Infected!!!

[Onescalerguy]

3 maybe 4 batches gone bad in a row after 21 good ones.What gives?Band-aid type of taste.......sadness,sadness,sadness .

 

[EdWort]

Sorry, but I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to sanitation. The results are no wacked batches of brew.

 

[uwmgdman]

What do you use for sanitizing? Did you change 3 or 4 batches ago? According to Palmer:

Medicinal
These flavors are often described as mediciney, Band-Aid™ like, or can be spicy like cloves. The cause are various phenols which are initially produced by the yeast. Chlorophenols result from the reaction of chlorine-based sanitizers (bleach) with phenol compounds and have very low taste thresholds. Rinsing with boiled water after sanitizing is the best way to prevent these flavors.

Otherwise maybe start by looking at siphon tubing/bucket used for either primary or bottling for scratches.

I'm thankfully in the No category.

 

[t-dogg]

nice link b4b thanks

 

[Rook]

I'm a little premature saying none yet. I've got 2 under the belt and the third tomorrow. I think that santitation is pretty damned important though. primary gets a good soaking in Isophor before housing the wort, as does the secondary, as do the bottles and all associated equipment.

Its a pain in the ass, but no matter what its better than dumping 5 gallons of beer.

bandaids? yeckh. I can't imagine how bad that must be.

Must sanitize more....

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I may have an infected Maibock.. or it might be fermenting. I'm leaving it alone for another month before I even think about checking. All I know is that it's bubbling a little every now and again....

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

Yea, I'd check for a scratch in one of your fermenters. 3 or 4 in a row has got to be your equipment.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Yes. 3 in a row. Changed everything but the glass carboys. Know what the source was? God Damn air conditioning system. Even with my minimum exposure, there was enough bacteria in the air from the AC to cause a slow growing infection. Man did that piss me off.

AC vents are now OFF in the beer room (kitchen).

Not that I have the AC on now, in the winter ... lol

*thinks to self* "Damn, did I just blow the myth that Canada is an ice field 365 days a year? Oh god. we'll be invaded ..i just know it."
*pauses*
"Oh.. OH! OH GOD!!" *runs off to hide his beer*

 

[brewt00l]

Yes. 3 in a row. Changed everything but the glass carboys. Know what the source was? God Damn air conditioning system. Even with my minimum exposure, there was enough bacteria in the air from the AC to cause a slow growing infection. Man did that piss me off.

AC vents are now OFF in the beer room (kitchen).

Not that I have the AC on now, in the winter ... lol

*thinks to self* "Damn, did I just blow the myth that Canada is an ice field 365 days a year? Oh god. we'll be invaded ..i just know it."
*pauses*
"Oh.. OH! OH GOD!!" *runs off to hide his beer*

If it is infecting your brewing beer, you have to wonder what about your lungs? Any danger there?

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

If it is infecting your brewing beer, you have to wonder what about your lungs? Any danger there?

No. You have to have your prioroties straight. You don't have to worry about your lungs. You have to worry about your beer. You can always grow an extra set of lungs...

 

[FlyGuy]

I picked up an infection from a 'no-boil wort' kit once. They are more common up here in Canada, I think, but this one was 6 gallons of hopped wort that you just dump into a fermenter and add yeast. Sounds like a great system, but the wort wasn't pasteurized and the vendor wasn't storing the kits in a refridgerator like he was supposed to. Anyways, it was infected before I even poured it into my fermenter. Then I had three consecutive batches of bad beer after that until I through out my plastic fermenter and all my plastic hoses, canes, etc. It was a very unpleasant experience.

 

[knipknup]

So how did you conclude it was the AC? Did you have a test done or something?

 

[todd_k]

when was the last time you changed your hoses?

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I realised it was the ac when I read about a simular problem on another site. I closed all the ac vents in the basement and never had a problem. I then changed the ac/furncae filter to one of those expensive anti-allergy filters as well.

Also I did a batch that was not siphoned etc in the house. No infection.

This was driving me neust, becasue I am anal about santizing things.

Another thing that led me to belive it was the AC was that after replacing all the hoses etc, I siphoned a 10gal fermentor of beer that was brewed before AC season into a 1 5gall keg and the rest was left in the 10g fermentor with an airlock. that beer eventually developed signs of infection. It had been fine till then. So it had to be the air.

And actually most AC cultivates a lot of bacterial growth.

 

[EdWort]

I've always wondered about air-borne bacteria from the heating/cooling system, so I routinely cut off the AC or the heater, whichever is being used, when I rack or bottle, at least while any beer is exposed to the open air.

Me too. Anytime I'm handling yeast or after boil work, the system is turned off. So far, so good!

 

[knipknup]

Me too. Anytime I'm handling yeast or after boil work, the system is turned off. So far, so good!

It never would have crossed my mind but now that you mention it; big daddy P mentions in his book that air flow can cause infections in the section about yeast storage. I'm sure that is from experience.

 

[Torchiest]

I don't know if you're right or not about AC but it wouldn't surprise me.

I've always wondered about air-borne bacteria from the heating/cooling system, so I routinely cut off the AC or the heater, whichever is being used, when I rack or bottle, at least while any beer is exposed to the open air.

Yeah, I worry about that as well. Always turn the air off!

 

[boo boo]

I don't know if you're right or not about AC but it wouldn't surprise me.

I've always wondered about air-borne bacteria from the heating/cooling system, so I routinely cut off the AC or the heater, whichever is being used, when I rack or bottle, at least while any beer is exposed to the open air.

I have a warm air furnace and always turn it off before exposing my wort to the air. So far, so good.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

No AC in da house! Yea, that sucks in the summer, but great for brewing ..

 

[Evan!]

Sorry, but I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to sanitation. The results are no wacked batches of brew.

Don't matter how obsessive you are...wacked batches can happen to the best of us. I'm a sanitation freak like you...and I've had 2 batches go sour and overcarb'd. Probably lactobacillus or some other stray yeast. Sh*t happens. Consider yourself lucky that it hasn't happened to you .

 

[brewt00l]

No. You have to have your prioroties straight. You don't have to worry about your lungs. You have to worry about your beer. You can always grow an extra set of lungs...

yes I suppose you are right....you can always call your beer an LSB...legionnaire's special beer :cross:

 

[Buford]

My last batch was infected with ropiness. I'm not sure if it was infected out of the gate or whether it got infected after I opened the bucket in the bathroom that I use to clean out the cat box...

 

[david_42]

I had a ropy batch. Gross! It does not get any worse.

No problems since I moved to Oregon. No cats here, either.

 

[Tony]

I had one batch I brewed awhile back, which I believed was infected, but was proved wrong at a local brew pub. Originally, I had tasted and enjoyed a Dortmunder lager, and wanted to brew one. I couldnt find the recipe for the Dort I was drinking, but found a couple traditional Dortmunder recipes. After the lagering was through, and it was kegged, I just could not stand the taste. It was so different from what I had previously enjoyed, and to make a long story short, I dumped it. Yuck!

Last year, I went to a local brew pub restaurant, and they had some signature beers on tap. I saw they had a Dortmunder, and ordered it. My first taste shocked me as...yup, you guessed it, it was the same taste and aroma as what I had brewed, an had eventually dumped. I had brewed my Dortmunder, and hit the style right on the nose. I was bummed out for sure, but I cant lie, I really hate the taste. The lessons I learned was, next time I like a beer, make sure the recipe is one I actually will actually enjoy, and second, that my brewing process was fine.

 

[Torchiest]

Yeah, I've been paranoid about brewing a style that I don't really like. For example, most people go after APAs for their first batch, but I have yet to brew one, for the simple fact that I don't really care much for them, and don't want to be stuck with two cases of beer that I'd rather not have. On the one hand, it seems like, eventually, you should try to brew every style at least once, but on the other hand, just brew what you like. The funny thing is, I'm actually somewhat at a loss as to what to brew next. :cross:

 

[brewt00l]

Yeah, I've been paranoid about brewing a style that I don't really like.

Fortunately there are very few styles that I dislike so I have plenty of leeway when brewing. I have done a couple brews for friends that were fond of a beer that I wasn't just to brew it.

So far, I haven't had any trouble giving away homebrew.

 

[twocylndr]

3 maybe 4 batches gone bad in a row after 21 good ones.What gives?Band-aid type of taste

If you use chlorox (et al) for a sanitizer; you need to thoroughly rinse with boiled water...Chlorine will give a medicinal taste.
I used to use chlorox. I would leave it in my primary bucket over night. Everything got atleast a 2 hour soaking in the chlorox.

 

[BarleyWater]

I changed some water in my fish tank one time waiting for my boil to finish. I then realized what a ******* idea that was, and ended up boiling an extra 10 minutes or so because i needed to resanitize everything, includng myself. That stuff is FULL of bacteria.