Annoying sanitizer foam

[Atif]

Hi guys
I am new to home brewing and I don't have a keg so I bottle my beer. When bottling, the sanitizer foam mounts to the top, covers the wand and makes it a pain to fill the bottles correctly. Any ideas on how to avoid this mess? Thanks

 

[Wayne1]

Use Saniclean. That is the low foaming version of StarSan.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Use one of these to help sanitize bottles:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/economy-sanitizer-injector-stationary-bottle-tree.html

It makes the process super fast and easy, and avoids large amounts of foam in the bottles.

I also use these for draining/drying which are really nice:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fastrack24-12oz-beer-bottle-drying-rack-storage-system.html

Cheers

 

[RM-MN]

i don't have a bottle tree so I sanitize my bottles, then turn them upside down on the pegs in my dishwasher. That lets the excess sanitizer drain out and keeps the bottles handy as I fill them over the door of the dishwasher. Any spills are contained on the dishwasher door and when done I just close the door to dump the liquid into the dishwasher. I usually do a dozen bottles at a time as that keeps them at a handy distance.

 

[madscientist451]

When you are filling bottles, have your racking cane all the way in the bottom of the bottle, when the beer starts coming out the top of the bottle, all the foam is ejected, pull out the racking cane and there will be the proper amount of head space.
I put a rectangular baking pan in the sink so the bottles have a flat surface to sit on.
Any mess created is in the sink.

 

[Toxxyc]

I fill the bottles straight in the crates. I clean and sanitise them and place them upside down in the crates on a thick towel (everything sanitised). As I bottle, I pull a crate closer, flip all the bottles the right way up, bottle straight in the crate and swing on the tops as I'm done, bottle for bottle. Crates are then moved straight into the pantry. Simple enough for me. I stop when the beer reached the top of the neck, before it runs out. I have an LED headlight I sit in the crate to shine light into the bottles so I can easily see where the level of beer is at.

 

[dwhite60]

Probably need another sanitizer.

Like Wayne1 said, Saniclean is the low foaming StarSan.

You could use basic iodophor. A little goes a long way.

For the past four months and four batches I've been using OneStep and I'm very happy with it. Cleans like crazy. No infections. Yes people, I KNOW it's not really classified as a sanitizer but it works as one. Google "off label use for drugs". Good enough for pharmaceuticals, it's good enough for me.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[blizz81]

You could use basic iodophor. A little goes a long way.

Sometimes I feel like the last homebrewer left that uses iodophor. Just been using it for 11 years so habit for me. But yes, it is a foam-free option here if that's what you're looking for.

 

[ncbrewer]

There is a new sanitizer (new to me), similar to Star San, called San Step. From what I've found, it doesn't foam and doesn't turn cloudy in hard water. I haven't tried it yet.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Ah, Star San. Their slogan "Don't fear the foam". It's not that we fear foam, it's the foam is a PITA. I mitigated the foam problem when bottling. I originally had similar problems described by the OP when bottling. Here's what I do.

1. Quickly rinse the bottles in Star San. Shake, dump out as much as possble.

2. Return the bottle to the bottle tree.

3. Allow the remaining Star San to drip from the bottles on the tree while getting other things ready. For example, getting priming sugar ready, transferring liquid to bottling bucket, taking hydro reading (we all do to calculate ABV, right?), etc.

4. Fill bottles. By this time, for me, the annoying Star San bubbles are gone.

Hope this helps. It works for me.

 

[dwhite60]

Sometimes I feel like the last homebrewer left that uses iodophor. Just been using it for 11 years so habit for me. But yes, it is a foam-free option here if that's what you're looking for.

I still keep some around. I mix it in a spray bottle for quick stuff.

Never had a problem with it doing its job.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[SEndorf]

When you are filling bottles, have your racking cane all the way in the bottom of the bottle, when the beer starts coming out the top of the bottle, all the foam is ejected, pull out the racking cane and there will be the proper amount of head space.
I put a rectangular baking pan in the sink so the bottles have a flat surface to sit on.
Any mess created is in the sink.

^
This....
The beer displaces the foam. It won't harm the beer anyway.

 

[dwhite60]

^
This....
The beer displaces the foam. It won't harm the beer anyway.

While correct, what the original poster was complaining about is where does the foam go? It goes out the top of the bottle, over you hand, over the bottle onto whatever is below. Makes the bottles slippery. Pisses the spouse off. From what I've seen it can make quite the mess.

I think "Don't fear the foam" is a way of sugar coating the fact that it's a problem in some cases.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[MaxStout]

Sanitize the bottles with Starsan, put them on a bottle tree or pegs of the dishwasher rack and they will drain. Set the bottling bucket on the counter right over the dishwasher, open the dishwasher door. Pull up a chair and fill bottles. By the time you grab those bottles there won't be enough foam left inside to cause problems. And any accidental overflows will land on the dishwasher door. No mess.

It's never been a problem for me or the many others who use Starsan to sanitize bottles. Just a matter of getting the right technique.

 

[Toxxyc]

I find that StarSan leaves a "residue" that floats on top of the end product. It's not a problem for sparkling drinks (obviously), but when making mead and wine, that cloudy puff on top of the liquid in the bottle is VERY annoying, and I can't get rid of it.

 

[seatazzz]

Back when I bottled, I would give each (clean) bottle about three squirts from a spray bottle filled with Starsan while in the box; when it was each bottle's turn to be filled, I'd turn it over a towel on the floor to drain a bit before filling. Never had an issue with foam. Entire inside of the bottle was wet with starsan (which is the goal, starsan doesn't work if you let it dry completely), and no foam issues. What ratio are you mixing your starsan?

 

[JaymzMF]

I use two 5 gallon buckets. One is filled with PBW where I scrub with bottle brush, then the other filled with StarSan. I've learned how to fill up and pour out the StarSan from the bottles. If you just dunk it in the bucket, it will cause it foam as it "glug glugs". Instead I fill so it flows into bottle without glug glugging. Haha sorry I don't know how else to explain that. Glug Glug! Also and most importantly for me is pouring it out. No glug glug. Pour slowly and steady and there will be zero foam in the bottle when done. Plus being gentle with filling and pouring, the bucket doesn't get more and more foam making it harder to deal with. The process is faster than you'd think. Filling the bottles with no glug glug actually fills faster than just dunking them under.

 

[SEndorf]

Back when bottling, I used this bottle washer . One of the handiest tools. A soak in PBW to clean and remove labels, then a blast with this removes all residue and any remaining gunk.
Then I put this bottle rinser on top of the bottle tree which shoots a coating of StarSan up the bottle. Let them hang a while. I just used a towel to catch any overfill drips. The StarSan itself was never a problem.

 

[cswant88]

Use San Step sanitizer. Organic acid based, low foaming, no rinse, remains effective in hard water. Been using it for a while now and it works great. I CIP my tap lines and faucets and I run this through last. It comes out the faucet into a bucket, with star san you'd have a foamy mess coming out of that bucket. It does a good job cleaning the beer stone off the bottom of my brew kettle too.