Should I dump my plastic?

hoplobster · 08-04-2008, 11:54 PM

I brewed this weekend after a long hiatus (been busy w/ my new home) and since my last batch of ESB was less than stellar after it was bottled, I went hog wild and double cleaned and sanitized every thing except my bottling gear in preparation of my return to brewing.

I tried a bottle of the ESB today and still, after months in the bottle, it's still a bit icky. It smells OK, has no head retention and tastes not right. I can get hints of the ESB characteristics, but there's a slight sourness that really ruins it... and today it finally clicked that it tasted like the last batch of Apfelwein that I made many months ago. I'm usually very good with cleaning and sanitizing, but I dunno... I could have been rushed the last time I bottled Apfelwein and I didn't use separate gear for beer/Apfelwein.

So, I'm pretty sure that Apfelwein is somehow to blame... Should I just dump my autosiphon, tubing, and bottling bucket or could I just go nuts and soak everything in Oxyclean Free and sanatize, rinse, repeat? It's been a while since I've bottled anything... months even, but the racking gear looks ok, could I reuse it after a huge cleaning?

Thanks.

devaspawn · 08-05-2008, 12:16 AM

I'd soak the hell out of it in Oxyclean. Unless you have lots of scratches in your bucket it should work. Maybe replace the bucket if that's the case. I'd save yourself the headache and replace all of your tubing. Cheaper to buy more than to worry about whether or not it's ruining your $30 to $60 batches.

GearBeer · 08-05-2008, 03:26 PM

+1 on tubing replacement. The PVC tubing isn't pricey and I've noticed mine retains some beer scent, even though I'm pretty good about cleaning it out with hot soapy water and sanitizer immediately after use.