Reddit reviews Five Star - Star San - 32 Ounce - High Foaming Sanitizer

Check out /r/Homebrewing and just start saving. Even 2 dollars a day with you and a friend and you could be rolling in a couple months.

edit: also start saving glass bottles that require a bottle opener. Those are reusable.

edit2: Things you'll need. Feel free to find similar products.

cooler with spigot

valve(I'm not sure of the size on that igloo)

bazooka screen

bottles(make sure they're brown)

caps

capper

some sort of gas stove. say a propane stove, a turkey fryer, or a kitchen stove.

a large pot

starsan

I'm probably forgetting things.

Linky for those lazy like me.

https://www.amazon.com/Brewers-Elite-Hydrometer-Kombucha-Hardcase/dp/B01CITP03W/

https://www.amazon.com/3-Piece-Airlock-Qty-5/dp/B007HCHXKO

https://www.amazon.com/Brewmaster-Brewcraft-Homebrew-Primary-Fermenter/dp/B07HFDSJNK

^^^ that is cheaper locally.

https://www.amazon.com/beautyfamily-Carboy-Making-Bottling-Equipment/dp/B00WK09TVE

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Fermenter-Capacity/dp/B00KQN9OSK

https://www.amazon.com/Fermtech-5478-6H-Auto-Siphon-Tubing-Clamp/dp/B00SDLLZDY/



^^ for 1 gal

https://www.amazon.com/Fermtech-Regular-Siphon-Tubing-clear/dp/B07FZ4484B

^^ for 5 gal

https://www.amazon.com/Spring-Loaded-Beer-Bottle-Filler/dp/B07JDFDXV9

https://www.amazon.com/Star-San-B0064O7YFA-San-32/dp/B0064O7YFA

I just soak everything in diluted Star San. It's flavorless, odorless, biodegradable, has a 30-second contact time to obliterate basically everything, and is safe for human consumption.

I homebrew beer and Star San is the cleaning agent I use to sanitize all of my brewing equipment. Sanitation in beer brewing is the absolute #1 most important factor when brewing beer, you want your equipment to basically be sterile. You can't achieve sterility unless you use an autoclave, but Star San will get you damned near to it. Any little contaminant, even microscopically, can infect and ruin beer. I've been brewing for 10+ years and have never had an infected batch that I didn't mean to infect (sour beers), and Star San is the reason for that. If it's good enough to sanitize brewing equipment, it's overkill for sanitizing CPAP equipment.

And the best part is it requires essentially no work from me whatsoever. I just throw everything in a bucket of Star San solution twice per week and let it sit for a couple minutes, then rinse. Done. Even that is overkill though, since it technically requires only 30 seconds. I usually just throw it in and then go make some coffee, then rinse after coffee is done.

You can mix up 5 gallons of Star San solution with distilled water and it will be good for years of repeated use if you cover it.

Buy some Star San, mix it in a bucket with distilled water to the ratio stated on the bottle, and you're set for literal years. It'll foam up when you agitate it. Don't fear the foam, the foam is good. You can also use it to clean basically everything else in your house, too.

This reads like an advertisement, but I love this shit. It cleans everything, is safe for humans, last for years, and requires basically no work from you aside from the initial dilution. Just buy it, it's great.

Yes - according to at least my local health department, the guidelines to prevent contamination, etc are:

• keep cold things under 40 degrees
  
• keep hot things above 120
  
  If something has been heated and then cooled, it can't be between 40 and 120 degrees for more than 4 hours. If you are cooling something, then you should be using an ice bath. The fastest way to cool something is by immersing the container in ice+salt water. If you cool in the fridge, the contents will actually take longer than the safe time period to cool down.
  
  If you have mold growing in any open or closed containers in your fridge, take the opportunity to empty your fridge and give everything a deep clean. Otherwise, nasties like listeria can grow. It could even be a little dripping leak somewhere that's collecting in the back, encouraging mold growth.
  
  Source: from when I was working as dish / runner at restaurants during high school.
  
  Also:
  http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/suntea.asp
  
  You can also pick up good sanitizers at your local home-brew store. Friends of mine use a product called Starsan for their home brewing to keep everything sterile. It's also EXCELLENT at getting rid of tea stains if you leave things to soak for an hour or so (depending on how stained they are).
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Homebrewing-and-Winemaking-Supplies/dp/B0064O7YFA

this is where I started:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/starter-kits/basic-starter-kit.html

I have made this in the past and it turned out quite well:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/recipe-kits/caribou-slobber-extract-kit.html

Also, a great reference:
http://www.howtobrew.com/

you can also buy it in paperback, which I would recommend

beyond that kit, he'll need a big (5 gal a good place to start) kettle. I have a 5 gallon SS version, you can get fancier, but better off starting simple. something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Prime-Pacific-Stainless-Steel-Quart/dp/B0017WPY1A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323059145&sr=8-2

also need to get a sanitizer, I use starsan:
http://www.amazon.com/Star-San--32-oz/dp/B0064O7YFA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323059205&sr=8-1

I use leftover bottle from other beer - most batches come out to about 50 bottles.

I'm sure there's plenty I've forgotten, hopefully others will fill in.

Background

Based upon my initial question: Is it wine or meed?, I am working on my first Mead/Pyment. I've taken the original recipe I cobbled together from a variety of sources.

Is it mead? Well yes. According to the calculators in the sidebar concord juice is about 8.89% sugar. Honey is roughly 80%. I'm no math wiz, but I fussed with both Google and Wolframalpha and 8.89% of two gallons is roughly 45 Tablespoons or 0.23 pounds of sugars, 1 Gallon of Honey is roughly equivalent to 204 tablespoons of sugars or 7.9 pounds of sugars. yes I know Different types of sugars, etc. etc. But the mixture here is getting much more than 51% of the sugars from honey, so: 'tis a Wine -> Mead -> Melomel -> Pyment.


The following is an expansion of The GotMead format for recipes.

1. Ingredients
   
   • Star-San - not technically an ingredient, but it's for sterilization. I think of it as an anti-ingredient keeping the bad bugs out. (Sprayer use= 1/4 tsp to 650ml water & 60 second exposure)
     
   • 1.5 Gallons of boiled tap water (more or less to make things work out.) NOTE: I have well water, not city water - so no chlorine & plenty of minerals.
     
   • ~2 Gallons of homemade concord grape juice. (SG 1.060)
     Last year I pressed about about six gallons of grape juice from concords of my own. I was going to make jelly in the winter and froze it in the deep freeze.
     
   • 10lbs (now 15lbs) of Pure N Simple Honey.
     
   • ~3 tsp Fermax from Amazon.
     
   • Red Star Premier Blanc [Amazon] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00434CB74)
     
     
2. Equipment
   
   • Large Stainless stock pot (for initial boil)
     
   • 5 Gallon food grade bucket & Lid sterilized.
     
   • 4 Gallon Sams club water bottle playing the role of carboy.
     
   • Hydrometer
     
   • Transfer hose
     
   • Water lock/ Bubbler
     
     
3. Preparation
   
   • Thaw the grape juice overnight in the fridge in a large container in case of leakage.
     
   • Sterilization/pasteurization.
     Thinking through the volume of Honey (~1 gallon) and aiming for a 4 gallon carboy; bring 1.5 gallon of water to a boil. Turn off heat, add the grape juice in order to pasteurize the juice without setting the pectin, stir in about 10-12 pounds of honey. (remove any scum that forms)
     
   • Sanitize the bucket and lid, and stirring spoon.
     
   • Stir vigorously as you add the ingredients.
     
   • add to the bucket, check the temperature and the SG - calculate remaining honey or water and add as needed. Stir till mixed, or your arm falls off - whichever comes first.
     
   • Check the temperature until it is at least down to about 80 degrees then add the yeast we're off to primary fermentation.
     
     
4. Primary fermentation.
   
   • 5 gallon sterilized bucket & lid with airlock.
     
   • Actual Original Specific Gravity (OG): 1.130 (I thought it was 1.122 but the must was still quite warm.)
     
   • I will plan on testing as fermentation tapers off and make a decision then on adding additional honey and warm water (carefully of course) in order to restart fermentation. (adjust to desired SG as needed).
     
   • Once fermentation has stopped transfer it to the secondary.
     
     
5. Secondary.
   
   • 4 gallon sams club water jug (plastic) with airlock.
     
   • Saved my honey jugs just in case I had any left over that wouldn't fit in the carboy.
     
   • Time. Lots of time.
     
     Notes:
     
     9/13/16 Initial. Retested SG, it was at 1.130.
     
     9/15/16 Sterilized a large spoon and vigerously stirred to aerate. SG at 1.074, fermentation is fast and furious.
     
     9/16/16 Aerated/degassed. 3tsp fermax. SG 1.050
     
     9/16/16 Aerated/degassed. SG 1.026
     
     9/21/16 Racking Day. SG 0.998 (ABV 18%?). Upon racking there was not quite enough in the carboy. After staring at it for twenty minutes I decided to gamble and added one gallon of water, and 5LBS of honey to bring it up to just below the base of the neck. Retesting the SG was 1.030. It is currently sitting inside a 5 gallon bucket in my bathroom, I'll transfer it to the closet as soon as I'm reasonably certain it won't go Mt. St. Helens on my wardrobe.
     
     

I wouldn't use bleach, alcohol and hot water are much better. You could use food grade sanitizer, on decorations that can't take heat.

Star San - I use it to clean all of my homebrew equipment, as well as some coffee pieces (Chemex and Aeropress). Follow the directions for dilution, and soak whatever you want for as long as you want (although 30 seconds to 2 minutes is all that's really needed). Then just be sure to wash off with water and you're set.

Most people start with a gear-kit similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0179ZH89Y?keywords=northern%20brewer&qid=1449409004&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Other thing you need is Starsan, it's a no-rinse sanitizer, you COULD use bleach, but you need at least 5 minutes contact time with bleach, and then you have to rinse the equipment which could introduce new bacteria. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064O7YFA?keywords=star%20san&qid=1449409431&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1)

Then you need to check out your LBHS for ingredient kits/ recipes.

Buy an airlock and stopper that’ll fit whatever you’re fermenting in.

Use Starsan to sanitize.

IDK where you can get yeast but maybe an online home brew store will ship you some dry yeast.


You also will probably want to do a staggered nutrient addition or you could add raisins.

Also check out r/mead

I use Star San. It's a very popular option for sanitation.
Clean container and remove any debris, rinse with water thoroughly, spray on Star San/water mixture and let it dry.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064O7YFA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_LEszybWX7Q1CR

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0064O7YFA/ref=pd_aw_vtph_328_bs_tr_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8PJJ5XW9TJNSFJTA89EE

Is this what you are referring to?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0064O7YFA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498007709&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=star-san&dpPl=1&dpID=41P3SyQ0KML&ref=plSrch

As pretty much everyone else here has said, flush it with plenty of warm water.

I'm partial to doing a final rinse of both cumtubes and toys with diluted StarSan (a no rinse commercial disinfectant). Just be sure to make sure and rinse it again before using it again.

I think sanitary welding refers to TIG. I know that is what is used in professional breweries.

Also, PBW to clean
https://www.amazon.com/PBW-Five-Star-1-lb/dp/B0064O7XBA

StarSan to sanitize
https://www.amazon.com/Star-San-B0064O7YFA-San-32/dp/B0064O7YFA

Star San sanitizer.

http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Homebrewing-and-Winemaking-Supplies/dp/B0064O7YFA

I have a 5 lb. CO2 tank that sits on a small shelf in the back of my kegerator, with a regulator to dispense CO2 at 30PSI. The CO2 is attached to the corny keg using some 5/16" gas line and a ball-lock fitting.

The 40 ft. of beverage line is 3/16" (internal diameter) vinyl tubing that is coiled and wrapped with zipties to make sure it doesn't get tangled. Even though that sounds like a lot of line, there is only ~8 ounces of fluid in it when it is completely full. When the keg runs dry, I detach the CO2 and beverage lines, clean the keg, add about a liter of sanitized water (diluted starsan) to the keg, reattach the lines, and push the sanitized water through the beverage line. When the beverage line looks nice and clean (but still has the sanitized water in it), I can take it off and leave it in my kegerator until it's ready to use again. When I add another full keg, I just discard the first glass (which is half sanitized water and half sediment from the cold crash), and then I'm good to go.

Being a homebrewer, I recommend a soak in Oxyclean/PBW and then some Starsan for good measure.

I found an unlikely winner in STAR SAN: https://www.amazon.com/Star-San-B0064O7YFA-San-32/dp/B0064O7YFA

It's an organic acid used for sanitizing brewing equipment. Go for a light mix with water in a spray bottle and you should be fine after one or two applications. I just wiped out an aphid infestation on my pear tree with it.

Good for sanitizing

http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Homebrewing-and-Winemaking-Supplies/dp/B0064O7YFA