As home brewers, we aren't required to adhere to EPA guidelines.

[goose]

I stopped using Star San years ago and went to Saniclean since it does not foam like Star San does.  I keep mine in a 5 gallon Gott cooler and use RO water to make the solution.  I can get several months out of a batch of it before discarding it.  As Denny said, if the pH is below 3 you will be fine.

Another thing I would do is to carefully inspect your kegs and beer storage vessels, including any fermenters that are made of stainless steel.  If they have beer stone in them, that could serve as a place to harbor bacteria and other nasties.  I passivate my kegs and fermenters occasionally to get rid of any beer stone.  You can use an acid bath to do this or mix up Star San at a concentration of 1 oz. per gallon (recommended by SS Brewtech), fill the keg completely and let it sit for a few hours or up to a day or so if the beer stone is really heavy.  This should dissolve it from the walls of the stainless steel.  It will also work on glass carboys although I do not use them anymore because of the danger issue with glass.  I get my acid concentrate from a dairy supply store that sells bulk milk handling equipment and it works really well on beer stone.

[narcout]

Try switching to Iodophor.

[denny]

Try switching to Iodophor.

good suggestion.

[rburrelli]

Hi Everyone -

Ive brewed for years and always thought of cleniliness as THE most important ingredient.  No matter how studious (eg dismantle valves, thorough use of Star San) once in a while I get a contaminated beer from some microorganism.

I JUST learned that the Star San site says to use their product within an hour!  They say, "Star San is an EPAs registered sanitizer and must be used immediately. We do not recommend using it if has been in solution longer than an hour."

THERE's my culprit!  Ive saved Star San in mixture from one brew to the next, usually changing out wfter two brew projects.  I further read on their site that Star San converts to sugar (thus the reason it is not harmful to us humans). 

Ive been sanitizing with sugar water!

I just wanted to share to save others from the same problem!

You don’t seem to mention if you are using a cleaner and then sanitizing. Star San is NOT a cleaner.   Your regimen should include both items.

[Megary]

Hi Everyone -

Ive brewed for years and always thought of cleniliness as THE most important ingredient.  No matter how studious (eg dismantle valves, thorough use of Star San) once in a while I get a contaminated beer from some microorganism.

I JUST learned that the Star San site says to use their product within an hour!  They say, "Star San is an EPAs registered sanitizer and must be used immediately. We do not recommend using it if has been in solution longer than an hour."

THERE's my culprit!  Ive saved Star San in mixture from one brew to the next, usually changing out wfter two brew projects.  I further read on their site that Star San converts to sugar (thus the reason it is not harmful to us humans). 

Ive been sanitizing with sugar water!

I just wanted to share to save others from the same problem!

You don’t seem to mention if you are using a cleaner and then sanitizing. Star San is NOT a cleaner.   Your regimen should include both items.

+1

On a homebrew level, I believe that proper cleaning is far more important than sanitizing.

[Pspengler]

It does not need to be used within an hour, but it's possible you've been reusing it too many times. Do you check the pH? If it's under 3, it's still good.

Thanks I'll do that!

[Bilsch]

I passivate my kegs and fermenters occasionally to get rid of any beer stone.  You can use an acid bath to do this or mix up Star San at a concentration of 1 oz. per gallon (recommended by SS Brewtech), fill the keg completely and let it sit for a few hours or up to a day or so if the beer stone is really heavy.

Unfortunately SS was incorrect about phosphoric (starsan) passivating stainless, it absolutely positively will not do that. The only acids that are capable of selectively dissolving the iron and enriching the chromium layer are nitric and citric.

[fredthecat]

Try switching to Iodophor.

this.

i dont calculate how much the dose of iodophor costs on brewday and bottling day, but i'd estimate something like 10 to 20 cents.

starsan's storage (leaky/sticky starsan concentrate, developing strings if i dont use distilled water for it etc) was always more of a hassle for me, and i just said forget it.

[Richard]

I passivate my kegs and fermenters occasionally to get rid of any beer stone.  You can use an acid bath to do this or mix up Star San at a concentration of 1 oz. per gallon (recommended by SS Brewtech), fill the keg completely and let it sit for a few hours or up to a day or so if the beer stone is really heavy.

Unfortunately SS was incorrect about phosphoric (starsan) passivating stainless, it absolutely positively will not do that. The only acids that are capable of selectively dissolving the iron and enriching the chromium layer are nitric and citric.

Goose and Bilsch are both correct. StarSan will not passivate stainless, but Goose perhaps misused the word. Extra strength StarSan will remove beer stone, as Goose said.

[goose]

The acid I use contains phosphoric, nitric and a small amount of sulfuric acids.  It is used in the dairy industry to clean milk handling tanks and equipment and works well on milk stone.  It also works very well on beer stone
The small amount of sulfuric acid will not corrode stainless steel.

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