Star San Heifeweizen

Northern Brewer General
1

I was carrying my carboy full of Heifeweizen and blow off tube jar (half full of Star San) during a transfer from my fermenting fridge to my beer fridge. I left the carboy in beer fridge over night to cold crash prior to racking into keg. The next day I noticed a very slow drip coming from the air lock. Next I noticed that the entire blowoff tube was full of star san and about half of my blowoff tube solution had dripped into my beer. I didn’t think that I raised the jar above the level of the carboy but maybe I did without realizing it. Perhaps I somehow started some sort of slow siphon?

Anyway…

I noticed a distinct layer of liquid on top of the beer that must have been the dripping star san. I did my best to rack that off of the top and discarded. I also left the last gallon in the carboy when racking into my keg just for safe measure. My FG came out higher than anticipated probably due to the additional liquid.

So is it safe to drink or should I just toss it? Any thoughts, comments, questions?

2

DON’T throw it! If there is something wrong with it, it is not because of starsan. You could dump a cup of starsan in your beer and not notice a difference.

Biggest concern would be if “something else” got sucked in. But, if your beer was done fermenting and everything was clean, you should be ok.

NEVER dump on the assumption that something “might” be wrong. I don’t dump until I confirm that I would not even boil brats in it.

3

Listen to the podcast “Brewstrong” on the brewing betwork - I think it is 1-4-09. They interview the guy from fivestar and talk about starsan. There are a couple different podcasts out there that talk about starsan. Listening to some of these really set my mind at ease about starsan. How well it works, how long it lasts, how it is no big deal to get some in your beer, etc.