I’m just curious as to whether anybody else here uses Iodophor over Star San.
I know they both work well, but sometimes I feel like the last homebrewer on the planet who uses this product.
The “older” guys in the club here use iodophor. I’m always a bit surprised.
The club also has a raffle stocked by the LHBS during the monthly meetings. There is always iodophor in the pot and I am shocked how quickly folks choose it.
I use Iodophor once a year to kill any bugs that have become resistant to StarSan. I don’t know if that can even happen or if temporarily switching sanitizers is an appropriate safeguard.
Came with my first kit 20+ years ago and using it ever since. Never any problems so continue to use.
I started using it in the early 90’s and have ever since. One reason may be that I found a gallon that was discounted ($5.99 or $6.99) at a farm supply store in about '92 and just ran out a year or so ago. A little goes a long way when used right!
Still have my first bottle of it from 7 years ago when I switched over to Star San. You want it?
I didn’t care for the smell or the staining of my hoses and equipment.
+1
I use Iodophor to sanitize starter equipment because it’s easier for me to measure small amounts of it than StarSan.
I don’t like the idea of being entirely dependent on an acid-based sanitizer given that the most common brewery contaminants are acid-producing bacteria.
I use it occasionally as it is is cheaper than Star San. I use it for uses where I dispose the sanitizing solution after use, such as sanitizing the counterflow chiller.
But then again, I still use bleach. ;D
+1
I make 1-quart spray bottles of Star-San that come in really useful for this kind of thing.
+1. I make 5 gallons of StarSan at a time, then fill a spray bottle from that to spray on beer and gas posts, QDs, etc.
I KNEW I bought that 3 pack of spray bottles for a reason. Thanks!
Jeff
So do I, but for some reason I always pull out the Iodophor. Dunno why.
Mix it with distilled water and it’ll stay good for a year or so.
Old habits die hard.
+1 to that. Distilled isn’t cheap but it’s worth the investment for Starsan - mine stays clear for a long time (upwards of a year) with good pH, at least as measured by strips.
I do the same on roughly your time increment (1 - 1.5 yrs, or whenever) because I always heard it might be a good idea. But I’d love to hear some actual data on that. I read Sean’s post about some beer spoiling organisms actually producing acid and whether acid based cleansers would therefore be effective on them. Anybody have any other info ?
While it is true that Star San needs to below pH 3 to be effective, it is because the low pH is required for the detergent to be effective. The low pH may inhibit or kill many of the problem microbes, but that alone is not the primary mechanism of action in Star San.