Star San

[trevor62]

Does anyone know, if mixed properly, is Star San supposed to be real sudsy? The bottle says not to rinse my equipment after using Star San, however, my carboy is full of suds. I watched a guy at a homebrew festival spray sanitizer on his equipment then immediately use it without drying. Any recommendations? I don’t know what product he used.

[skatz (Stevie)]

Don’t fear the foam. Totally normal. It won’t hurt anything.

[erockrph]

@trevor62

Does anyone know, if mixed properly, is Star San supposed to be real sudsy? The bottle says not to rinse my equipment after using Star San, however, my carboy is full of suds. I watched a guy at a homebrew festival spray sanitizer on his equipment then immediately use it without drying. Any recommendations? I don’t know what product he used.

Almost surely it was Star San that he sprayed. It’s perfectly safe, and it is supposed to suds up like that - it’s to help it make proper contact with whatever surfaces it is being applied to. A carboy full of suds is probably 10mL or so of Star San. Once you dilute it with 5 gallons of wort you won’t notice that it was ever there.

[trevor62]

Thanks for the help.

[BrewBama (Dwain)]

I recall hearing a podcast of the guys at Star San saying it is actually good for the beer.  Like a nutrient of some sort.  Anyone else hear this or am I dreaming again?

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

Don’t fear the foam. Totally normal. It won’t hurt anything.

Yup.

[chezteth]

Don’t fear the foam. Totally normal. It won’t hurt anything.

+1

[mtnrockhopper (Jimmy K)]

The phosphoric acid gets diluted when you fill the carboy with wort and the phosphorus can be used by yeast as a nutrient.

[hobsondrake_yahoo.com (HobsonDrake)]

@BrewBama

I recall hearing a podcast of the guys at Star San saying it is actually good for the beer.  Like a nutrient of some sort.  Anyone else hear this or am I dreaming again?

I heard that one too. Still freaks me out when I pour good wort/beer into a container with anything (foam) still in it.

[skatz (Stevie)]

A little star san is good for beer. Don’t worry about the foam, period.

Some have said that at working strength, it is safe to drink straight. I don’t recommend ever doing it, but that is what they have said.

[trevor62]

Would this also mean that even if the carboy is still a little wet from the Star San, it’s still ok to put my wort in?

[erockrph]

@trevor62

Would this also mean that even if the carboy is still a little wet from the Star San, it’s still ok to put my wort in?

Absolutely

[stevo155 (theDarkSide)]

@trevor62

Would this also mean that even if the carboy is still a little wet from the Star San, it’s still ok to put my wort in?

I worry more when my carboy is not wet when I put wort into it.  A wet surface with star san is sanitized.  A dry surface, depending on how long it sat and if it was left open to the air may have germs on it.

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

I worry more when my carboy is not wet when I put wort into it.  A wet surface with star san is sanitized.  A dry surface, depending on how long it sat and if it was left open to the air may have germs on it.

+1

[ynotbrusum]

Absolutely store it wet IMHO, for sure with kegs - I leave a goodly amount of foam, then hit the keg with CO2 and bleed off the O2, press the out poppet to shoot Star San up the out dip tube and store until use.  Carboys get an airlock and some residual foam during storage then a quick shot of Star San and drain just before filling. I’ve never experienced a sanitation issue with this system and it means only 1 cleaning per use - but two sanitizations per use.

[scottnu]

I worry more when my carboy is not wet when I put wort into it.  A wet surface with star san is sanitized.  A dry surface, depending on how long it sat and if it was left open to the air may have germs on it.

+1

I like when I rack into a keg filled with Star San and the beer pushes the foam out the top as it fills to the top.  It’s a good sign that all surfaces have been sanitized.