Star San, .. has it lost it's appeal?

[WishboneBrewery]

I'm still Star-San-ing away happily

[Kev888]

PBW et al are interesting. They do work quite well but I think it's a bad idea to leave it that long as it does tend to crystallise out. I guess an acid rinse (Saniclean or Starsan) would get rid of the white deposits. I do use percarbonate for cleaning the boiler/chiller loop but I do an acid rinse afterwards. For everything else I use Antiformin/BLC.

Thats interesting; for stubborn stains (beyond what I expect bleach to shift) I use an ecover washing product that is pretty much percarbonate, and I've not been taking any special care in rinsing it - perhaps I should pay more attention to that, especially as these days when I next come to use it I'm likely to just sanitise with starsan and so not rinse a second time.

Cheers
Kev

[harvs]

What's the best way to use Star San for sanitising bottles?

At the minute I use Ritchie steriliser and submerge my bottles 12 at a time for 10 minutes. I'm guessing it would be a bit quicker if I moved to using star san! But how to you apply the star san to the inside of each bottle ensuring that all the insides are covered?

[Bobba]

What's the best way to use Star San for sanitising bottles?

At the minute I use Ritchie steriliser and submerge my bottles 12 at a time for 10 minutes. I'm guessing it would be a bit quicker if I moved to using star san! But how to you apply the star san to the inside of each bottle ensuring that all the insides are covered?

There's a video here harvs that should you how (use a spray bottle for the star san and squirt it in each bottle and over the neck)
http://www.youtube.com/user/strongandco ... CpcQ7uh-fA

I used star san for the first time last week. Not sure what I think about it. I've always used VWP previously and never had any troubles with infections, but it is not very cost effective. With star san, you have to make sure the bottle is clean beforehand (which you dont with vwp as it's a combined cleaner & sanitiser) - so I soaked the bottles in 5 star's (star san company) cleaner PBW, then rinsed it, and then used star san. So basically I ended up with an extra step, so bottling took longer - NOT what I had in mind!
Not sure if I'm missing something here?!

[dwhyte]

Once the bottles are emptied next time, give them a good rinse to make sure that nothing is left behind.
Cover the tops with clingfilm or foil and store.
Next bottling time, all they need is a quick cold water rinse to make sure there's no dust and a spray with starsan.

[Scroogemonster]

What's the best way to use Star San for sanitising bottles?

I fill a 10 litre plastic bucket with my starsan solution and dunk 2 bottles at a time, then drain and hang on the bottle tree, prior to bottling a brew.

I find that I can just keep re-using the starsan solution over and over (I just check the pH with litmus papers prior to each use)

I can't see me running out of the stuff for years and I've only got the 8oz container
Kev

[Bobba]

I can't see me running out of the stuff for years and I've only got the 8oz container
Kev

I recently got my hands on an 8oz free trial of the stuff.....I take it they weren't banking on me reusing every possible drop!
What pH is it supposed to be and when do you know if it's nackered?
My water has some bicarbonates (80mg/L), so I used some CRS first before making up my starsan solution - is that ok, or am I best buying some low bicarb bottled water?

[Scroogemonster]

I can't see me running out of the stuff for years and I've only got the 8oz container
Kev

I recently got my hands on an 8oz free trial of the stuff.....I take it they weren't banking on me reusing every possible drop!
What pH is it supposed to be and when do you know if it's nackered?
My water has some bicarbonates (80mg/L), so I used some CRS first before making up my starsan solution - is that ok, or am I best buying some low bicarb bottled water?

You can keep reusing it as long as it's clear and below pH 3. If your starsan solution is cloudy then its ability to kill microbes is compromised. Your water maybe slightly too alkaline (the solution will go cloudy if it is.)

I use RO water from the local aquarium shop. 6 gallons for under £3

Kev

[Bobba]

Yeah it did go a bit cloudy. Hmmmm, best make some more up then. Ta

[harvs]

Thanks for the info guys. Think I'll be adding starsan and a bottling tree to my Christmas present list

[mdex]

I've never used star san as it was difficult to get when I first started brewing.

I now use videne as a no rinse solution £3.50 lasts me a long time!

[nigebeer]

I have now had a chance to use StarSan for the first time, and I must say it is amazing how easy it is, it almost seems too good to be true, because there is no smell or colour only a bit of foam to indicate that it is there.

Thanks for all the info

BR nigebeer