Lots of StarSan in Beer

[rdpacheco]

Hey all, first time posting. Hope this is the right spot.

I recently got a new toy (SS Brewtech 7gal Unitank) and put my first batch of beer (Beer A) to ferment in it. I made a new batch (Beer B) about a week later and wanted to put it into the Unitank, so I moved Beer A to a glass carboy to dryhop.

As you could have guessed by the title of this thread, things went wrong... I opened the racking port on the Uni to start the transfer to the carboy and walked away for a min. My blowoff hose was still submerged into the bucket of starsan, so in went the starsan. I don't know how much it was, but I believe it was a lot, based on the amount of time i was gone.

Everywhere I read online says that my beer will be ok. The yeast loves the starsan. Starsan is tasteless. It's safe.

I finished everything up, fined, kegged, carbonated. I've never used this recipe before but the beer tastes nothing like i believe it should taste. It is supposed to be a pale ale and tastes more like a cross between a light-style lager and a dry golden ale, but with a strange after taste. I get NO hops whatsoever and it had 3.5oz of boil hops with a 1oz dryhop. This is the recipe i followed https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/800340/cali-mountain-pale-ale. I can include the Brewer's Friend brew log here if someone could tell me how, haha. I dont see a way to do it on the site.

All of that lead up just to ask:

• If the beer had finished attenuating and a lot of the yeast had settled, would the remaining yeast still be able to consume, what i am assuming is, a lot of starsan? All forums i read online seem to assume that yeast is still active. Having put starsan so late in the game, would their advice still apply?
• The starsan is acid... would that have been what suppressed all of the hop flavor and aroma?
• The aftertaste... is that very likely starsan that i'm tasting? or am i just being paranoid

I'd be happy to talk about what could have been done to prevent this in another thread, but I'd like to focus this one on what the Starsan can actually do to the beer.

One of the obvious things to do is have others taste my beer and see what they think. I don't have many friends that I believe could give me a good second opinion on this, as they are all pretty much casual beer drinkers and don't know much about what diff types of beers are supposed to taste like. (There is 1 guy at work that actually might. I'll see if i can get his opinion)

Sorry that this is so long, I'm just frustrated that all posts online about this topic seem to be very terse and don't go into too many details about timing and quantity.

Thanks all!

 

[rdpacheco]

To be clear, this was not the first batch of beer I used the Unitank on. I realized the way I worded my post sounds like it was the first batch. (The forum wont let me edit the post, as it says it's got 'spam' content, which makes no sense)

 

[thunderwagn]

What do you call a lot? 1/4 cup? 1/2 cup? Quart? Some might call a tablespoon or two a lot. Just curious.

 

[rdpacheco]

What do you call a lot? 1/4 cup? 1/2 cup? Quart? Some might call a tablespoon or two a lot. Just curious.

1/2 Gallon? Maybe more, maybe less. The only thing I can go by is the amount of beer that had already been transferred to the carboy by the time I noticed it. Theoretically it should equal the amount of starsan that went in (minus the hose length). Problem is, I was so caught off guard and frustrated that I didn’t think to keep track. So all I have is a picture of what I THINK it looked like, but who even knows

 

[rdpacheco]

It was a starsan solution diluted the recommended amount (which I think is 1oz per 5 gal water)

 

[BOB357]

You also have the dilution factor which reduces the ABV down close to 4%, which would explain the lighter body. One would have to assume that the Starsan is responsible for the reduction in hop flavor/aroma and the aftertaste. Judging from the recipe, the hop character should have been very similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with a little more bitterness. It is what it is. We all screw up and, hopefully, learn from our mistakes.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

its phosphoric acid and lowered the ph down too much, star sans does have a flavor by it's self and its not good, you may be be getting a hint of that flavor as well as a slightly sour flavor from the too low ph but I'm just guessing

 

[rdpacheco]

One would have to assume that the Starsan is responsible for the reduction in hop flavor/aroma and the aftertaste. Judging from the recipe, the hop character should have been very similar to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with a little more bitterness.

I’ve been trying to identify the after taste more and more. At this point I’d have to describe it as “watery bitterness”. Yes it’s lighter in body, but right at the end it seems to thin out dramatically and the bitterness is exposed. Either way, it’s giving me a stomach ache

 

[rdpacheco]

its phosphoric acid and lowered the ph down too much, star sans does have a flavor by it's self and its not good, you may be be getting a hint of that flavor as well as a slightly sour flavor from the too low ph but I'm just guessing

Yeah, I’ve had a few pints each of the last few nights to try and identify the flavor... each night I get a stomach ache. Either it’s enough Starsan that it’s messing with me, or my mind is playing tricks. Either one of those options is not enjoyable. I think I’m gonna have to dump the whole batch

 

[BOB357]

Yeah, I’ve had a few pints each of the last few nights to try and identify the flavor... each night I get a stomach ache. Either it’s enough Starsan that it’s messing with me, or my mind is playing tricks. Either one of those options is not enjoyable. I think I’m gonna have to dump the whole batch

Yep, sounds like a dumper to me.

 

[rdpacheco]

Thanks all for the help. Dumping an entire batch is still new to me, just wanted to be sure!

 

[Mase]

Thanks all for the help. Dumping an entire batch is still new to me, just wanted to be sure!

It’s hard to do, especially when you have so much pride in effort only to have to dump it. But sometimes waiting and saving, just drags out the inevitable.

If it’ll help, shortly after my wife and I started brewing, I kept the Star-San in the same gallon jugs that my wife used for coffee. Can you guess where this is going yet? Yep, the mixed Star-San made its way to the Kureig Coffee maker water reservoir. The wife said the coffee had a bit of a funny taste and kinda frothy.

The Star-San is now safely stored in a unique container and clearly marked

 

[GFHomebrew]

@rdpacheco yep I've been there done that dumped that! A fair while back I transfered a porter onto probably 3lt of phosphoric acid. I'd forgotten to empty the starsan from the keg before transferring in the beer yep idiot moment. I remember I placed a similar thread or post on here asking others opinions if it were salvageable or not. It was thin flavoured watery and had a funny taste it went In the garden.

There's a first time for everything .
The writing on the wall it's time to go add some beer fertilizer to the vegie patch. Remember the slugs and snails love the yeast so be careful where you put it lol.

 

[Craigerrr]

I had a similar situation recently, I had three batches all with blow off tubes into the same jug. Turned the temp down to cold crash two weeks later (yep, should have taken the blow off tubes out). Had a peak a couple days later, blow off jug is empty. Ended up tossing the bottom half of o e of the kegs. The other two batches were fine.

 

[NBH]

I wonder if there is some kind of check valve type device that can be used at the end of the blow-off tube?

From another post on this forum someone mentioned filling the bottling bucket with CO2 before transferring from secondary. CO2 is heavier than air, so it forms a protective gas blanket on top of the beer while the bucket fills. This also prevents worries related to splashings, as there is no O2 in the bucket. I could tell when the bucket was full of CO2 by holding a burning grill lighter in the bucket until the flame went out.

I did that on bottling my first ever batch. I also attached the CO2 hose to the side of my secondary bucket and flowed CO2 at a slow rate to replace the liquid volume in the secondary while transferring to the bottling bucket.

I suppose it worked, however the batch is bottle conditioning, so I don't know yet. It may be more trouble than it is worth.