Brett infection

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jezter6

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So all of my last 5 brews have turned out the same. They taste ok, then a bitter nasty aftertaste. 2 of the brews have shown a waxy film on the top of the carboy during secondary fermentation.

After posting that info to my LHBS owner, he said I had a brett infection and that's why it's taken over my brewery and got into all my last batches.

Now I realized that I may never have been using sanitizer. My jar says "no rinse cleaner" but the box it came in (beginners kit) said it included a sanitizer. My guess is that it's NOT a sanitizer at all.

How do I get rid of this infection? I'm dying for good beer and all my stuff ~25 gallons is pretty much ruined. I need to get rid of this before I buy my keg stuff, as I don't want it to ruin my bev lines.

HELP!! :mad:
 
Wash EVERYTHING with hot soapy water, then use diluted bleach to sanitize (don't leave it in contact with aluminum for more than just a few seconds though) Rinse really well and then go get yourself either some idophor or StarSan(<--- My favorite) Soak everything in sanitizer. That should kill just about anything.
 
I'd be inclined to replace all of my hoses, and anything else that was really cheap and plastic. I might even be inclined to simply toss my fermentation bucket (but the bleach ought to kill most anything if you don't want to spend more money).
 
Find a buddy brewer. Brew with him one day to see if he can see where you might be making a mistake. Often times people aren't aware that they've developed a bad habit but when a 3rd party watches it can be very clear.
 
I'll admit my methods could use some help, however, the first 15 or so brews I've made have all been good (and some absolutely GREAT) beers. No bad tastes from any off fermentation.

This seems like a definitive "I got an infection and have to clean everything" type of deal.

Sadly my bucket was new starting at those 5 beers, but at only like $7, I guess I can buy a new one. Same goes for the autosiphon. I was already planning on getting all new hoses as well.

Aside from using a bottling bucket and hose, how do you guys san your CFC? I read that the san has to be sticking to it for a minute or so to actually do it's job, but when you fire it down around the coils, does that really do the job? Up until now I've been running my 'san' through until it comes out the bottom, leaving whatever's left in there in until the wort starts to come out, I let the hose out on the grass to drain the 'san' and the first cup or so of wort before putting it into my fermenter. Is that enough san for the CFC?
 
Your problem could be in your CFC. The best way to clean and sanitize a CFC is with a pump because you can recirculate your cleaner and sanitizer.

I boil PBW and circulate it through my CFC before using it. Almost every time I see stuff come out even though I run PBW through it before putting it away.

If you don't have a pump, boil some PBW and run it through your CFC. Plug up both ends and let it soak for 10 - 20 minutes and then push more PBW through. Then do the same with Star San.
 
Monster Mash said:
Your problem could be in your CFC. The best way to clean and sanitize a CFC is with a pump because you can recirculate your cleaner and sanitizer.

I boil PBW and circulate it through my CFC before using it. Almost every time I see stuff come out even though I run PBW through it before putting it away.

If you don't have a pump, boil some PBW and run it through your CFC. Plug up both ends and let it soak for 10 - 20 minutes and then push more PBW through. Then do the same with Star San.

I'm starting to think you're right. Here's how things currently work.

I run my cleaner/san through the CFC with about 5 minutes to go in the boil, just to get it ready. Then I run the wort through, and blow out the CFC with a high pressure hose attachment. I try and run the water out, but other than that, I let it sit until the next time when I just run a half gallon or so of san/cleaner through it.

Are we not doing enough?
 
I syphon my sanitizer through my CFC to fill my carboy. Then I pull the hose from the carboy, and put it under the surface in my 'sink'. That way the CFC is full. I usually do this after putting the wort on to boil, so things soak for an hour.
 
Since I use Co2 to move all my fluids, Before I use the CFC, I fill a corny with 5 gal of warm water, push that through at about 30 psi, then refill the corny with starsan, and run that through to a bucket at about 5 psi. Same thing after the brew.
 
Sounds like your CFC is the culprit but also check out your bottling bucket. You may want to replace that too after having had infection issues.

As for your sanitizer, new sanitizers are sometimes labeled "cleaner" to avoid paying the fees associated with being labeled "sanitizer".
 
I use a funnel to run idopher thru it. I catch it in a glass and run it thru a few more times.
I'll tilt it around to run all the idopher out of the tubing.
I'll run hot wort thru it to flush it out, then run it into the fermentor for a little bit before running the cooling water.

I have tubing I can hoook up to my faucet. I use it to blast hot water thru the chiller.
Tilt it aroound again to get all the water out and put caps on the tubing.
 
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