Just lost my second 10 gal batch to fruit flies,days before kegging

[jolsen]

Just very sad to announce this,but I think I’ve learnt my lesson.i should’ve never went with a loose lid bucket, and just stuck with my other Carboys and air locks. Only my second attempt with this bucket, this time I thought apple cider vinegar would possibly keep them from getting to my beer, but once again,10 gallons will go down the drain tomorrow. It’ll be another sad day

 

[brewbama]

You’ve come this far. Keg it and see what happens. What have you got to lose?

 

[madscientist451]

I agree w/brewbama. A few fruit flies isn't a reason to dump it.
Or are there thousands of them in there?
Any reason you're using a bucket with a loose lid?

 

[jolsen]

Well I wanted a larger fermentor, had read a lot of posts saying no problem with loose lid buckets. Tried it the first time almost a year ago, had to leave town, when I got back it was a fruit fly frenzy. Did some more reading, thought to myself if I put out a few apple cider vinegar traps it should be ok. For the most part it was working. I left town to take the kids to hockey again, came home late last night to be find that I can see about a dozen below the opaque lid crawling around. I will be opening tonight, once kegs are cleaned/sanitized because I’ve got another full day of kids hockey. Maybe I will try to pull the top layer with a turkey baster and see what happens, but with the number flying around,I’ll prob get a lot more once the lid is wide open and I start to syphon

 

[Pappers_]

No advantage to using a loose lid that I can think of, except ease of opening I guess. Definitely get a bucket with a lid that fits on it, with a gasket.

 

[smurfjuice]

No advantage to using a loose lid that I can think of, except ease of opening I guess. Definitely get a bucket with a lid that fits on it, with a gasket.

+1

 

[Kee]

I use a loose lid. But I put a large garbage bag (with a clip to close it) around the plastic bucket to keep insects out.
Not that I had problems, just as a precaution.

 

[MaxStout]

In the meantime, wrap some electrical or duct tape around the edge of the lid to prevent more flies from getting in.

 

[cubalz]

Let me tell you, I would filter those flies out when transferring it to a keg and drink that stuff. They may even help head retention from the additional protein.

 

[jolsen]

Well, kegged it up today, it had an off taste but some of that may have been in my head. There was a couple dozen floating on top and I really couldn’t tell how many were in the trub on the bottom. I’ll just try to drink it up ASAP. Thanks for the tips, I think that’s the last time I use that fermentation bucket

 

[soccerdad]

Crikey, how much did they drink?