Just use starsan for the first time...

[Greendan]

...and it's so easy it feels like cheating. After using vwp for my last brews, starsan is so much quicker. A quick clean of the bucket, a spray, and off you go! Takes a bit of trust as it really feels like you're not doing anything. And it's a yeast nutrient too? It's like a dream product!

[chigman]

What did you clean the bucket with first though ? I have just knocked up some Starsan for the first time, but haven't used it in anger yet. Reckon it will last years with the tiny amount thats used.

Steve

[Greendan]

Just a bit of fairy liquid and sponge. Lots of rinsing to clear out the fairy though.

[Belter]

I used Starsan for the first time last night. I was a little unconvinced by the foam left over but poured the cider on top anyway. Seems like Starsan is the answer. Sped up the process and is really easy to use!

[orlando]

Just a bit of fairy liquid and sponge. Lots of rinsing to clear out the fairy though.

PBW followed by Starsan is a great combination and come from the same company so are designed to work together.

[Greendan]

Just a bit of fairy liquid and sponge. Lots of rinsing to clear out the fairy though.

PBW followed by Starsan is a great combination and come from the same company so are designed to work together.

Is it also no rinse?

[orlando]

Just a bit of fairy liquid and sponge. Lots of rinsing to clear out the fairy though.

PBW followed by Starsan is a great combination and come from the same company so are designed to work together.

Is it also no rinse?

Absolutely not, vicious stuff that needs to be thoroughly rinsed. Up to and including PBW you have to rinse evrything that is effective, but after that if you stick with Starsan then no rinsing is essential. One point to make about Starsan is that's it's sensitive to the pH of the water used to dilute it, if it turns cloudy when you dilute it the pH is too high and this renders it less effective. Bottled water with a low pH is often used instead.

[arturobandini]

Hey Starsanners,

Just mixed in 3.2ml starsan with two litres of Ashbeck Mineral water. It looks as if nothing, short a neck full of foam after shaking, has changed in the water. Have I mixed this appropriately?

[Belter]

Sounds perfect. Don't fear the foam!

[orlando]

I concur.

[speedtripledan]

I've been using starsan for years now, never had a problem from day 1 to now. I also mix it with water from my dehumidifyer free water and no cloudiness....

[arturobandini]

Ok, the bottling was less foamy than I feared but that said it has left a lot of foam behind in my blast Rinser. Should I just leave this to settle back into liquid and marry it back up with my existing stock?

It does go back into liquid right?

[Belter]

Not sure I follow

[arturobandini]

I meant I had a bowl which was literally entirely foam after blast rinsing all my bottles with Starsan.

What I did was fill my bottle rinser with starsan solution and blast each bottle three times a piece before leaving on the bottling tree to drip dry. After about ten bottles the blast rinser started to overflow with foam making things a bit fiddly. What I did was fill a clean bowl with the foam each time it got too much, I was wondering if this foam would dissolve back into solution after time...it did.

I now have a bowl full of starsan solution, am I right to pour this back into my main bottle?

[Belter]

If you diluted it you can't put it back into the main bottle. You can put it into another plastic bottle as long as the PH is below 3.2. If it goes above then it won't work. If you put it back into the concentrated main bottle it will dilute it. Is this what you mean?