Gnats shut down my brewing

[ncbrewer]

I was planning to brew a week ago but have held off because the house has been invaded by gnats (or fruit flies, etc.). I brew indoors. I think if gnats get into the wort before the fermenter is sealed, it would create a nasty, infected beer. Has anybody else postponed brewing because of gnats?

BTW I have jars of apple cider vinegar with a drop of dish soap set out - they're working well at collecting the gnats. They should be gone soon, I hope.

 

[JonM]

Have you found the source? That's step one.

SWMBO puts the trimmings from our tomato bushes in the garage garbage and sometimes it gets full of fruit flies. I just change the bag and they go away. Sometimes I leave the empty can outside when I brew, just in case there are any flies lingering around.

 

[oceanic_brew]

I've never read so many fruit fly problems on HBT before this year.

I hate them, I have traps everywhere, meticulous about cleaning and they still manage to find their way out as soon as I open a bucket of beer.

They carry acetobacter, acetobacter likes alcohol!!! It's the worse!!!

 

[oceanic_brew]

To date I've (they've) ruined a full batch of beer and a 800 billion yeast starter.

 

[20grit]

Put a drop of dish soap in a bowl. Pour some apple cider vinegar in with it. Cover with saran wrap. Use a tooth pick to poke holes in the saran wrap. You'll have trapped fruit flies within a couple hours.

 

[ncbrewer]

JonM: I can't find a specific source. Keeping traps around, and sprayed the trash can lid with Off after cleaning it out well.

20grit: Yes - these work well - I'm catching lots of them with the traps.

This is the worst year I can remember for gnats.

 

[schiersteinbrewing]

This is the worst year I can remember for gnats.

I hear ya on that one. I finally got fed up with them, it was a full blown infestation, that I set off foggers in the house. I decreased their numbers significantly, still have 2-3 show up from time to time they end up dead in the Apple Cider Vinegar/dish soap trap. I'm worried now that I have some mead fermenting in the house they will show back up.

 

[Kerrbrewer]

I was having a problem with them too! They killed one of my starters too! I postponed a brew and bottled a previous batch. I use a wallpaper tray to sanitize my racking cane, forgot to dump it back in the bucket. It was full of them in the morning. Appears they like starsan too.

 

[shortyz]

my taps on my beer fridge are excellent at killing those little buggers.