sanitizers

[gordonm]

I use b-brite to sanitize all my stuff and don't rinse anything before use. Now I see Star San and Iodophor mentioned for sanitation. Are these the same? Can I sanitize my buckets, carboy, wine press, etc. and then use them without rinsing? I've read the other threads but am still not sure. thanks for any information on using these products, gordon

 

[Indianajohn]

I use Iodophor (Iodine based sanitizer). It's not the same I think, just another type of sanitizer. You use them without rinsing them. I try to drain off as much as possible though.

 

[4score]

I use Starsan. No need to rinse.

 

[VanMkr]

First time user of StarSan here. Hard to say how well it worked until the run is done, but I didn't rinse either. I sanitized fermenters, rental crusher, hands, and equipment before crushing. Once I started handling the grapes and dealing with the must I switched over to k-meta (2 tsp in a gallon) for hydrometer, graduated cylinder and utensils.

Good luck and sanitize away!

 

[Scooter68]

StarSan - no rinse. Keeps much better than my old product - OneStep.

 

[opus345]

Starsan. Never rinse. I use it in a spray bottle. I also mix up a 2 gal batch in a bucket and the use my AIO to sanitize the bottles, racking cane, and hose before bottling. After cleaning and rising carboys, i finish with a Starsan rinse. And another rinse before using a carboy from storage.

 

[Scooter68]

Bought a 1 qt bottle of StarSan looking at it now - it will last a L O N G time,

 

[Ajmassa]

StarSan - no rinse. Keeps much better than my old product - OneStep.

Star san definitely keeps longer than one step. And Kmeta keeps even longer than star san.
BUT, StarSan and OneStep are not interchangeable- in case you meant changing from one to the other.
StarSan & K-meta = sanitizers
OneStep & EasyClean = no rinse cleaners.

** little tip someone taught me to check an older StarSan mix:
If you've got a jar of those ph test strips discarded that don't really work well on red wines, They work great on StarSan, which is only effective under 3.3 or something. If the strip turns a nice bright yellow than it's still good. If it's going green then time to mix more.

 

[bkisel]

B-Brite to sanitize? The B-Brite I get is clearly marked as a "CLEANSER", in bold letters, right below the B-Brite labeling. Instructions clearly say to rinse with cold water.

I use a K-Meta solution, almost always spritzed, for sanitizing.

 

[gordonm]

ok, thanks everyone for the information. I'm trying starsan this year. gordon

 

[4score]

There's a great interview with Charlie Talley, founder of Star San. He did the interview on a beer brewing podcast way back in 2007. Some interesting things....

Star San is indeed a detergent (cleaner) as well as a sanitizer. Although they still say to use a dedicated cleaning agent, Charlie did point out that there's a cleaning detergent in Star San.

It can last longer if you use deionized water instead of water with a lot of minerals. If using tap water, eventually it will get cloudy and leave a ring. It's pH will also go above 3 making it ineffective (or less effective).

30 seconds of contact time will kill bacteria.

Do not fear the foam. Safe. In proper concentration (dilution), the product is safe. Things in Star San, like Phosphoric Acid, are also in Coke. Something else is a chemical that candy-makers use to help with moisture retention....etc.

Here's the link to the MP3 interview. Interview starts at 8:55, although he doesn't get around to Star San until about 28:15. You can skip through it. Pretty interesting.

http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/3/9/0/390...06621506&hwt=5bfc668ae45ea69383aa65da60a96235

 

[Scooter68]

Star san definitely keeps longer than one step. And Kmeta keeps even longer than star san.
BUT, StarSan and OneStep are not interchangeable- in case you meant changing from one to the other.
StarSan & K-meta = sanitizers
OneStep & EasyClean = no rinse cleaners.

** little tip someone taught me to check an older StarSan mix:
If you've got a jar of those ph test strips discarded that don't really work well on red wines, They work great on StarSan, which is only effective under 3.3 or something. If the strip turns a nice bright yellow than it's still good. If it's going green then time to mix more.

Nope - I wash things to clean them with household detergent, rinse with plain water, Then sanitize. I was a bit surprised when I learned (6-7 Months into all of this, that my one-step solutions were good for about a week. NOTHING on the container informs one about that. So I decided to move to StarSan.

Much easier mixing too. I could shake the daylights out of a gallon of OneStep mix and then watch a lot of undissolved particles drop to the bottom. With StarSan I can see the thick concentrate swirl in the container and within half a dozen flips of the container it's mixed. That and the cloudy change in Starsan lets me know that it's time to make a new batch.

Yes! I have learned to use distilled water for my StarSan mix. Tap water worked the first few times and then I started getting cloudy mixes immediately after I added the StarSan. Decided that the distilled water was the best way to avoid that. Small price to pay for a stable sanitizer.