It's Brett, what do I do now?

In my other thread, odd krausen, I posted a picture of my infected batch. I did more research and it is brettanomyces. So do I need to throw out the better bottle, racking cane, tubing and anything else I used on it?

You do not need to throw anything out, just don't store it with all of your other gear. If it is plastic or a porous item then it will need to be stashed with the better bottle and bung. If you think your batch was infected at the time of transfer then I will dedicate the racking cane and tubing for sours as well. This might end up being a really good beer and you might want to do more of them. I have my better bottle and other plastic items set to the side so they don't mix with my other non-sour fermentors.

I don't plan on letting it continue to be a sour per se, I am going to keg it soon and drink it. I never make sour beers and I don't even like the taste of them, so I don't need equipment for sours. Anyone in the pensacola area want some free gear?

Brett by itself won't sour a beer. Souring is done by other organisms. Depending upon what kind of brett you have in there, you may range from slightly fruity in the aroma to all out funky. It'll also take months to get to that state, so don't feel you have to drink this by tomorrow. Bottle a few uncarbed, and try them in 6 months. You may even find you like it.

Heat is the best way to kill these things, so heat what you can. Plastics that can't take the heat, well, I'd just replace them if they're the cheap kind. Buy a stainless racking cane, too, just in case this happens again. It'll save you money in the long run.

What was your "other research?"

You really can't tell what an organism (or fermenter, in this case) is by mere inspection or looks alone.

Well I racked to a secondary and managed to leave all the old stuff in the primary. I will let it sit a few days to let the east drop. it is already down to 1.008 on hydrometer. I'll check again in a few days then probably keg it. as for the better bottle, I think I'm gonna get rid of it.

Other research was looking at tons of pictures on this forum. The beer tasted fine when I pulled the sample out.

milesvdustin said:

The beer tasted fine when I pulled the sample out.

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This. RDWHAHB

why do you think its brett? brett is usually rope-y looking.

Most of the pictures I found with a thick whitish film and bubbles were identified as brett for the most part.

As I've already said, trying to identify an "infection" visually is fruitless.

Well I don't have a microscope and a masters in microbiology, so I guess we won't know then.


And if you don't have any advice besides saying I can't identify an infection visually and not provide ways to ether identify it or salvage the batch (read: useful information) then get out of this thread, nobody likes an EAC.

Pour 180* water into the better bottle. If it survives it will be suitable for non sour use.

My brother's name is Brett

tesilential said:

Pour 180* water into the better bottle. If it survives it will be suitable for non sour use.

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I went with a diluted bleach then oxyclean then starsan washing. I am not worried about the better bottle anymore. I tossed the racking cane, hose, and stopper I used last time. That hot of water would make it melt like whoa.

I agree with others, you will not know what the infection is just by looking. In fact, if it is an infection there are probably more than one single organism infecting the beer.

You should definitely keg and drink it as soon as possible before the flavor starts to change. You may also need to thoroughly clean your keg lines after you kick that keg.

milesvdustin said:

Well I don't have a microscope and a masters in microbiology, so I guess we won't know then.


And if you don't have any advice besides saying I can't identify an infection visually and not provide ways to ether identify it or salvage the batch (read: useful information) then get out of this thread, nobody likes an EAC.

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Well, I figured it was useful information and added to the discussion even though it wasn't directed at your specific question. There's tons of threads around these parts along these lines "there's a film on my beer, what is it?" or "Look at this odd krausen, it's Lacto, right?" which then results in lots of people coming in and giving their $0.02 when no one really knows what it is. I actually am a biochemist, so I'd figure I'd offer my knowledge and try to better the forum a little bit.

I work on avionics in the military, so my biology background is limited! Regardless, I racked it into a secondary yesterday and left all that filmy crap behind. I am probably just gonna go ahead and keg it today or tomorrow and see what happens. Those threads you mention are probably the same ones I went through all day. Sorry for jumping the gun, I was just super pissed that my first batch where I tried to do everything so perfectly MIGHT have some infection on it. And some people might actually like an EAC! (Not saying you are one, however!)

milesvdustin said:

Well I don't have a microscope and a masters in microbiology, so I guess we won't know then.


And if you don't have any advice besides saying I can't identify an infection visually and not provide ways to ether identify it or salvage the batch (read: useful information) then get out of this thread, nobody likes an EAC.

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saying you can't visually identify brett is helpful to this thread.

It's all good. Tone of voice is difficult to convey over the internet.

Learning good sanitation habits is easily one of the hardest parts of homebrewing. It's so easy to overlook one tiny detail that turns out to have been the problem all along. A hose, airborne particles, not enough contact time with the sanitizer solution, there are a hundred things to check and double check when you are trying to pinpoint the source of an infection.

Best of luck in resolving it. You did the right thing by racking, leaving the layer behind, and attempting to save (and then consume) the beer while it's still fresh. You're gonna be fine.

Chlorine based sanitizer or bleach should work fine. We use some on the filler at work, then blast it with hot water. After that we do a bioluminesence (sp?) test and usually get a reading of 0... aka take that nature, I laugh at your puny bacteria / fungus.

Chriso, your airlock Sig is funny as hell! And I checked the gravity again, holding steady at 1.008 still. I'll check again Saturday and see, probably keg it anyways. I think I'm gonna go ahead and crash cool it now and keg after.

In other news, my latest ipa is Damn tasty, dry hop in the keg.