# Potassium Metabisulfite vs Star San



## chardon-man (Mar 24, 2009)

what is the advantage of one verses another for sanitizing. I have star san but i have heard that Potassium Metabisulfite will last for a few months .


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## Wayne1 (Mar 24, 2009)

As far as I know (and there certainly could be thingsI don't know!) - either StarSan or K meta would be equally fine for the sanitizing of your equpiment. StarSan seems to be used by beer makers and k meta by wine makers. When bulk aging or bottling, however, you would need to use K meta as it has a preservative effect that StarSan would not.


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## Tom (Mar 24, 2009)

Either will work. As Wayne said star-san is for beermakers and k-met is for winemakers.
I would get a pound of k-meta as you will need this later on in your winemaking.


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## chardon-man (Mar 24, 2009)

When you make k-meta is it good for a while like Potassium


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## Wayne1 (Mar 24, 2009)

Yes - it is good for several weeks or more -as long as it still has the sulfur smell when you take a whiff it is OK


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## grapeman (Mar 24, 2009)

chardon-man said:


> When you make k-meta is it good for a while like Potassium


k-meta = potassium metabisulfite


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## Wayne1 (Mar 24, 2009)

oh yes - sorry for using different terms for the same thing!


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## Waldo (Mar 24, 2009)

I just brought in 2- 5 gallon carboys from my shop that I had cleaned last fall ( RIGHT AFTER tHANKSGIVING) and put about 3" of sanitizer in ( K-Meta) for storage and when i took the bungs out yesterday it was still strong enough to take your breath away so yes, it will last quite some time


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## smurfe (Mar 24, 2009)

Star San will last for quite a while as well. I re-use it until it turns cloudy. I have got a few months out of a batch before. I used to use Na-Meta but now use Star San. No fumes to deal with.Na-Meta or K-Meta is cheaper though.


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## Wayne1 (Mar 25, 2009)

I did think of what I think may be one difference between the two for sanitizing - as I understand them, with K-meta just the fumes are enough to sanitize so you could partially fill something like a fermenter and cover the top for at least 2 minutes and that should take care of it. With StarSan, I believe that it has to actually touch everything - although the bountiful foam it makes does count. So if sanitizing the same fermenter, would either need to fill it with StarSan or make sure that you swish it around to get the liquid/foam to touch everywhere. 


Someone can correct me if all of this is not right.


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## chardon-man (Mar 25, 2009)

smurfe said:


> Star San will last for quite a while as well. I re-use it until it turns cloudy. I have got a few months out of a batch before. I used to use Na-Meta but now use Star San. No fumes to deal with.Na-Meta or K-Meta is cheaper though.



It says to use 1 oz for 5 gal and it only has a gauge that goes down to 1/4 oz . Due you use a 1/4 per 1 gal


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## grapeman (Mar 25, 2009)

That should work fine for you chardon-man. By the way I blew up your avatar- what a cute pup!


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