I just made a batch of Cooper's blonde ale on Friday night and it is infected. It smells like vinegar and has a definite vinegar taste, the same as my previous batch. I'm using a Cooper's fermenter for my primary. After I dumped the last batch I soaked the fermenter overnight in hot concentrated Oxyclean solution. That dissolved the little bit of krausen that formed. I then rinsed it with really hot water and washed it with One Step and a soft (clean) sponge and soaked the spigot, spoon and my wine thief (it is easier to use for hydrometer samples than the spigot) in One Step. Lastly I made several gallons of StarSan and shook the crap out of the fermenter. I let it dry and I put it together and out of the way for a few weeks covered and closed up.
For this batch I cleaned everything again with One Step and sanitized it all with freshly made StarSan I made with distilled water. I rehydrated my yeast (US-05) in distilled water I heated in my microwave. EVERYTHING that came into contact with the yeast and wort were cleaned and sanitized. I even cleaned and sanitized the scissors and can opener and the top of the Cooper's can lid. I used brand new 1 gallon bottles of spring water.
I know a lot of people swear plastic is more trouble that it is worth, but quite a few say otherwise, so I'm not sure who to believe. Could it be that I have a scratch that is harboring something or maybe there is something in the environment? I turned the furnace off when I made this to keep dust from moving around in the air. I poured most of the water into the fermenter and stirred it in my basement so maybe it is something down there? I made sure to put the lid on in between taking a hydrometer sample and pitching the yeast. The yeast sat covered upstairs under aluminum foil I sprayed well with StarSan.
I've got another kit I want to try but I only have 5 gallon carboys I use for secondary and for wine/cider and and ale pale that I use as my bottling bucket (no spigot, I just use an autosiphon with bottle filler). I haven't made wine in a while so I can't use it as comparison. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of the problem before I blow another $30 and SWMBO gets fed up.
For this batch I cleaned everything again with One Step and sanitized it all with freshly made StarSan I made with distilled water. I rehydrated my yeast (US-05) in distilled water I heated in my microwave. EVERYTHING that came into contact with the yeast and wort were cleaned and sanitized. I even cleaned and sanitized the scissors and can opener and the top of the Cooper's can lid. I used brand new 1 gallon bottles of spring water.
I know a lot of people swear plastic is more trouble that it is worth, but quite a few say otherwise, so I'm not sure who to believe. Could it be that I have a scratch that is harboring something or maybe there is something in the environment? I turned the furnace off when I made this to keep dust from moving around in the air. I poured most of the water into the fermenter and stirred it in my basement so maybe it is something down there? I made sure to put the lid on in between taking a hydrometer sample and pitching the yeast. The yeast sat covered upstairs under aluminum foil I sprayed well with StarSan.
I've got another kit I want to try but I only have 5 gallon carboys I use for secondary and for wine/cider and and ale pale that I use as my bottling bucket (no spigot, I just use an autosiphon with bottle filler). I haven't made wine in a while so I can't use it as comparison. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of the problem before I blow another $30 and SWMBO gets fed up.