gbuttar
Member
*warning, EXTREMELY long post ahead*
Hello
I am new to brewing and to this forum, and recently finished my second batch, a Honey Basil Ale (http://www.tastybrew.com/newrcp/detail/507) an extract with steeped grains. My first batch, a very simple extract pale ale went very smoothly (no off flavors). I am fairly certain however that this batch has some sort of infection (sorry, don't have any pics)
First noticed it in my secondary just before bottling an almost invisible thin film. Smelled and tasted great so I racked from under it anyway and bottled it most of the film stuck to the sides of the glass carboy I was racking out of. I came very close to my calculated OG and FG. After about a few days in bottles, the film reappeared (translucent frosty film, around neck of ALL bottles about ¼ up past the liquid) opened one, slightly carbonated, with a mild sour taste. Approx 2.5 weeks, the film is gone on some bottles (I dont know if it dropped out or got washed out when I moved my boxes of bottles while rearranging), although the sour taste had gotten MUCH more distinct (barely drinkable). Not vinegary, more of an overpowering acidic sour taste.
I followed the recipe exactly, and fermented 2 weeks my primary (plastic ale pale) and 2 weeks in my secondary (glass carboy) before bottling, with tap water filled airlocks in place. All my equipment is new except my fermenters (from a friend, both in excellent shape, no serious scratches on the plastic). I did a partial boil which I topped off in the primary, all water store bought spring water. I cooled the hot water quickly in an ice bath (15 mins or so), and pitched the vile without a starter (about 75 degrees) and had fairly vigorous fermentation quickly
Im not tossing the bad beer yet, I plan on sitting on it for a while to see how bad it gets. Im posting because Im worried that I may have a problem other than basic sanitation, because I think I go way overboard already.
I've been using regular dish soap and iodophor, making a fresh 5 gallon batch or so each time and completely submerging/filling all equipment. My grains were milled at my LHBS, and I do not siphon by mouth (primed it with iodophor).
There were only a few things that concerned me with regards to possible infection sources. The turkey baster and strainer I used for sampling/straining wort were previously used in the kitchen for their respective originally intended purposes, although I cleaned and sanitized both before use. I also noticed condensation on my kitchen fume hood during the boil dripping back into my wort, although I would think that any nasties that might have been picked up would be killed upon falling back into the boil.
My plan:
-replacing all cheap plastics
-no secondary going forward (just glass primary)
-switching to oxiclean and starsan
-bleach bombing (bleach-water-vinegar carefully following mixing instructions) everything that Im not throwing away
-purchasing a wine thief and autosiphon (versus used turkey baster and racking cane)
-using a grain bag and funnel to filter instead of spaghetti strainer
-filling airlocks with starsan going forward
-getting desk fan to help ventilate my stove area
Do you guys think that I may have an issue other than basic sanitation? With how thorough I think Ive been, Im just afraid of buying all new plastics just to infect them again with a new bad batch. Should I be worried about a house bug/airborne contamination? Im fairly certain that I was as careful as I could be regarding contact contamination. Any suggestions for additions to my action plan would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for helping out a nervous noobie, sorry about the seemingly endless post
-Gus
Hello
I am new to brewing and to this forum, and recently finished my second batch, a Honey Basil Ale (http://www.tastybrew.com/newrcp/detail/507) an extract with steeped grains. My first batch, a very simple extract pale ale went very smoothly (no off flavors). I am fairly certain however that this batch has some sort of infection (sorry, don't have any pics)
First noticed it in my secondary just before bottling an almost invisible thin film. Smelled and tasted great so I racked from under it anyway and bottled it most of the film stuck to the sides of the glass carboy I was racking out of. I came very close to my calculated OG and FG. After about a few days in bottles, the film reappeared (translucent frosty film, around neck of ALL bottles about ¼ up past the liquid) opened one, slightly carbonated, with a mild sour taste. Approx 2.5 weeks, the film is gone on some bottles (I dont know if it dropped out or got washed out when I moved my boxes of bottles while rearranging), although the sour taste had gotten MUCH more distinct (barely drinkable). Not vinegary, more of an overpowering acidic sour taste.
I followed the recipe exactly, and fermented 2 weeks my primary (plastic ale pale) and 2 weeks in my secondary (glass carboy) before bottling, with tap water filled airlocks in place. All my equipment is new except my fermenters (from a friend, both in excellent shape, no serious scratches on the plastic). I did a partial boil which I topped off in the primary, all water store bought spring water. I cooled the hot water quickly in an ice bath (15 mins or so), and pitched the vile without a starter (about 75 degrees) and had fairly vigorous fermentation quickly
Im not tossing the bad beer yet, I plan on sitting on it for a while to see how bad it gets. Im posting because Im worried that I may have a problem other than basic sanitation, because I think I go way overboard already.
I've been using regular dish soap and iodophor, making a fresh 5 gallon batch or so each time and completely submerging/filling all equipment. My grains were milled at my LHBS, and I do not siphon by mouth (primed it with iodophor).
There were only a few things that concerned me with regards to possible infection sources. The turkey baster and strainer I used for sampling/straining wort were previously used in the kitchen for their respective originally intended purposes, although I cleaned and sanitized both before use. I also noticed condensation on my kitchen fume hood during the boil dripping back into my wort, although I would think that any nasties that might have been picked up would be killed upon falling back into the boil.
My plan:
-replacing all cheap plastics
-no secondary going forward (just glass primary)
-switching to oxiclean and starsan
-bleach bombing (bleach-water-vinegar carefully following mixing instructions) everything that Im not throwing away
-purchasing a wine thief and autosiphon (versus used turkey baster and racking cane)
-using a grain bag and funnel to filter instead of spaghetti strainer
-filling airlocks with starsan going forward
-getting desk fan to help ventilate my stove area
Do you guys think that I may have an issue other than basic sanitation? With how thorough I think Ive been, Im just afraid of buying all new plastics just to infect them again with a new bad batch. Should I be worried about a house bug/airborne contamination? Im fairly certain that I was as careful as I could be regarding contact contamination. Any suggestions for additions to my action plan would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for helping out a nervous noobie, sorry about the seemingly endless post
-Gus
