Recently started using SS. Have to admin I'm not comfortable with it as I don't know if the solution I made up is still effective. With the other stuff there was a chlorine smell off it so it was reassuring.
Starsan works for me.
My bottle policy.......
Pour beer into glass
Rinse bottle 3 times with cold tap
Store bottle and forget about it till needed
When needed, rinse once with starsan and fill with beer.
Never had a bad bottle.
I take a few more steps than you Chris but I've never tried starsan & would be a bit nervous about taking short cuts.
My routine would be.....
[list bull-blackball]
- Pour beer into glass
Rinse bottles 2 times with cold tap
Wash bottles in dishwasher
Store bottles and forget about til needed
When needed, 30 mins in dishwasher followed by one rinse with thin bleach & vinegar solution and fill with beer.
Might try your method witha few bottles but with the bleach/vinegar solution instead
I also rinse after pouring and store until use, but I bung them all in the oven for 10 minutes at 120C to sterilize them. Never really liked the thought of no-rinse sanitiser.
I've used star san since I started - I also went down the bleach & vinegar route once and will probably do that next time as I think I'm now out of ss
I watched some youtube vids -( I think they were on youtube - they were linked from beoir ) some brewer dude did a bit of experimenting with star san testing its effectiveness with various different waters - distilled, tap and what not - using carboys, plastic drums and other things -
Anyway he left them sit for a few weeks - something to do with checking the cloudy mix against a clear one - I can't remember the ins and outs but I came away with the impression that the mix is still effective after a few weeks even if it is cloudy - so what I do now when I mix up the 5 gallons is use maybe half for the task in hand and set aside the other half for the next task.
I'm not quiet sure If you can do this with the B/V mix, or if you would even want to - the only reason I would do it is that because the ratio says 15/30 mils of each to 19 liters (whichever it is, can't remember )
I wouldn't trust it to say do a half mix of 7.5/15 mils to 9.5 liters - don't know why - superstition I guess - I'm not sciencey in anyway I mean I think it should be ok - but haven't chanced it yet, I have on the other hand made half batches of teh SS mix
one other thing I have in my head is SS and teh B/V mixes are acidic right ? - i'll be goin down the Corny route soon so I have some concerns about using these solutions on the Stainless steel - somewhere in my cob webby head I have a recollection of reading that these types of sanitisers are not recommended for Stainless steel
anyway thats my 5 bobs worth !
Also the poll should have a third/4th option of both & neither !
I make up 10l and have a spray bottle of 1l capacity. I use the 10l for about 3 brews or so. Never really had a problem with it. I get the odd infection but very odd. Maybe one every couple of years. A tiny % considering how much I have been brewing. My ss goes cloudy early enough but still does the job and it's great for helping to clean the boiler after the boil. A sponge soaked in ss is great to remove crud...just not the dried in stuff so much.
I rinse a bottle, inspect it and then ss it. Foam it up and empty. 10-15 sec contact time plus the foam is left in the bottle.
Have used starsan in the past,only problem is the tiny purple print on the bottle,trying to read it to find how much to mix,had to go online to check,what's wrong with good old black print on a slightly clear plastic bottle. >:(
Bleach/Vinegar for me although I'm thinking of starting with peracetic acid (if I can get a small quantity)
You're right N2brew, B/V will break down and doesnt store, chlorine based sanatisers are also not good with stainless(which is why I'm thinking peracetic)
With the alkalinity of my water I asume SS is not an option and I would also need to buy water
Reading the posts this is like a Marmite debate :D
I have only ever been exposed to SS and initially didn't believe it worked, especially that whole large foam snake thing coming out of my kegs when filling and complementing rather than hindering fermentation and no aftertaste unrinsed.
But it does work and a little spay into carboys or kegs for storage keeps everything good. I also find I am using it for lots of other sanitation purposes around the house!!
I would never consider vinegar bleach at this stage as I would be afraid on the rinse cycle.
I bought a spare SS litre 18 months ago and I still haven't got to it, you need to read the instructions though.
Starsan is diluted 1 : 500
So for a 2 litre spray bottlle ( from garden centre or the like ) you need 4 ml
Starsan is a contact, no rinse sanitiser (but should be drained IMO).
It is not a deep cleaning crud remover!
Crud removers are called VWP or Oxyclean type stuff.
Neither VWP or Oxyclean should be left "long term" in Cornies or any other SS containers as they are Basic (ie. non Acidic).
Acidic cleaners/sanitisers are no probs to SS. After all really bad crud in industrial SS fermenters are cleaned with STRONG oxydising acids ( like Nitric )
HTH
Will
I use Starsan and use it over and over again, but only on vessels and equipment that are already clean. I Have a big ten litre container that I keep it all in and just pour it back in when I've finished. I periodically check the pH of the starsan tomake sure it's still in the effective zone (from memory it wants pH3)
QuoteI use Starsan and use it over and over again, but only on vessels and equipment that are already clean. I Have a big ten litre container that I keep it all in and just pour it back in when I've finished. I periodically check the pH of the starsan tomake sure it's still in the effective zone (from memory it wants pH3)
I likes me bread fresh [smiley=wink.gif]