15 gallons...

[AltitudeJunkie]

...is how much beer I've had to throw away today.

I started brewing a couple of months ago, and have been doing 2 and 3 gallon batches to try and get some decent recipes of my own before I build a big brew rig. Things were going well, and the few 'green' bottles I tasted were pretty nice. So I cracked a bottle that's 6 weeks old today...

And it tasted like vinegar and cold medicine mixed. Disgusting. Cracked a few more and the rest of the batch did, too. Down the drain it goes.

So I tried another, slightly younger batch and it had much the same taste. Samr with the next batch, and the next. Even bottles that are only a couple of weeks old taste like cough medicine with a hint of vinegar. Search HBT and it seems it's an infection causing phenols in my ales. Boo! Damn bacteria!

So, in conclusion, I'm blaming poor sterilization (and I thought I was doing it right) and I think it's the tubing that's the problem since it's the one thing all my batches have in common so far. Any idea how to properly steralise a racking cane and tube?

Gutted.

AJ

(I can't even RDWHAHB since I've poured most of it away!)

 

[woollybugger2]

I clean mine IMMEDIATELY after using with warm water and then it goes in the bucket with oxy-clean, rinsed and dried off and stored. Before use I rinse again and then spray down with Star San.

You should check everything in you system and do a through sanitation of all equipment. New tubing is cheap!

 

[Hopmunky]

Throw it away and buy a new one. If it's contaminated it's not worth taking the chance on another batch. This goes for tubing and any other cheap plastic parts that scratch and discolor.