sanitizing copper tube chiller

[well_bucket_brews]

ive read in a couple threads that you cant sanitize a copper tube chiller with star san.. is this true?

thanks!

 

[freisste]

I think the acid has an effect on it. Just throw it in at flameout and the hot water will sanitize it.

 

[Doomsday]

I put my chiller in about 5 minutes before flameout to sanitize it.

When I am done I spray it off in the sink and do it all over again next brew session.

 

[rklinck]

I have never heard anyone say you cannot sanitize with star san, just that it is unnecessary. Like others have said, throw it in with a few minutes left in the boil and anything will be killed by the temp. The bigger issue is that you do not want to soak the copper in PBW or oxyclean. I don't think it really hurts anything longterm but it changes color (and the water will actually be blueish when you pour it out).

 

[cageybee]

I'm told that copper is poisonous.....so anything that causes copper to end up in what you consume is not good. I don't know if you've seen an antique cookware from Europe, but they discovered this and thus plated their copper ware with tin...hence the look that the antiques have - copper with silvery highlights or vise versa.

 

[BxBrewer]

I starsan my chiller, no problems so far.

 

[pfgonzo]

The wort is already acidic. If the copper is clean, putting it in either wort or starsan won't hurt it. Ever notice how bright and shiny the copper is when removing it from your boil kettle after chilling? That's the acid working for you. You can absolutely sanitize your copper chiller with starsan, though it might decrease the shelf-life of that batch of starsan slightly (if you happen to save it between batches/bottling). Always test with PH strips or a meter to be sure you're under 3 before reusing starsan.

On the other hand, if you abuse your copper, leave it a dirty/damp environment, you will get oxidization. Oxidized copper, also called verdigris, is very very toxic. That's what you want to avoid. Easy to spot. It's the same blue-green as the Statue of Liberty.

 

[BrewerBS]

I wouldn't leave it sit in a bucket of Star San for a prolonged time. I think in the wort for 15 minutes is probably the "healthiest" way. I personally make a spray bottle of SS to use for sanitizing on brew day and give it a good squirt and let it drip off a bit before I put it in the kettle, after flame out.

 

[amandabab]

I'm told that copper is poisonous.....so anything that causes copper to end up in what you consume is not good. I don't know if you've seen an antique cookware from Europe, but they discovered this and thus plated their copper ware with tin...hence the look that the antiques have - copper with silvery highlights or vise versa.

copper in the presence pressurized/dissolved CO2 is poisonous. not the metal itself.

 

[GASoline71]

If copper is poisonous... then almost all of us will be dead from brewing, or consuming beer. Even from commercial breweries.

Gary

 

[No1ukno]

Not to mention almost every water line in every house is copper.

 

[TXjayhawk]

Copper is not poisonous, it is a necessary trace metal our body needs. There is a disease where your body retains too much copper, Wilson's Disease. Otherwise copper being poison, not true.

 

[cageybee]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_toxicity

 

[GASoline71]

Don't scare me one bit...

Gary

 

[cageybee]

well then, it's settled! it's good that we can all do as we please...

 

[freisste]

The wort is already acidic. If the copper is clean, putting it in either wort or starsan won't hurt it.

If you are sure starsan won't hurt a copper chiller, that's great. However, if this is the logic you used, we may be in trouble.

Using a mild acid is ok, so ANY acid must also be ok? We might as well all drink starsan, considering wort is acidic and it is ok to drink....

 

[GASoline71]

Don't drink any spirits that come from copper stills either...

Gary

 

[cageybee]

I suspect the point is (I'm no scientist) that copper by itself is relatively stable, but under certain conditions (acid from where ever for example) it may not remain so. when I lived in virginia, we had all copper piping, and the well water was acidic enough to corrode the copper pipes and turn all the white porcelain a nasty green. now, I could have roughed it out like Gary might have, but since I had family living there with me, I decided to invest in a water system that would neutralize the acidity. sure enough, the porcelain stayed white. IMHO, there are some risks that are just not worth taking....especially on behalf of others that you care about.

 

[Desvio]

I rinse mine down every time with sodium metabisulfite along with all my other equipment and no problems whatsoever.

And the reason why copper is used widely in food processing and brewing is because it's naturally an antimicrobial material.

 

[cageybee]

and you can apparently dissolve tree stumps with that Des....and use it in the detection of the sickle-cell trait. interesting stuff but apparently quite harmless to us as the liver metabolizes it easily.

 

[acidrain]

I always give my chiller a soak in star san... makes it nice & clean. To me, that's better than putting it in the wort tarnished, and then when it comes out it clean. Hmm... where did that gunk go?
It's kind of like making meatballs with dirty hands... when you're done, you're hands are clean. Yum.

 

[petey_c]

To add yet another opinion... 15-20 minutes before flameout to sterilize. A quick spray with the adjustable shower head/hose to rinse it off and we're done. Never any tarnish or patina.