Author: Cade Jobe

There’s nothing worse than having to dump a batch of beer due to contamination, hence the importance brewers place on sanitation. Concerns about sanitation on the hot-side tend to be low because the boiling wort eliminates most contaminants; it’s on the cold-side, once the wort has been chilled, that problems are most likely to arise. While various methods of sanitation exist, the most common involves soaking gear that comes into contact with the cool wort or beer in a chemical solution known to eliminate wild yeast and bacteria, with one of the more popular options being Five Star’s Star San.

Star San consists of two active ingredients—15% Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid and 50% Phosphoric acid, which make for an effective and easy to use sanitizer. As anyone who has used this particular product is well aware, it foams quite heavily, which is intentional, as the foam is an active sanitizer that can make contact with more difficult-to-reach areas of equipment. As a no-rinse sanitizer, any residual foam stuck to a vessel’s surface can remain and, according to the manufacturer, will have no impact on the finished character of the beer.

Star San has been my sanitizer of choice for years, particularly when it comes to ensuring my kegs are free of any unwanted microbes that might spoil my beer. When sanitizing my kegs with Star San, there’s always a good amount of foam left behind, and while I can’t say I’ve noticed this as causing problems in my beer, it doesn’t seem far-fetched to think it might have some impact. Curious to see for myself, I designed an xBmt to test it out!

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a beer packaged in a keg with a high amount of Star San foam and one packaged in a keg with a minimal amount of foam.

| METHODS |

I went with a simple lager for this xBmt in hopes of emphasizing any impact the Star San foam might have on beer character.

Fizzy Lifting

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 22.0 IBUs 5.6 SRM 1.048 1.015 4.4 % Actuals 1.048 1.011 4.9 % Fermentables Name Amount % Munich I (Weyermann) 4.375 lbs 45.45 Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 4.375 lbs 45.45 Vienna Malt (Weyermann) 14 oz 9.09 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Hallertau Magnum 14 g 60 min Boil Pellet 12.2 Tettnang 14 g 5 min Boil Pellet 4.5 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Harvest (L17) Imperial Yeast 72% 50°F - 60°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 65 | Mg 18 | Na 38 | SO4 65 | Cl 64 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

I started off my brew day by collecting the proper volume of water for a 10 gallon/38 liter batch, adjusting it to my desired profile, then lighting the flame under the kettle.

While waiting on the water to warm, I weighed out and milled the grain.

Once the water was appropriately heated, I incorporated the grains before checking the mash temperature– a bit higher than expected, but nothing too worrisome.

The mash was left alone for 60 minutes.

During the mash rest, I measured out the kettle hop additions.

When the 60 minute mash was complete, I sparged to collect the target pre-boil volume then boiled the wort for another 60 minutes before chilling it with my IC. After taking a hydrometer measurement that showed the wort was right at the expected 1.048 OG, it was racked to a 14 gallon Ss Brewtech Brew Bucket that got placed in my chamber. At this point, I pitched two pouches of Imperial Yeast L17 Harvest.

The beer was left to ferment at 54°F/12°C for a week before I raised the temperature to 66°F/19°C, where it sat for an additional 10 days before I took a hydrometer measurement confirming FG had been reached.

The night prior to packaging the beers, I thoroughly cleaned and sanitized two kegs using my standard procedure, emptying both, then left both alone to dry overnight. The next day, after racking 5 gallons/19 liters of beer to a foam-free keg, I whipped up a fresh batch of Star San, making sure to agitate to increase foam production. I then carefully transferred approximately 12 cups/3 liters of foam to the empty keg before racking the beer into it.

The filled kegs were placed in my keezer, burst carbonated, then left to condition for three weeks before I began serving them to participants.

| RESULTS |

A total of 27 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the beer packaged with Star San foam and 2 samples of the beer packaged without Star San foam in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. A total of 14 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to accurately identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, but only 6 did (p=0.928), indicating participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a pale lager racked to a keg with approximately 12 cups/3 liters of Star San foam one packaged in a foam-free keg.

My Impressions: I attempted 4 semi-blind triangle tests and guessed correctly just once, the beers were identical to my nose and palate. I was happy to have made 11 gallons/38 liters of this beer, as it was delicious!



| DISCUSSION |

“Don’t Fear the Foam!” Every brewer has heard this catchy saying Five Star came up with to ease concerns about racking beer into a foam-laden vessel sanitized with Star San. As anyone who has ever sucked a bit too hard on tubing submerged in Star San solution knows, it definitely has flavor to it, and thus it’s not crazy to think large amounts of foam might affect beer character. However, the fact tasters in this xBmt were unable to distinguish a lager racked into a keg with a large amount of Star San foam from one with no foam provides confirmation of Five Star’s claim that it has no impact on flavor.

Star San foam is made of bubbles, and seeing as bubbles are mostly air, the actual volume of Star San solution in 12 cups/3 liters really isn’t that much, which may explain these results. It’s entirely possible that higher volumes of Star San solution blended with beer would have a perceptible impact, and while no brewer would intentionally do such a thing, it may be a worthy xBmt based on the number of stories that exist about folks who accidentally forgot to empty their keg or bottling bucket of Star San before racking beer to it.

Having racked many a beer to kegs containing fairly large amounts of Star San foam, I admittedly had some preconceived ideas as to how this xBmt might turn out. Indeed, the results confirmed my personal hunch, and while I look forward to looking more into the flavor impact Star San in higher volumes has on beer, I’ll continue using it without worry as my no rinse sanitizer of choice.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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