Infection: the best thing that ever happened to me

I've hardly said anything about this in the past. It's like having to stand up at an AA meeting.

My name is Trevor. I had an infection.

I had to pitch 25 gallons of beer due to my insanitary practices. I had to go to the doctor, and he pushed an umbrella down the eye of my penis. He then told me I was infected.

Logic told me that my infection was due to pouring in the fermenter where I mill my grain. I regret that I had not listened to Yooper, who had warned me many times about this practice.....I can only assume that she learned this the hard way too....She was most likely doing it anywhere, all the time with any system that pleased her at the time.


No more! I have learned my lesson. I have moved my mill to outside of my brewing area. Since that move, I have been blessed by the virtues of many sweet thinglies that tempt my tastes buds and satiate my every need, even if it is always ME that has to swallow.

Moral of the story? Don't crap where you eat. Follow the yooper and move that mill!

Solid advice.

I recently visited a brewery that has their mill ~10ft from their kettle/tun and no more than 25ft from the fermenters. I thought it was quite odd that there was no separation.

Milling is a dusty process that spreads the "love" around.

I don't get it. Were you pitching into an unsanitized bucket you were milling in earlier?

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

I had to go to the doctor, and he pushed an umbrella down the eye of my penis.

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Sounds fun.

:rockin:

I don't know how my name came up in the same paragraph as a doctor sticking something in your penis, but I'd probably rather not know. {shrug}

But, not milling where I ferment is not something I learned first-hand. My more experienced brewing brothers and sisters passed on that tip to me.

My mill is in the basement.

The local brewpub mills right into their mash tun. I'm thinking of doing this as well, since the output is confined to the mash tun it doesn't float around. Currently I get a fair bit of dust when I pour into the mash tun that I'm worried about. No problems yet but...

Yeah, malted barley is covered in lacto, you don't want that dust anywhere near your post boil product/fermenters!

Glad to hear the infection is cleared up, I hope the cure didn't involve an umbrella also....

My mill is in the garage and sometimes gets used on the back patio. Fermenting etc happens in the basement

I had no idea that was a bad thing. The grain, not the umbrella. I sanitized the hell outta the bucket after using it to collect crushed grain. My first all grain. First time I've been a little frightened to open it up. Oh well, thats how ya learn.

oh the drama.

I mill mine at the brew store. The place i get my grains is really good about letting us use their mill. It's a bit more difficult to carry, but I don't like to leave milled grains around the house that long anyway. Or even whole grains for that matter. I figure the brew store is the best storage facility for me.

If he didn't have to open the umbrella there is nothing to complain about.

conpewter said:

The local brewpub mills right into their mash tun.

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I do this. I also ride my bike without a helmet. Oh, and I RDWHAHB very often!

conpewter said:

The local brewpub mills right into their mash tun. I'm thinking of doing this as well, since the output is confined to the mash tun it doesn't float around. Currently I get a fair bit of dust when I pour into the mash tun that I'm worried about. No problems yet but...

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Grain dust in and around the mash tun = no worries. It's the post-boil stuff you need to keep away from the milling.

I ride bikes without a helmet, motorcycles... always a helmet, and I run if the doc gets out an umbrella.

Edit:

FlyingHorse said:

Grain dust in and around the mash tun = no worries. It's the post-boil stuff you need to keep away from the milling.

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True, but I mash and boil in the same room, as does the brewpub of course. I do heat sanitize everything but the fermenter during the boil.

I have been worried about this (the grain part, not the doc) and now I'm wondering if there is even a way I can prevent these two worlds from colliding. I store everything in the garage, which is also often where I mill (can't really mill anywhere else), and ferment. So, sometimes, there is grain dust on EVERYTHING: stored equipment, bottles, fermenters, you name it. Never IN a fermenter, and I am bloody careful about cleaning this all up and sanitising, but it's a bit like dumping kool-aid all over your carpet, it's everywhere and there is no turning back!

Jeez I dunno. I mill into my fermenter or bottling bucket depending upon what's already in use, but I clean the hell out of it and sanitize it right after I use it. I suppose I could go get a separate bucket for milling, but my wife is ready to kill me as things stand now.

Yeah I don't like to mill in the brewing garage so I do it inside the house and then bring the bucket out. Of course some grain dust kicks up when I dough in but that's life and life is risky sometimes.

how can the infection be the best thing that ever happened to you because it prevents future infections,

If you never got an infection, well, you would have never gotten an infection

0 infections > 1 infection

Its like saying "getting hit by a car was the best thing that ever happened to me because it taught me to look both ways before I crossed"

Orangevango said:

Its like saying "getting hit by a car was the best thing that ever happened to me because it taught me to look both ways before I crossed"

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Hey, any lesson I survive, I tend to learn the lesson.

I mill either outside or sometimes in my dining room. All far away from where I ferment or where any post boil wort would happen to be.