Yeast In Star San

[Stuffa]

I've got a brew fermenting at the moment that I needed to put a blow off tube in. The blow off tube is in a bottle with some Star San solution and now I have a couple of inches of nice white yeast in the bottom of the bottle. Do you think it would be possible to use this yeast for my next brew if I pour the Star San solution off the yeast?

 

[the_yobbo]

Um, I assumed a sanitizer (such as star san) would kill the yeast along with any bacteria. I guess I'm about to find out.

 

[jiesu]

I think it would depend on the concentration. In reccomended concentrations or less then. Star san is rumoured to actually be a nutrient for yeasts. I think Stuffa this is a good opportunity for you to make a starter for that yeast to check its viability but i severley doubt their would be any issues with reusing it. Star san is not desined to kill yeast only bacteria. Obviously yeast lives through it or you wouldn't be able to sanitise starter containers or test tubes or anything similar with star san.

 

[Stuffa]

daft templar that's what I was thinking as I had read the same about Star San actually being a bit of nutrient for yeast. They acid wash yeast and Star San is a acid sanitiser so I was thinking the yeast may be okay. I would like to give it a go but I am a bit worried about being in the solution for 4 or 5 days.

 

[A3k]

My worry wouldn't so much be the yeast being killed, you will soon know with a starter.
My worry would be how long starsan maintains it's abiltity to kill bacteria.

I know that in distilled water, starsan stays active for a while, but in tap water it doesn't last as long. My guess is that with yeast/beer in it it wont last as long.

Then, the question is; is the yeast clean and uninfected.

If you make a starter, you may be confident with it.

I'm not sure, just think it's worth thinking about.

Cheers.
Al

EDIT: Where've you been fermenting? Fridge, laundry etc???

 

[felten]

I think that yeasts CAN survive a pH down to the 2's, but not for very long (that's the pH you acid wash it at?), and starsan's pH in a recommended dilution sample is around 3.5 iirc. As for starsan being a nutrient, that's because when its diluted in wort, it is no longer at the ~3.5 pH level that it needs to activate and act as a sanitiser.

correct me if I'm wrong though.

 

[goatherder]

Starsan will kill yeast. It it didn't, we'd all have crazy wild yeast infections in our breweries.

However, the good thing about starsan is that it is only effective when the pH is below 3.5. This is part of the reason it's good for beer use - you can sanitise a vessel with it, killing most organisms in it, but by the time you add your beer or wort the pH is high enough that the residual sanitiser won't affect the yeast.

If you really want to use the yeast in the blowoff bottle, try making a starter with it & see how it turns out. Personally, I'd harvest the yeast from the beer after the ferment has finished. The quality should be good (if you ferment it right) and it will be way less work.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

some of that yeast in there might be alive... maybe. But that doesn't equate to healthy, non-mutated, not ready to succumb to the first shock it gets yeast.

A starter would be a must, and even then, who knows what the hell sort of chemically screwed up genetic freaks your are breeding in there??

 

[Fourstar]

Hm.m,

If your yeast is that active that you need a blowoff tube, why dont you just remove the lid and top crop it? 1/2 a cup of thick slurry should be plentiful for a 23L batch of 1.050 wort w/ale yeast. :icon_cheers:

 

[zoidbergmerc]

Starsan will kill yeast. It it didn't, we'd all have crazy wild yeast infections in our breweries.

+1

 

[Wolfy]

I've got a brew fermenting at the moment that I needed to put a blow off tube in. The blow off tube is in a bottle with some Star San solution and now I have a couple of inches of nice white yeast in the bottom of the bottle. Do you think it would be possible to use this yeast for my next brew if I pour the Star San solution off the yeast?

Sure It's possible, some of the yeast probably survived, but as others have said, its not a good idea.

It sounds like you have a nice active and healthy ferment going on there, top-crop some of the yeast and use that instead of the potentially StarSan'd mutated/half-dead yeast in the bottle.

 

[Stuffa]

Thanks for the replies. I had already cropped some of the nice healthy yeast from the top (1968). I was just looking at that nice white layer of yeast in the bottom of the bottle and was wondering if maybe it was healthy. Maybe just for interest I'll put some in a micro batch and see how it performs.

 

[jiesu]

Good On ya Stuffa Allways worth an experiment, Nothing in homebrewing is ever a given, Except maybe sanitation.