I’ve been brewing now for 4 years, and the only sanitizer I’ve ever used is 1 Step. This is primarily due to my local HBS here carried only that. Until recently. Now, he’s started carrying Star San, and I asked him if I should start using that, and he told me I should stay with the 1 Step, since it also cleans. Every You Tube video I’ve watched, the brewer uses Star San. Am I missing something? I’ve neer had an issue with any of my beers.
Paul
I use pbw for cleaning and star san for a sanitizer. Couldn’t be more happy with the two problems.
Never used 1step but can you leave it inside the fermentor and just drop your wort in with the foam (the much heard “don’t fear the foam”). To me that is the great thing abput Starsan. You can keep things sanitized and saoked with the stuff right up to the second you use it. Also I have relativly hard water and still this stuff lasts forever. I just pH test every time I go to use. It has yet to rise above the 2 range. Eventually my Starsan buckets get this fine sediment in the bottom and I rinse and dump that everytime I use it as well and can roll on with the rest of it. That one fact is a huge cost savings.
Barry
BTW I make my own PBW out of Oxiclean and TSP. Works like a charm and very cheap.
Barry, what is TSP?
TSP- trisodium phosphate.
http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/productdetails.aspx?sku=12590
You will find it in the paint section of the hardware stores. Usually the container says “free” as they removed the phosphate to protect the environment.
I’ve seen mixes listed as 2 parts TSP/1 part Oxy, 1:1 and 1:2. IRRC the 2:1 was the 1st one noted on the net.
As far as 1 Step. Ask your HBS if they can get something from LD Carlson with and EPA or FDA stamp on it saying the product is a certified sanitizer. Possibly at one time the paid to have it tested and certified. But there is nothing out there now. In the mean time they may have changed the formula.
I use 75% Oxi 25% TSP. Works very well, just like PBW. Don’t sweat the environment on this one. the problem was back in the day every household was washing clothes and dishes with the stuff. Just a few brewers is not going to cause the massive algea blooms in riverways that where what this stuff caused when it was used by everybody in the country.
BTW I don’t down the drain either Starsan or “PBW”. I am on septic and am not sure what effect it might have.
Nighthawk, I’m looking at my pail of 1 Step right now. It has stamps that say “Environmentally Sound”, and “Green Product”. To tell you the truth, all I want is to use the product that will give me the best bottom line: Awesome Beer!
Paul
I used 1 Step successfully for a couple of years, but my understanding is that it’s a cleaner, not a sanitizer. I’ve switched to Star San. It is a sanitizer and as has been pointed out here, you can keep it for a long time, so it’s probably cheaper in the long run as well.
If 1 step cleans and sanitizes don’t you have to rinse at some point (to get the gunk out)? If so the second tap water hits your carboy I would think you need to re-sanitize. Never used it so I don’t know. I use plain oxy clean, never needed anything more than filling up the carboy with warm water and let it sit for a couple hours. I sanitize with star san.
one step is not a sanitizer
Then I guess I am very fortunate not to have had any of my 60+ batches go bad over the last 4 years. If it’s not a sanitizer, then what is it?
One Step is a sanitizer but I have to agree with another poster that if you use it to clean it has to be rinsed but if you put One Step back in as the sanitizer and don’t rinse you should be fine.
I prefer PBW and Star San because both ave a specific purpose.
yeah not sure who told you it was. It’s just a cleaner. 1 Step and then use Star San after.
From NB’s description:
I remember claims on the Oxy commercials saying that it sanitized the laundry because of the high O2 levels released. Do you trust TV infomercials?
You need a clean surface before you can sanitize. You can’t do both at the same time.
I would bet you can go a long time without “sanitizing”. Just wash your equipment with soap and water, rinse. Many people add top up water with out boiling it and have no issues.
Me, clean with a cleaner. Sanitize with a sanitizer.
Then I guess I am very fortunate not to have had any of my 60+ batches go bad over the last 4 years. If it’s not a sanitizer, then what is it?[/quote]
I have never tried your beers,
its a cleaner, you can not clean and sanitize at the same time
I’ve never even opened the 1 step that came with my start up kit. Have always used Oxy clean and star san. 1 step is not a “sanitizer”, so I figured why play with fire. Star san is also cheap to begin with and can be reused so many times it makes even more sense from a money standpoint.
That being said, I’m one who uses un boiled tap water to bring my partial boils up to volume, and have had no infections (knock on wood).
One Step, if properly mixed and promptly used, can be a sanitizer - the peroxide dissolves the organic material, including living organisms. But I have a couple of problems with One Step. First, not going to use it as a no-rinse (it leaves a white film on dried items and I don’t want that in the beer). Second, there’s no way to know if it’s actually working except by default (for instance, you don’t get an infection). Third, you have to fully submerge the surface in the One Step solution for at least two minutes.
StarSan doesn’t have any of these issues - it’s truly no-rinse, you can check the pH and know it’s working (and top up the solution pretty much indefinitely, making it cheap), and all it takes is a thin sheeting of the solution to sanitize so a gallon in a fermenter or keg along with a shake and a 30-second contact is all it takes.
yeah not sure who told you it was. It’s just a cleaner. 1 Step and then use Star San after.[/quote]
I guess it just depends on where you buy it…
http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productc ... 3p1135.htmI personally wouldn’t use it because it doesn’t seem as strong as alkaline cleaners.
yeah not sure who told you it was. It’s just a cleaner. 1 Step and then use Star San after.[/quote]
I guess it just depends on where you buy it…
http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productc ... 3p1135.htmI personally wouldn’t use it because it doesn’t seem as strong as alkaline cleaners.[/quote]
no it doesnt.
