After the infection....Resurrection

Well a few months ago I had my first infection, and it really set me back, broke my heart and my spirit. I was not sure when or if I was going to get back into brewing, well I am ready to come back.

Of all the threads I have read they are kinda split on weather or not I should still use my plastic bucket from the infected batch. So I will be going to the HBS to get 2 new buckets, but I still want to see if I can salvage the old one...

So I have come up with this idea....

with some help from you guys I will brew the Resurrection Pale Ale

It will be a simple Pale Ale, almost a SMaSH, but I want to use 2 malts....

Here is the first attempt at the grain bill.

8 lb Pale Ale Malt
2 lb Carahell

1.5oz Fuggel @ 60min
1.0oz Fuggle @ 30 min
1.0oz Fuggle @ 10

Mash temps to follow.......

This will be pretty cheep and easy to brew, and if it gets infected, It will not be at a total loss. And if it comes through clean the all is good

and...

then I will have 3 primary's......

Tim

I don't think you need to buy new buckets. As long as the buckets you have aren't too rough inside. I had an acetobacter infection in a cider batch and didn't feel it was necessary to replace everything. Granted I did ferment it in a glass carboy but had it been in a bucket I wouldn't have treated it much differently. If it was in a bucket the only thing I would do differently is to fill the bucket with starsan solution and let it sit overnight or for a few hours and rub the starsan solution on the sides with a paper towel or something.

I think the only reason I got the infection to begin with was the Wyeast yeast I bought was from a LHBS that I had never gone to and I don't think the yeast was very viable. The fermentation never really took off which left it predisposed to infection. I was able to reisolate the yeast, however, and I have a new batch fermenting now from the reisolated yeast. No sign of infection this time.

It really depends on how badly scratched the buckets are. StarSan will work great on the surface of the bucket, but if there a lot of scratches, you may have a difficult time sanitizing it properly.

I have had a nasty infection before, and replacing ALL my plastic equipment was the only way to get rid of it. Having been there before, TRUST ME and just spend the $10 on a new bucket and lid. I ruined 3 or 4 extract batches before I did this, and I could have saved a lot of money (and time!) if I had just resigned myself early on to replace everything.

The bottom line is that it is impossible to thoroughly clean a plastic bucket once an infection has taken hold. Period. Microscopic scratches harbour wild yeast spores and bacteria, and nothing short of heat sterilization will get rid of them.

Re-purpose the old bucket as a container for grains or extract or something.