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I am using Iodophor as my no rise sterilizer. Is this a safe sterilizer and because it doesn’t breakdown like other no rinse sterilizer won’t it affect the flavor profile of the beer?

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  • It seems to be widely used by breweries according to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodophor
    – Philippe
    Sep 4, 2018 at 17:39
  • Thanks - I looked at the references of that wiki article and found this that was useful. realbeer.com/jjpalmer/cleaning.html
    – zatbusch
    Sep 4, 2018 at 18:54
  • iodophor doesn't have a strong taste like you would think, however to much residue could in theory raise the pH. I used it for years and never had any taste problems. I just switched because I was tired of it staining all my hoses.
    – mreff555
    Sep 8, 2018 at 19:33
  • Thanks. In general it appears the staining effect is its biggest issue. This has been helpful.
    – zatbusch
    Sep 8, 2018 at 19:51

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Potentially it can. However, at the recommended dilution level, and if you drain the sanitized equipment well (i.e. not leave puddles of sanitizer) the impact on flavour is not perceptible. Especially for stongly flavoured beers.

That said, I'd recommend using starsan wherever possible. Not only it's a true no-rinse, but it has smaller surface tension, which helps it to spread like a thin film on plastics, which results in better sanitation. It's not safe for aluminium, though, and that's exactly where I still use iodophor.

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  • Where I live this thing is very expensive (starsan). 60ml costs like $18,00 + shipping. Still didn't have the chance to use it.
    – rondonctba
    Sep 6, 2018 at 23:35
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    @rondonctba 60 ml starsan is 60 liters of working solution that can sit on your shelf for weeks without losing its qualities. You don't have to soak things in it -- buy/reuse a sprayer and just spray things over (contrary to iodophor, you don't have to fear that you can stain anything). I bought ~300ml bottle of starsan 3 or 4 years ago, and maybe 30-40 batches later I still have half a bottle.
    – Roman
    Sep 7, 2018 at 1:48
  • I will give it a shot then ... tks
    – rondonctba
    Sep 7, 2018 at 17:47
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It can.

It's intended to be dried before use with anything that has significant surface area contact with beer or wort. Lines, fermentors etc.

The only exception is the wet assembly of sanitary valves etc. Which insures the sealed areas do not grow bacteria. They should then be dried before use.

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I've been using this method/product ever since and never noticed an Iodo like flavor in the finished beer. As @Evil Zymurgist said, make sure the bottles are dried before bottling the beer.

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  • Does it leave an orange-brown stain on plastic ?
    – Philippe
    Sep 5, 2018 at 20:43
  • I've notice this 'effect' only on the silicone tubing. They look weird, but never noticed that hospital like flavor haha
    – rondonctba
    Sep 6, 2018 at 23:32

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