I read someplace once that when StarSan get’s cloudy it is loosing it’s effectiveness. Any truth to that? Mine turns cloudy almost immediately.
Yours turns cloudy because you have hard water. It will be fine for brewday, but I would test if keeping for a longer time. Using distilled/RO/Di water will allow you to save it for a much longer period of time.
I’ve heard mixed information on this. I’ve heard that as long as the pH is below 3, then it is still effective. But I’ve also heard that the cloudiness is from the surfactant binding with solutes in the water, rendering it less effective.
I used to keep some mixed Star-San on hand at all times in a bucket, but now I just make up a new batch when needed. It’s easy and cheap enough.
My StarSan mixed with my tap water is always cloudy. I’ve taken ph readings on it a month later and it’s still below 3 and have had no issues with infections.
I also mix up a gallon of Starsan with distilled water to keep in my spray bottle, and that always stays clear.
I have some swimming pool tester steps on hand. Is there a PH indicator on them. I don’t have them in front of me at the moment.
For the past few years I have always had a bottle of 91% isopropyl alcohol on hand for quick sanitation. Especially on the mouth of my flask or carboy when transferring yeast. Anyone else use it? I found it quicker than the spray bottle of StarSan.
Cloudy starsan feels slimy.
Agreed. It also leaves a residue on plastic and smells a bit sulfurous. I made the mistake of keeping my autosiphon and tubing stored in a bucket of it for a while. I had to throw it all out since it icked me out.
Yeah, where my buddy lives (and brews) in PA has ridiculously hard water. His starsan batches are gross feeling with his tap water. Also seems to cloud up his tubing and leave residue behind on it. Enough to make me use distilled when mixing my batches.
I mix with RO water, and store it in my least favorite keg. Keeps indefinitely.
While distilled or RO water are preferred, I’ve tested the longevity of StarSan solution when its created with softened water. It seemed to be pretty darn long-lived. So you can use softened water if its available. Don’t use hard water since StarSan does complex with the calcium and creates a cloudy slime layer. It don’t think that cloudiness is a problem for a quick rinse, but it will slime anything that is left in the solution. Since cleanliness is a prerequisite to sanitation, I believe that the slime layer would affect the sanitation of your equipment.
Yuck. That slime layer is nasty.
So question and instead of making a new thread how’s about adding it here. If tap water was treated with a Chlorine, chloramine, ammonia, heavy meatal conditioning tablet, like for aquariums is that a safe alternative to buying RO water for sani-water. The conditioning tablets I picked up at the store for $1.88 treats 16 gallons of tap water. Still cheap - it’s just this begs the question; will this cause me any issues with cleaner and sanitizer? I like to think it wouldn’t but I assume Martin you would know much more than I can find anywhere online
The concern here is hardness. I don’t know if chlorine/chloramine is bad for sanitizer effectiveness, but RO is cheap enough and the resultant solution lasts months for me.
Can’t you get chlorophenols (plastic flavors) from rinsing and sanitizing with water sources with even low ppm of chloramine?
Ohhhhh. Maybe? If I was worried about this, I’d use campden. Cheap and doesn’t have heavy metals. Not that I am some sort of anti-aluminum hippie.
The heavy metals conditioner only works on a few select ions. It does nothing to the rest of your water’s ionic content. You still need RO if your tap water has a lot of ionic content.