The place to discuss all things about brewing hygiene!
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steve_flack
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by steve_flack » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:48 pm
Funny it should take so long as acid-base reactions are usually very fast.
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monk
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by monk » Fri Jul 20, 2007 4:06 pm
Wow. I had no idea that Star San could be ineffective in hard water. Don't know how I missed that tidbit. I have very hard water and it's always cloudy when I make a mixture, don't think I've had any infections, though. Guess I've just been getting very lucky...
...or Dave Lines has been camping out in the kitchen during my brew sessions, performing his spectral sanitation!
I'll have to thank him.
Monk[/i]
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Scooby
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by Scooby » Fri Jul 20, 2007 4:25 pm
monk wrote:Wow. I had no idea that Star San could be ineffective in hard water. Don't know how I missed that tidbit. I have very hard water and it's always cloudy when I make a mixture, don't think I've had any infections, though. Guess I've just been getting very lucky...
...or Dave Lines has been camping out in the kitchen during my brew sessions, performing his spectral sanitation!
I'll have to thank him.
Monk[/i]
Like you Monk I have used cloudy Star San in my last 4 or 5 brews and have also been lucky. I stopped using it when found out. I've got loads left so it looks like I will have to get some CRS.
Cheers DaaB, btw the conical isn't obligatory is it
Edit: Just thought could I use Phosphoric acid to lower the Ph, would save me buying CRS
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Vossy1
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by Vossy1 » Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:20 pm
Nice work DaaB
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Scooby
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by Scooby » Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:27 pm
Well I did my unscientific experiment, into 1.5l filtered water I added phosphoric with a dropper 5 drops at a time, 15 drops and got a Ph of 4 (my strips only go to 4) so added a couple more. After a good 10 mins I added 2.5ml Star San and it went cloudy
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steve_flack
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by steve_flack » Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:13 pm
Or distilled water from Tesco's car bits section. Or low bicarbonate spring water.
Phosphoric should work just as well as CRS if lowering pH is the only important thing. StarSan actually contains a lot of phosphoric already.
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steve_flack
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by steve_flack » Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:39 pm
Most bottled waters are softer than tap water - less than 30 mg/l for Calcium would be pretty soft. IIRC Volvic is generally low in minerals, easy to find but not exactly cheap but cheap enough to make a spray bottle up I guess.
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Scooby
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by Scooby » Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:07 am
I'll certainly be looking as well, cheers
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Vossy1
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by Vossy1 » Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:24 am
You'd be surprised how many sanitizers break down over very short periods of time to form a nutrient rich media.
This is one of the reasons why it's so important to prevent pooling of sanitizers in aseptic manufacture...even hydrogen peroxide
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Vossy1
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by Vossy1 » Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:36 am
I won't be taking that challenge
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Vossy1
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by Vossy1 » Sat Jul 21, 2007 12:54 am
It's got to be better than bleach...I really didn't enjoy drinking that
Come off it DaaB....TC's not that bad
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Vossy1
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by Vossy1 » Sat Jul 21, 2007 1:06 am
I thought we had our own in special brew
White lightening and special brew cocktails....ahh...takes me back to the school years
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steve_flack
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by steve_flack » Sat Jul 21, 2007 9:13 am
DaaB wrote:btw, this stuff contains a detergent that yeast can (supposedly) metabolise and use as a nutrient and there's no need to drip dry even. I have to say though that the foam is a PITA.
They have said that the foam santises too so as it's clingy it means the surface doesn't need to be permanently wetted.
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Vossy1
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by Vossy1 » Sat Jul 21, 2007 11:57 pm
I bought some RO water today from my local Aquatics Center Creature Comforts (Totton) for 10p per L
(a lot easier than messing around with CRS)
Have you tried it yet
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Vossy1
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by Vossy1 » Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:08 am
I've made some up with the RO water if that's what you mean and it didn't go cloudy.
Yep that's what I meant...good stuff
