Contamination...

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RichN

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:(:( Had my 1st batchof beer I had to empty the bottles and party pig because of comtamination. Local Brew store owner who is very brew smart tasted and said it was bad. I rinsed out all the bottles. I want to clean, should I use PWB or Oxiclean? If Oxiclean what ratio? Then should I sanitize with StarSan or Dishwasher on sanitize (W/O soap)? :(:(
 
I find it hard to believe you infected your first batch. Unless you left the top off your fermentor or didn't sanitize, your LHBS guy was probably wrong.

How old was the beer? How long had it aged? What was the recipe? Some beers take awhile to mellow...and it's possible that maybe he tasted off flavors that hadn't had time to mellow yet.

As far as cleaning. If you actually did have an infection... I'd replace anything plastic. Everything that can be boiled (hard plastics, SS, glass, etc.) should be boiled for 15-20 minutes to kill bacteria. I would also suggest changing your sanitizer brand if you did infact sanitize the first batch...just to be safe.
 
I vote for Oxi-clean soak and a warm water rinse,

I use one scoop of Oxi-clean with 3 gallons of warm water in a 5 gallon bucket, fill the bottles with the solution and let them soak for at least 24 hours.

After the soak, be sure to vigorously rinse the bottles in hot water or run through a sanitized dishwasher.

and Join the cool team and get some Star-San, I have had the same 32 oz bottle of Star-San for over 2 years now, it is a great investment.
 
I also doubt that your first beer was infected but too late now. Did you buy the ingredient kit from your LHBS? I would be more suspicious that your were sold inferior ingredients and bad instructions.

Oxyclean soak to clean and Star San has seen me through many years of brewing. If you are sure it was infected, clean with oxyclean, rinse, bleach bomb, rinse, then carry on with your brewing.
 
Thanks for Info. I miscommunicated. This was not my 1st batch of brew(5th batch), It was my 1st batch that got contaminated. It was a Honey Lager kit I bought from my LHBS. I will use Oxiclean to clean everything. Only problem I already used the same BB Carboy's for fermenting and 2nd stage for a Cocoa Porter. I hope that what ever the problem was will be cleaned with PBW and sanitizinf w/StarSan.
 

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