Star San + Distilled Water = Star San for Weeks

A few weeks back I picked up some distilled water, and mixed up 2.5 gallons of Star San with it. Normally, here in Chicago, the Star San mixture is cloudy by the end of the day, and the next morning it's getting that slimy feeling - both indicators it's time to dump.

But with distilled water, the PH stays nice and low - and 3 weeks later the Star San I made with distilled water is still crystal clear and foaming just like I made it that day. I put some in a spray bottle, and don't have to worry about it going bad.

The past couple weeks, having this bucket of sanitizer has been very handy - I've found myself having to switch out airlocks, rig up blow-off tubes, sanitize bottles among other various things, and not having to mix up sanitizer each time has been a real hassle-saver.

Is it economical/practical to do this all the time? I don't know - up to the individual. But if you plan on lots of brewing work over a period of a few weeks, this can be real handy. Just cover the bucket with a lid and fill up that spray bottle - cheers!

On Cleaning the Boil Pot

Last Monday I had the wonderful opportunity to help brew a batch of beer at the Goose Island Brewpub here in Chicago. This was to be a collaboration brew between Goose Island and the Chicago Beer Society. The beer is a recipe by Randy Mosher for a spiced Belgian Wit called Partial Eclipse. There were a number of us helping, which basically meant we did a lot of cleaning while guys like head-brewer Jared, Randy, and Ray Daniels took care of the recipe and managing the brew process.

Anyways, of the many things I learned (and cleaned), the one that I took immediate notice of was the boil kettle - mostly because I found myself getting inside it (a tricky climb through the top port - thank you yoga!) and scrubbing while holding onto a flashlight in the other hand (very dark in there!), and trying not to hit my head/rack myself on various steel tubing. Here's me in the kettle:

The first thing that struck me was, dang - even dirty this thing is cleaner than my boil kettle! So I just set about cleaning it best I could before hosing everything down. Well, after assistant brewer Todd checked my work, he climbed in and scrubbed out a spot I missed around the drain pipe - damn! He then filled the bottom with an acid-based caustic solution, let it sit awhile, and pumped it through the plumbing. So anyways, that got me wondering....

Just How Clean Should My Kettle Be?
I posed this question to both Randy and Rodney Kibzey (Sam Adams Longshot Winner). They both recommend keeping your pots good and clean, free of both gunk and beerstone because it helps minimize any off-flavors, saves your pot from pitting, keeps the heat dispersal even, and general peace of mind. On the other hand, I've heard guys say the dirtier the pot, the better the beer - like seasoning a cask iron skillet. Post boil I've been scrubbing down with dish soap and a kitchen scrubbie-sponge, getting most, but not all, the gunk off, and then spraying the pot down with some StarSan, which is acid-based and good for the steel. I started doing this less-than-polished type of cleaning after a metallic taste appeared in one of my batches.

So the next day I decided to try properly cleaning my pot. I gave the entire thing a good 1 hour soak in PBW (1oz per gallon), scrubbing with a brush. I also opened/closed the ball valve a few quick times before and after the soak, trying to loosen any gunk in there. After an hour I gotta say the water was a gross, murky brown - and some of that gross murky brown stuff was probably getting into my boiling wort SCREW THAT! I drained it through the ball valve, hoping to flush any more crap outta there. Makes me think about investing in a 3 piece valve I can take apart and clean.

The PBW took away most everything, except there was some white stuff at the bottom that wouldn't scrub off - I took this to be some hardcore beerstone or maybe a limestone-like substance, either of which can harbor microorganisms and damage the steel underneath it. There was also some particularly stubborn, brownish beerstone along the sides still. From an article on byo.com:

Bio-fouling (trub deposits) and beerstone scale (calcium oxylate) can also cause corrosion. The metal underneath the deposit can become oxygen depleted via biological or chemical action and lose passivity, becoming pitted. A two step procedure is most effective for removing beerstone. Beerstone is a combination of protein buildup and mineral deposit, so removal works best if the protein is broken up with a caustic, like sodium hydroxide or PBW, and then the remaining lime can be dissolved by an acidic cleaner like CLR (Calcium Lime Rust Remover).

Off course you can say we're killing all those nasties during the boil, but if we're going to be clean let's be clean, and keep our kettle in good shape while we're at it. So after the PBW soak I did a splash of warm water, and an equal splash of CLR, and a sponge-wipe, and it was gone just like that. Rinse with some cold water, and wow - like new! A quick spray with some StarSan, and it's good for storage. Now my kettle is as clean as I can make it - looks good, and ready for my next batch :)

Metallic Taste in Your Beer?

Late last fall we brewed up an AG batch of porter, and let it age until the dog-days of winter here in Chicago, which is basically the month of February. We knew a good porter would be especially good that time of year.

So after fermenting, we moved it into a carboy, and placed it in a dark room and forgot about it. We kegged and carbed her up a couple weeks back, and while it has a nice malt and hop base, there was this other flavor in there I had a hard time putting my finger on. After bringing it to one of my homebrewer gatherings, some buddies helped me identify it as "metallic" - after finally having the word I needed, I totally agreed.

It's not terrible, still a decent beer. But the question remains - what happened to cause this????

After asking fellow homebrewers in the area, and posting to the Chicago Beer Society list and AHA's Tech Talk, I got very little response - what I did get was people asking me to keep them posted if I found the answer! Generally it seems like a flavor that mysteriously appears from time to time. Anyways, here are some of the answers I collected:

1. It's something that happens with the yeast, particularly English Ale strains. (I used Wyeast 1968 for this, it was a second batch for the yeast, originally having used it for a stout that turned out fine.)
2. It's the water, and/or how the water reacts to certain dark malts. 
3. If you've had any new pipes or plumbing installed, or if the city has installed any new piping in your area.
4. If you scrub your brewpot with a metal scouring pad or other abrasive-type scrub pad.
5. One guy said, "The only time I used Phoenix hops I had a metallic taste in an ESB that some judges picked up on in a competition."
6. Getting a new keg, and not cleaning it prior to use.

I think our problem here is either a result of new water lines being installed in front of our place (doubtful, but the city did do some sewage line work in front of our place around the time we brewed this - not sure if they did anything to the regular water lines), and/or we used to scrub our brewpot with an SOS pad (which we don't do anymore - just either soak in PBW/Oxyclean overnight, or clean it out with lots of hot water, and a soft sponge with mild dish detergent). There was one particular time where in an effort to help, someone scrubbed the be-jesus out of the pot in an effort to get it totally clean. [Sorry! - Meg] My best guess is that's the culprit.

So anyways, what I've taken to doing is wiping down the brewpot with a clean, wet towel before adding anything to it on brew day. We've brewed several batches since this porter with no metallic issues. In my research I've even read that great homebrewers like Jamil Z. have had this flavor pop-up with no explanation.

So don't know if this helped anyone or not - if you have any further insights, please post a comment! Cheers.

Update July 21, 2010: After a day brewing at Goose Island, I saw they use steel scrubbies. So the problem may not have been with the scrubbie, but the chemical in the S.O.S pad (?).

Is It Safe to Leave Star San in My Keg and Beer Lines?

I couldn't take it anymore. After trolling various forums and listening to podcasts, I couldn't get a clear answer to this question. So I called up Five Star Chemicals (makers of Star San), and was immediately connected to a tech to answer my question (wish I got the guy's name so I can thank him here).

What I got out of it was the "ideal" way to clean and store kegs (and lines), based on what Five Star has heard from the various keg dealers that they've worked with. Here goes:

The Procedure for Cleaning Your Cornies and Beer Line

1. Clean the keg as soon as you can. Rinse it and the lines out with water (for all line-rinsing steps, I pressurize and use the keg, run through the lines and into a bucket or something). Then, fill the keg with warm to hot water, add in the proper dose of PBW, and clean away (I reserve a clean, never used on anything else toiler scrubber for this, and a thin, long-handled dip tube brush). After some initial scrubbing, I let it soak for at least 20 minutes or so. I also take the keg posts, the black bev-out connector, and the lid, and soak them in a separate solution of PBW. I then dismantle the faucet, and let it soak in there too.
2. After the keg has soaked, I give it another quick scub in case there was some grime that the PBW loosened up. Rinse and put the faucet back together, and rinse and put the black bev connector back on the line (quick disconnect models are a life saver here). Then I dump all the PBW from the keg except for a gallon or two, hook up the keg to the lines, and start to run the solution through the beverage line. I stop at some point, so the PBW can sit in there and dissolve any gook that's stuck in the line. Since PWB is a CIP (clean in place) cleaner, it's designed for this sort of thing.
3. Rinse the keg with warm/hot water. Believe it or not, you should rinse with the same temperature water your PBW was in. For some chemical reason, it rinses better this way as it won't "scale" (a typical issue with hard water).
   
4. When the keg is rinsed out, fill it with a gallon or two of water and run some through your lines to rinse the PBW out.
5. Time to sanitize! Rinse and reassemble all keg parts. The ratio is 1oz of Star San in 5 gallons warm water (not too hot, like over 120F - typical hot water heaters are around 130F). However, I cut this in half. Put 2.5 gallons in the keg, then add the .5oz of Star San (always important to add chemicals to water, not the other way around). If you want it to foam, put some of the water in, then add the StarSan, and then pour the rest of the water in. 
6. Seal up the keg, and shake it up. (Don't be surprised if some leaks out the lid, as the lid requires some internal pressure to get an air-tight seal - watch any carpeting here, I always use a towel on a non-carpeted floor). Let it sit a few minutes, maybe turn it over and/or let it sit on it's side for awhile (Star San actually only needs 30 seconds). From here, you have a couple options:
   
   
   
   1. Hook up the keg to the lines, and run all of the Star San through the bev line. Run it all through because you don't want any left in the keg or the line other than what's clinging to the sides. Do not rinse. Stainless steel should be stored with some sort of acid coating, as it helps it maintain its "stainless" state. As an acid sanitizer, Star San works great for this. Besides, if you rinse after sanitizing, then you're just ruined all that work - that's why we choose no-rinse sanitizers. As long as you mixed/measured properly, you won't have any problems (and the measuring device on the Star San bottle makes this brainless). When you're ready to fill the keg, just open up and rack the beer in and proceed as normal. When ready to serve, hook up the bev line, run a half glass or so through, discard, and you're good. Or (and this is where I was most surprised)...
      
   2. Dump the Star San, and pressurize the keg to seal it up. When you're ready to fill, mix up some more Star San, dump it in the keg, let it sanitize again, run it though the lines, and then fill with beer. If you're the paranoid sort (and you know who you are), and it's been awhile since you've originally sanitized, then this will neutralize anything that may have gotten into the keg/line. Since Star San doesn't sanitize indefinitely, it will loose this ability over time. So bottom line, if it's only been a week, you're fine. Any longer, and you want to be extra extra sure, follow step 'b' here.
7. Relax and have a brew.
   

Now, this is the recommended way of doing things with Five Star Chemicals. (Actually, Five Star has products specifically for cleaning/sanitizing line cleaning - but I didn't go into that here.) Some guys use Oxiclean instead of PBW - I do this for some stuff. But it's important to realize the Oxiclean is not a CIP cleaner. Oxiclean is also missing a "surfactant" - which basically breaks down surface tension in water, which allows it to penetrate and dissolve all those nasty organic compounds in either hot or cold water. In short, PBW is designed for brewing equipment, not laundry. So for line cleaning, PBW is certainly better, and actually allows you to be lazier by letting the soak do most of the work.

Now, if you have your own way of doing things and it works, that's great. As with anything related to homebrewing, there are many ways to do the same thing. Cheers folks.

Update August 10, 2010:
I've since modified my line cleaning - I got one of those hand/line pumps and use BLC instead of PBW on the lines. I rinse with warm water, then BLC - letting it sit and recirculate. Then rinse again, and then run some StarSan through it, also with the hand pump. I just felt like I was wasting a lot of CO2, and the hand pump is quick and easy. I don't bother pressurizing the kegs for storage anymore, since I sanitize everything again just before I use it. Also, I take the liquid-out fittings apart now and soak them in PBW.