What to replace? Post infection epidemic

OK so my last few batches have had some small infections so I am thinking it may be time to chuck my better bottles and all other plastic. I have a batch of pumpkin porter that I am hoping will be ok since I soaked that carboy with bleach/vinegar mixture. However, I will wait to bottle it until after I get new gear. I do think part of the problem is that I have had a lot of batches going at once and I tend to take hydro samples at the same time even though I resanitize from one carboy to the next. So anyway, I am going to keep my glass carboy but otherwise I am going to replace my wine thief, plate chiller tubing, bottling bucket, auto siphon, bottling wand, and all associated tubing. I am going to get the stainless steel baster style wine thief. My plan is to only use my glass carboy and not order a new better bottle until I get a few infection free batches under my belt. My question is do I need to replace my stoppers, carboy caps, and air locks? Can I boil them?

I would keep all that stuff and start brewing sours. I wish I would have done that years ago. Now that I am getting into sours, sure would be nice to have 10 gallons worth in bottles.

stbnj said:

My question is do I need to replace my stoppers, carboy caps, and air locks? Can I boil them?

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You're replacing EVERYTHING else...why woudn't you just go ahead and replace all of it, since these bits are pretty much the cheapest parts of the whole workflow? Go ahead and replace them. Then keep all that stuff separate and use it for your sours pipeline.

what are you going to do if you still get infections after chucking the plastic? it has less to do with plastic or stainless turkey basters and more to do with a source of infection that you have not cleaned properly or don't know about.

I personally wouldn't replace anything. It's entirely possible to sanitize the plastic after an infection so that it does not reinfect future brews. There's no way an infection can survive inside a "microscopic fissure" when that fissure is submerged in a double strength mixture of iodophor for three days, then allowed to dry in direct sunlight. If the infection can make it into that fissure, so can the iodophor and sunlight.

Don't be paranoid. Unless you're using this as an excuse to buy new stuff with the SO. If you think it's worthless, I'll pay shipping, handling, and an additional nominal amount for all the plastic you're getting rid of, based on how much you have.

eastoak said:

what are you going to do if you still get infections after chucking the plastic? it has less to do with plastic or stainless turkey basters and more to do with a source of infection that you have not cleaned properly or don't know about.

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I agree with this, do you know where the infection actually came from? I just had a bout and ended dumping 30+ gallons of beer before I realized it was some mold or bacteria in my basement where I was storing my equipment and making my starters.

Although if you are gonna start replacing stuff don't skimp on the cheap stuff and just replace it all. Before you do try and isolate your infection.