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SANITATION

BILLY BREW

BILLY BREW

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Dec 25, 2006
Messages
354
Reaction score
7
Location
CHICAGOLAND AREA
I have been cursed! For 15 years i never had a bacteria or any other bad thing (other than a crappy recipe) ruin my brews. Now I have had 5 in a row. There are 2 new additions to my system, 1 The Barlel Crusher and 2 a copper wort chiller.
The crusher couldn't be the culprit, I don't think, so it goes to the wort chiller.
I have been soaking it in bleach (yes that is my method of sanitation I am a fish killer) but I have been wondering whether I should boil it instead...Advice? Thoughts? Free beers? :eek:
 
I don't think your wort chiller is infecting your beer.  You're putting that in boiling beer, and it takes seconds to pasteurize at that temperature.

My money is on your primary.  It's probably infected, and the bacteria is sitting deep enough in the pores of the plastic that the sanitizer isn't getting it.
 
I second suncrush's thoughts.  It's probably not the new items you've added to your system, but something that is in need of replacing -- the fermenter.  Once they are "infected" it can be very difficult to change that.  If your primary is plastic, and might've gotten scratched, it may well be time to consider a replacement.

Five batches is a lot of time/effort/money/ingredients to figuratively and literally pour down the drain.  An end-to-end review of your equipment (and process) is in order to nip this in the bud. 

Good luck!!
 
I had a string of infected brews. They stopped when I jettisoned all old plastic that came into contact with post-boil brew. That included fermenting buckets, racking cane, and hose.

Now I ferment in glass, and am extremely careful to clean and sanitize the replacement cane and hose before anything has a chance to dry onto it.

Haven't had an infection since.

As mm658 said, once a scratch on plastic is "infected", even a good soak in bleach may not kill it. It's best to replace it, and reexamine your cleaning and sanitizing procedures.

Since then I purchased some StarSan, some of which I keep in a spray bottle that I use to mist all plastic as soon as I finish cleaning it.

Replacing equipment isn't cheap, but it's better than pitching beer down the drain.  Good luck!
 
Thanks for the input fellas...As for the fermenter, I only use glass. Plastic is only used in the bottling process...Although, I do use plastic tubing for transfer, but that is another item that I purchased new...I wonder.
But I will take your suggestions to heart and dump my tubing and filter cone as well.
I'll keep you up to date on what I find. Thanks again.
 
I think I picked up on the fact that you bottle your beer instead of keg. I used to bottle and that was the only time I ever experienced contamination. I was told to examine whether all my bottles had been washed and sanitized. You need to look into the bottom of each bottle to make sure there's no residue or mold on the bottom. I normally do this at the sink and hold each bottle up to the light. Then I dunk each bottle into Starsan and drain. What I previously failed to do was sanitize the "bottle tree" I used when draining bottles. You absolutely must do that. Use a spray bottle filled with Starsan to sanitize everything that comes in contact with your bottles or brew ... including your bottle caps and whatever device you use to cap your bottles. Starsan has never let me down. Good luck!
 
More thoughts. Please forgive me if I state something obvious or something you already know. I don't know what you know and am just trying to help.

Do you rack into a secondary or go the whole way in the primary?
Did you discover the infection before or after bottling?

If you rack and discovered the infection in your secondary, that points to the transfer hose or racking cane.
If you don't rack and discovered the infection in the bottles, or the secondary was not infected but all the bottles were, that points to bottling cane / bucket / tubing.
If some bottles were infected and some not, that points to dirty bottles.

There's so many variables that it's really difficult to find the cause of an infection. Like I said before, best thing to do is to replace your plastic and go overboard with cleaning and sanitizing. NEVER let anything sit long enough to get dried on to plastic. 

I rinse everything with hot water within minutes of using it, then give it the StarSan treatment.

You did mention that you use bleach. I highly recommend purchasing some StarSan, and some PBW while you're at it.
 
One more thing. Look for rings in glass.  A ring at the liquid level in a bottle is a dead giveaway of an infection. Put beer into a bottle with a ring in it and it's a guaranteed infection.
Same with your fermentation vessels.  Look closely for any rings.  Rings are bad. Very bad.
The good thing is that glass can be cleaned.
 
For any that are interested. Since tossing plastics and sanitizing everything within eyesight of the brewing area, I am happy to say I have brewed 8 batches and nary a fizz ball has shown up. Thanks to all for your insight and opinions. They worked and I am back to being a happy drunken homebrewer with lazy drunken friends!
 
BILLY BREW said:
For any that are interested. Since tossing plastics and sanitizing everything within eyesight of the brewing area, I am happy to say I have brewed 8 batches and nary a fizz ball has shown up. Thanks to all for your insight and opinions. They worked and I am back to being a happy drunken homebrewer with lazy drunken friends!
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I appreciate the closure on this BILLY, it allows others to learn from your experience and the encouragement of this community.
 
When Maine Homebrewer speaks, I listen. I sincerely appreciate the time he spends explaining stuff. I'm curious to know if he's tried adding three lobsters to a boil ... like those knuckleheads on the beer guys show (Esquire channel).
 
When Maine Homebrewer speaks, I listen. I sincerely appreciate the time he spends explaining stuff.
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Thanks! Don't forget to click the Karma! (Seriously.  My karma was way up there until someone took offense to my disdain for extract brews and smote it into oblivion. It's only recently recovered.)

I'm curious to know if he's tried adding three lobsters to a boil ... like those knuckleheads on the beer guys show (Esquire channel).
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I'm not as adventurous as the Brewdogs. Heck, I don't even eat lobster. The whole idea of munching on a bug that's been eating garbage off the ocean floor for the better part of a decade doesn't stimulate my appetite.
 
MikeinRH said:
I have no idea how to do that.
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On the left side it says "applaud" and "smite".  If you like the advice and it's helpful, you click on "applaud".  If you think someone's a #@$% you click on "smite".  I've never clicked on "smite".  I've only clicked on "applaud".

When you applaud someones advice, their karma goes up one.  If you click on smite, their karma goes down one.

If this was helpful, please click on "applaud" for me.  ;D  (just kidding)
 
I had no idea. I guess this might give you a hint at how old I am! Many thanks!
 
I've picked up 4 Karma since my post on how to give or take away Karma.  Now I feel badly, since they weren't deserved. 

Thank you, none the less, for the good vibes.
 
I've picked up 4 Karma since my post on how to give or take away Karma.  Now I feel badly, since they weren't deserved. 
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Why couldn't  they have been very deserved clicks given from people who didn't know how to show their appreciation until you told them?

You're no amateur. You give good advice on things you know about. Give yourself some credit. Seriously.

 
Thank you.

I sometimes find myself censuring myself.  Someone will ask for help, and I know how I would probably handle it in my own home brewery.  I'll recognize though, that someone else might have a better knowledge of that particular topic and I'll hold back.  Usually when I hold back for that reason I end up learning something new.
 
Scott Ickes said:
Thank you.

I sometimes find myself censuring myself.  Someone will ask for help, and I know how I would probably handle it in my own home brewery.  I'll recognize though, that someone else might have a better knowledge of that particular topic and I'll hold back.  Usually when I hold back for that reason I end up learning something new.
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If you have knowledge of solutions that work by all means share them.  You can always point out, "this has worked for me in the past."  Those of us with other ideas may also provide them.  There is usually more than one way for us to get to where we want to be.
 
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