Infection help. 2nd batch. Same infection. What now?

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MedicMang

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I I'm starting to get really upset. I have been feeling very confident in my brewing skills as of lately, except for the fact that this ugly crap keeps forming. I have replaced everything but my wine thief. I have soaked all tools in Starsan for way more than a min. And this layer keeps forming. I know to taste it and sniff it and whatnot. But does anyone know what this is and why it is forming? I use a swamp cooler to keep things cool and have only been using glass carboys lately. HELP OLD TIMERS. This is upsetting me greatly. Pictures are from both batches.

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Knowing the process would help. Here is a simple question are you keping your airlocks topped up and whbat are you useing in the airlocks?
 
I would soak your equipment in PBW. This will clean your equipment with little to know scrubbing. This is different than soaking in starsan. Starsan just sterilizes equipment, it does not clean them. Honestly that is where 99% of infections come from.
 
it looks like a lacto infection.

do you crush your grains in the same room you ferment in? if so malted barley contains trace amounts of lacto on the exterior of there husk, all that dust in the air has to settle somewhere....
Just a guess but ive read and seen it before.
good luck!

EDIT: on the flip side very cool looking pelicles, pitch some brett and forget about this batch for 6 months. youll have some nice soured beer
 
All-grainier here. I do not crush my grain in the same room. I really don't want this batch to have to wait another 6 months. It's a pumpkin ale. I like what you are saying about the pbw stuff. I may give that a shot in the future. I just feel like its clean though. I just don't really know what else to do. Stupid wine thief.
 
The airlocks are still nicely full of Starsan. I've heard people using vodka but isn't Starsan just fine? I used water when I first started. Didn't have a problem there though.
 
The airlocks are still nicely full of Starsan. I've heard people using vodka but isn't Starsan just fine? I used water when I first started. Didn't have a problem there though.

You have a ton of headspace there- which is ok if it's in primary.

But if it's been racked, and this is a clearing vessel, oxygen due to a lot of headspace can increase the risk of infection especially oxygen-loving bacteria (aceterobacter, lactobacillus, mold).

If this is happening in primary, I'd say that something is really wrong with your sanitation. If it's in the clearing vessel, I'd say that next time leave it in primary for two weeks and then bottle from there.
 
Thanks yooper. Also a great point. It has always been in secondary. I just don't have anything smaller than a 5 gallon for a secondary. Also this pumpkin ale had a spice tea that I made so I kinda had to secondary it. I may do the teas at bottling then. Can I bottle this? Im about to once I sanitize all the bottles.
 
Thanks yooper. Also a great point. It has always been in secondary. I just don't have anything smaller than a 5 gallon for a secondary. Also this pumpkin ale had a spice tea that I made so I kinda had to secondary it. I may do the teas at bottling then. Can I bottle this? Im about to once I sanitize all the bottles.

I wouldn't bottle it yet- as the SG might keep dropping due to the lacto infection.
 
Ug. This saddens me. Bottle bombs? How's about stovetop pasteurizing them after they are carbed? Would that help or hurt?
 
You are getting an infection from somewhere, it seems that it is being introduced after primary, are you certain everything that touches the brew after cooling is being sanitized? Do you use anything (utensils, buckets, measuring devices, etc) from your pre-cooling process in your wort/brew after the cooling process without sanitizing it? If it is just from the air in your secondary, then it is one very healthy bug or very abundant. This will happen to me/for me in the cellar but only if the fermentor is open for an extended period of time.:mug:
 
Ya I don't know man. I am very careful in my opinion. That's why twice is confusing to me. How much air space is ok? All the way to the top?
 
MedicMang said:
Ya I don't know man. I am very careful in my opinion. That's why twice is confusing to me. How much air space is ok? All the way to the top?

There is a fill line on the three piece airlocks that I use. I just make sure I keep it topped up to that. the s shape airlocks I am not sure about since I do not use them.
 
No, we're not talking about the airlocks.

A huge space in "secondary" (more properly called a bright tank or clearing vessel) means oxygen is in the headspace. That allows oxygen-loving bacteria and mold to get a small grip, and then cause an infection. Usually it's lacto, but it could be pedio, brett, mold, etc.

It doesn't happen in primary due to the c02 pushing out of the fermentation vessel, and c02 is hostile to microbes. But after fermentation is over, a big headspace makes a beer (or wine, or cider) more vulnerable.

I'm a winemaker more than a brewer, and the wine is always topped up to the bung once fermentation ends.

That's not easy with beer, when your volume is less than the carboy holds. That's why I rarely rack to a clearing vessel, and keep the beer for 2 weeks or so in the fermenter and then simply package unless adding oak or fruit or another reason to need a secondary.
 
I use a 6 gallon carboy for a secondary with my 5 gallon batches and have only had one infection due to a bad air lock that let stuff in because of a crack. I replaced that and the problem went away. You could always bleach bomb and pbw wash everything beyond that not sure.
 
I will not be clearing any longer. Thanks for the advice everyone. So disappointing when you poor so much love and effort into it.
 
Is it waxy, for lack of a better term? If you disturb the carboy, does it form rafts? It looks like an acetobacter infection from here. The headspace would have something to do with this, as acetobacter feeds on alcohol only in the presence of oxygen. Good news if it is acetobacter, you can bottle it. You'll get a ring on top, and they may gush, but your gravity won't drop and you won't have bottle bombs.
 
Guys. This thread is from like 2 years ago. I got this. All of my brews have been killer since the next batch after the pictured one. I bought everything new and started using Sun oxygen cleaner. There was a lot of things that I needed to do better. I have really stepped up my game quite a bit since then. Thanks for the attempt at helping though. I do appreciate the people on this forum trying to help others, even if it's two years ago.


Sent from Cheese Doodle Land.
 
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