Virgin starsan user with a corny...

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Midlife
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Virgin starsan user with a corny...

Post by Midlife » Sun May 07, 2017 11:15 am

Hello, can I just check that my cleaning technique is the norm?

I have cleaned my corny nicely, put petrogel on the right places, assembled, now all nice and dry with a bit of co2 in ready for sanitising and beer. For ref, I have shortened dip tubes.

I am going to make up 5l of starsan (15ml) with de-ionised water. Drop this in or probably 1/2 of it in the keg, roll and move it about to cover all the inside and leave for about 10 minutes. Place one of my beer taps on, put C02 in and blow out the starsan. Let the pressure out, lid off and drain the rest and much as I can. Put the beer in (and not fear the bubbles?), lid on and re-pressure.

Is this the general technique used?

Thanks in advance.

Haydnexport
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Re: Virgin starsan user with a corny...

Post by Haydnexport » Sun May 07, 2017 11:22 am

that sounds about right , id do the dip tube and poppets first then put them into the keg , 60 seconds is all starsan needs to be effective.

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Wonkydonkey
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Re: Virgin starsan user with a corny...

Post by Wonkydonkey » Wed May 10, 2017 8:25 am

Midlife wrote:Hello, can I just check that my cleaning technique is the norm?

I have cleaned my corny nicely, put petrogel on the right places, assembled, now all nice and dry with a bit of co2 in ready for sanitising and beer. For ref, I have shortened dip tubes.

I am going to make up 5l of starsan (15ml) with de-ionised water. Drop this in or probably 1/2 of it in the keg, roll and move it about to cover all the inside and leave for about 10 minutes. Place one of my beer taps on, put C02 in and blow out the starsan. Let the pressure out, lid off and drain the rest and much as I can. Put the beer in (and not fear the bubbles?), lid on and re-pressure.

Is this the general technique used?

Thanks in advance.

Good morining midlife, 8)
You will look back after a few fills of beer in your cornies, and wonder why doesn't everyone shorten there dip tubes. It is the way to go (about 1/2 inch). There be less waste beer, it will pour clear when it's clear, non of that pour a beer and maybe the next glass will be clear. [-o<

I just have a pump/spray bottle with starsan, I pump 5-6 times inside and once on and around the lid seal and posts Lid on, invert the keg and shake a bit. Empty the little bit that's in the bottom, but I don't really worry to much as its only a bit, which is a small percentage once diluted in your beer.
Once your keg is full/filled with beer, I purge the O2 out by filling with CO2 and releasing the pressure with the PRV 2/3times, depending on the head space.

Then I force carb, and there are a few different ways to do this.

one other thing I do, when cleaning a keg, when filled 1/4-ish with warm water and your cleaner, mines is washing soda.
I have the lid on and shake, at this point there's usually pressure inside, at this point I depress the liquid poppet (with the end of a teaspoon or simular object) untill I get a little spirt of liquid and cleaner, then shake a bit more. Once I empty the cornie of cleaner I depress the poppet again and watch the liquid drain into the bottom of the keg, then rinse the keg twice with a few Lts of water, as for the little bit of cleaner in the diptube, I don't tend to worry, but if you wish to flush it, which sometimes I do I hve a disconect with a bit of tube on it, about 12inches, (it is the way I fill my kegs from the fv, it is slower) I fill the tube with water then connect it to the keg the water is then seen coming out of the tube in the keg.
This is what I do but I'm sure you can tailor it to your own spec's :wink:

Cheers
WD
Edited: added a bit more to be clearer :D
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Kev888
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Re: Virgin starsan user with a corny...

Post by Kev888 » Wed May 10, 2017 10:23 am

I use about 1.6ml of starsan per litre of RO water; I think thats about the recommended rate (after converting all the units to metric). A litre or two of starsan made up this way is enough to swish around the insides. Rather than swish once and let sit, swish periodically over a minute or two to make sure the surfaces all get covered and stay wetted for a reasonable time, and (if your lid seal is up to it) upend the keg to briefly soak around dip tube seals etc.

I liked to connect gas and beer disconnects with a stubby bit of tube in, you can blow down the gas tube to push starsan through the product dip tube, and it will pour out of/through the gas one by gravity.

Starsan makes the whole process quick and easy which is great when preparing cornies for beer, but it isn't the most powerful disinfectant available so make sure the corny is very clean to begin with. I liked to additionally use something stronger (following cleaning) after use, or just once in a while, to make sure nothing could begin to get a foothold.
Last edited by Kev888 on Wed May 10, 2017 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Virgin starsan user with a corny...

Post by Fil » Wed May 10, 2017 7:11 pm

imho 8-10ml of starsan per 5l mix is fine, (check with a cheap pack of ebay test papers if in any doubt) its the ph of the solution that indicates its viability. iirc a ph of 2.5-3 indicates an active sanitation solution .

once the keg has a sanitising solution inside a rag and teaspoon handle can be used to squirt some solution up and through both the product out post and gas in post not forgetting the prv too.

and dont fear the foam ;)
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Midlife
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Re: Virgin starsan user with a corny...

Post by Midlife » Mon May 29, 2017 10:37 pm

Works a treat, very easy to use with kegs... Just washed it around, flushed it out with the C02, let it drain upside down for about 10 mins, then filled with beer. The beer tastes good no problems! :D it does take a bit to get your head round though I have to say.

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Re: Virgin starsan user with a corny...

Post by orlando » Tue May 30, 2017 7:19 am

Kev888 wrote:I use about 1.6ml of starsan per litre of RO water; I think thats about the recommended rate (after converting all the units to metric). A litre or two of starsan made up this way is enough to swish around the insides.

I have a calculator that suggests 23.4ml of Starsan in 25 litres based on 1 oz per 5 US gallons so Kev is about right. I also endorse his approach to use, a spray bottle is more than enough. You can make up 15 litres and store in a document box so you can dunk smaller items before use and replenish the spray bottle. In a recent podcast John Herskovits (CEO of 5 Star) was asked how long made up Starsan would keep and be effective, his answered surprised me, "indefinitely"! My approach used to be to change for each brewday, however I now use Peracetic acid and keep Starsan in a spray bottle for taps etc when taking samples.
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