How long does star stan last?

I don’t have ph strips but curious how long star stan lasts? Been keep it in a 5er lided since my last batch.

Seems to last me quite a while, like months. I think the general consensus is use it until it stops being clear.

What I am doing is keeping a small batch of StarSan in a one gallon ice cream bucket. Then, I just use it as necessary, then put it back in the ice cream bucket. But I am keeping a plate on top to keep out any extra bacteria and wild yeasts in the air. I check it by seeing if it makes bubbles. My belief is that if it is still making bubbles when you stir it up, then it should still be doing its job. But, I’ve had it sitting in the bucket for about three weeks now, and it all seems ok still. Hopefully I have been somewhat of a help.

I mix up 2.5 gallons at a time with distilled and reuse for a couple of months. Its safe to use as long as the PH remains below 3.

I tested some star san that was > 6 months old with a pH meter. It was made with soft tap water and sat uncovered most of the time, so there were dead fruit flies and dust and crap in the bottom. The pH was still in the low 2’s at that point, 2.3 IIRC. As long as it is made with low alkalinity water and kept covered star san will remain a viable sanitizer for many months.

I generally use iodophor - but have used starsan and have been considering switching - the fact that it lasts so long is especially intriguing as I did not realize that. I use big 15 gallon tubs to sanitize in, and it would be great to just fill one up, let it sit for a month or two and dunk things in it as they need to be sanitized. couple questions:

The issue of “low alkalinity” water - are you talking the pH of the water? The bicarbonate #? My bicarbonate is very high - even with a water softener. What does highly alkaline water do to starsan? Does it make it less effective/ineffective? Precautions in this area?

When using starsan - say to sanitize a keg, a fermenter or bottles - after soaking, and draining - how long do they need to sit/dry before you can put beer in them?

Thanks

It’s the bicarbonate. My water has about 30 ppm bicarbonate. Lots of alkalinity in the water can cause the solution to get cloudy and effect the pH. I don’t know how much is too much, but in general using distilled, RO, or soft water is better than hard water.

The star san tech sheet
http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/wp-content/uploads/StarSanTech-HB2.pdf
says 30 seconds for submerged parts and 1-2 minutes for film application (like a small amount swirled around in a carboy or spray on). They throw in a “5 min” contact time for homebrew use, but I’m guessing that’s to allow time to penetrate uncleaned soils. On a clean part, the previous recommendations will be fine.

My Bicarbonate is 270 - even with the water softener. After you sanitize - how long til you can put beer in the vessel? Right away, or is it best to let it sit/dry first?

It’s best to put beer in the vessel right after dumping out the excess star san, while everything is still wet. You’ll see some residual foam in the vessel, but as they say ‘don’t fear the foam’. The small amount of phosphorus that is added to the beer is actually a nutrient for yeast in dilute concentrations.

For the record…Star San rules!

Cloudy or clear is not an indicator of how good it is…mine turns cloudy after a few hours, but pH is fine for a few weeks…get some strips…one container will last forever!