Aloha_Brew
Well-Known Member
It has been over five months now since my kegging world turned upside down. I had moved and mistakenly left some residual beer in two of my Corny kegs, while a third one was empty. The ones with beer in them were kept for a few days at temperatures above 80 degrees inadvertently and led to the beer spoiling, turning into a vinegary mess that was undrinkable, even though they were sealed the whole time. I thoroughly cleaned them with some elbow grease (using dishwashing soap and a scrubbing sponge) and replaced all gaskets before StarSan was applied to both.
Two months later I brewed up a Scotch at about 8% and an Irish Red at about 4.5%. I tasted them before putting them in the keg and they tasted great. After two or three days in the kegs I started to drink the Irish Red and noticed a distinct difference, that had a similar vinegary taste mentioned before. The fridge it they were in was kept at 40 degrees. This didn't halt the infection from further destroying my beer until it again became undrinkable, to include little white flecks of something that were easily seen as I dispensed it and a slight opaque film on the top of the liquid when I opened the keg to sample from the top. I tasted the scotch and it had a fainter taste of the vinegar flavor, but remained somewhat drinkable.
Round 2. I purchased some PBW and brushes to fit into the keg's smaller tubes and cleaned the ever-living daylights out of it. I soaked all the parts in PBW over 24 hours in hot water, including the rubber poppet-valves and the dispensing hoses, and soaked everything in StarSan (even turning the kegs over halfway and draining a bit off to ensure everything was whetted). I brewed an Imperial IPA at 101 IBU and an Oktoberfest lager. I put the Oktoberfest in the keg I had used for the Irish Red and the IPA in the one that had the Scotch. I had left the IPA in the keg for about a week at room temperature to dry hop it and had the Oktoberfest lager in the other keg for about 4 weeks at 40 degrees.
I went to taste the Oktoberfest recently and noticed again that same vinegary taste. It is undrinkable. I had put some in a separate growler, so I know it's not the beer itself. The IPA also developed a slight vinegar taste but has remained somewhat drinkable so far. So, I'm just wanting some feedback to see if anyone has experienced similar things before and has beat these beasties into submission somehow. The only thing I haven't done so far is to attempt to sterilize with boiling water, bleach and water solution, or steam/ autoclave (to which I have no idea how to accomplish it even if I wasn't afraid it would render the attached rubber/ plastic completely useless).
I believe this is an acetobacter infection. This is due to the symptoms (vinegar flavor that develops into an undrinkable solution and white flakes) and the fact that I have seen a few dead fruit flies, that are known carriers, magically appear in the same freezer after a few days of not opening it. However, I cannot believe it is remaining and active through an airborne path, as that same logic would indicate that anything in that freezer should also be affected. The beer from the fermenters I have placed in there and my third keg remain unaffected by this though. So, the only conclusion I can come up with is that my cleaning methods are not good enough, even though all other resources state that it should be. I just want to stop creating vinegar and go back to making beer and am almost at the point of throwing these two kegs out.
I do plan on making a Flander's Red and a lambic here soon, but with these past ones turning into almost pure vinegar I sincerely doubt that these would anything but ruinous to my prolonged efforts. I know enough to recognize that sour might be good but vinegar is very bad. Yet this bastard infection continues to survive with higher alcohol levels and high IBUs and low temperatures. Early on even, after I had initially applied StarSan both times and let the kegs sit, I also detected a slight vinegary scent even with the sanitizing agent still obviously present. That second round I sanitized it again with StarSan and didn't smell the vinegar scent after another couple days of waiting, so I thought I'd beaten it. I realize this is pretty drawn out and apologize for the rant! I'll go back to drinking my vinegar beer now...
Two months later I brewed up a Scotch at about 8% and an Irish Red at about 4.5%. I tasted them before putting them in the keg and they tasted great. After two or three days in the kegs I started to drink the Irish Red and noticed a distinct difference, that had a similar vinegary taste mentioned before. The fridge it they were in was kept at 40 degrees. This didn't halt the infection from further destroying my beer until it again became undrinkable, to include little white flecks of something that were easily seen as I dispensed it and a slight opaque film on the top of the liquid when I opened the keg to sample from the top. I tasted the scotch and it had a fainter taste of the vinegar flavor, but remained somewhat drinkable.
Round 2. I purchased some PBW and brushes to fit into the keg's smaller tubes and cleaned the ever-living daylights out of it. I soaked all the parts in PBW over 24 hours in hot water, including the rubber poppet-valves and the dispensing hoses, and soaked everything in StarSan (even turning the kegs over halfway and draining a bit off to ensure everything was whetted). I brewed an Imperial IPA at 101 IBU and an Oktoberfest lager. I put the Oktoberfest in the keg I had used for the Irish Red and the IPA in the one that had the Scotch. I had left the IPA in the keg for about a week at room temperature to dry hop it and had the Oktoberfest lager in the other keg for about 4 weeks at 40 degrees.
I went to taste the Oktoberfest recently and noticed again that same vinegary taste. It is undrinkable. I had put some in a separate growler, so I know it's not the beer itself. The IPA also developed a slight vinegar taste but has remained somewhat drinkable so far. So, I'm just wanting some feedback to see if anyone has experienced similar things before and has beat these beasties into submission somehow. The only thing I haven't done so far is to attempt to sterilize with boiling water, bleach and water solution, or steam/ autoclave (to which I have no idea how to accomplish it even if I wasn't afraid it would render the attached rubber/ plastic completely useless).
I believe this is an acetobacter infection. This is due to the symptoms (vinegar flavor that develops into an undrinkable solution and white flakes) and the fact that I have seen a few dead fruit flies, that are known carriers, magically appear in the same freezer after a few days of not opening it. However, I cannot believe it is remaining and active through an airborne path, as that same logic would indicate that anything in that freezer should also be affected. The beer from the fermenters I have placed in there and my third keg remain unaffected by this though. So, the only conclusion I can come up with is that my cleaning methods are not good enough, even though all other resources state that it should be. I just want to stop creating vinegar and go back to making beer and am almost at the point of throwing these two kegs out.
I do plan on making a Flander's Red and a lambic here soon, but with these past ones turning into almost pure vinegar I sincerely doubt that these would anything but ruinous to my prolonged efforts. I know enough to recognize that sour might be good but vinegar is very bad. Yet this bastard infection continues to survive with higher alcohol levels and high IBUs and low temperatures. Early on even, after I had initially applied StarSan both times and let the kegs sit, I also detected a slight vinegary scent even with the sanitizing agent still obviously present. That second round I sanitized it again with StarSan and didn't smell the vinegar scent after another couple days of waiting, so I thought I'd beaten it. I realize this is pretty drawn out and apologize for the rant! I'll go back to drinking my vinegar beer now...