separating equipment

[user 108580]

Ok, I get that when I make a sour I need to use that equipment solely for sour brewing from that point on, but do I need to store said equipment from the rest of my "normal" brewing equipment? What about fermenting side by side (a wild next to an ale)?

Thinking about attempting a Brett beer in a couple weeks.

 

[ryanhope]

Ok, I get that when I make a sour I need to use that equipment solely for sour brewing from that point on

This is not at all true

 

[loftybrewer]

If you can afford to get separate equipment, do it. That's a guarantee. Fermenting side by side? Well, I've never heard of a yeast, brett or otherwise, exiting through one airlock and invading another beer through a second airlock...
Porous materials (like barrels!) or any material with hard-to-clean nooks and cranies (like scratched plastic) are rumored to possibly keep organisms safe during sanitization and therefore lead to infections later on. There are plenty of threads on this.

 

[user 108580]

If you can afford to get separate equipment, do it. That's a guarantee. Fermenting side by side? Well, I've never heard of a yeast, brett or otherwise, exiting through one airlock and invading another beer through a second airlock...
Porous materials (like barrels!) or any material with hard-to-clean nooks and cranies (like scratched plastic) are rumored to possibly keep organisms safe during sanitization and therefore lead to infections later on. There are plenty of threads on this.

Yeah I have enough carboys to make a dedicated primary and secondary. All I'd need to get is a separate racking tube.

Do sours require blow offs?

 

[ryanhope]

If you can brew a regular beer with out it getting infected from wild bugs, then you should have no problems brewing a regular beer with equipment that was previously used for a wild brew.

 

[BrasseurGeorges]

If you can afford to get separate equipment, do it. That's a guarantee. Fermenting side by side? Well, I've never heard of a yeast, brett or otherwise, exiting through one airlock and invading another beer through a second airlock...
Porous materials (like barrels!) or any material with hard-to-clean nooks and cranies (like scratched plastic) are rumored to possibly keep organisms safe during sanitization and therefore lead to infections later on. There are plenty of threads on this.

^This

If you can brew a regular beer with out it getting infected from wild bugs, then you should have no problems brewing a regular beer with equipment that was previously used for a wild brew.

This is something people like to say to display an understanding that brewing contaminates are everywhere, and with respect for all the steps we take to avoid contamination during a normal brew. What it doesn't account for are "bugs" that have taken up residence in porous materials (e.g. brett living 1/4"+ deep in barrels) to where cleaning becomes impractical. Easiest and safest option is to have separate porous materials (plastic, rubber, wood). Glass and stainless are fine.

 

[user 108580]

Thanks for the info. I've got spare glass carboys so no harm no foul in having dedicated sour ones. I'll just go pick up a dedicated air lock, stopper, and racking cane/tubing.

 

[eastoak]

i had the sam questions when i started brewing so for the past 3 years i've been brewing sours using the same (scratched, i clean my better bottles with a bottle brush) plastic fermentors that i use for clean beer and have never had an unintentional sour beer for that entire time. there is nothing wrong with having a dedicated set of gear for sours but it is not a guarantee that you won't get an infected clean beer. in my view it all comes down to a good sanitation regime, not equipment. a wild bug can some from many sources and will not hesitate to colonize a dedicated "clean" fermentor.

 

[LostBoyScout]

Bringing back an old thread, but I have been wondering about oak barrels fermenting next to each other. Say one's got a barleywine in it and the other's got a saison with brett/lacto/pedio. In this case, is there elevated risk of infection to the barleywine? Assuming samples are always taken via a nail hole and transfers are done outside the storage room.

 

[505-Brewer]

Bringing back an old thread, but I have been wondering about oak barrels fermenting next to each other. Say one's got a barleywine in it and the other's got a saison with brett/lacto/pedio. In this case, is there elevated risk of infection to the barleywine? Assuming samples are always taken via a nail hole and transfers are done outside the storage room.

Brett has been claimed to travel through the barrel - from the inside to the outside - land on neighboring barrels and make its way in to them. I think some breweries try to physically isolate their barrels. How long that would take and if it always happens I do not know. Can't remember where I heard that exactly but I think it was on BN network show and possibly I read it somewhere (Wild brews, American Sours?).

Oh and I use dedicated transfer tubing but do not use separate glass or stainless (racking cain). I also have not been keeping good track of my airlocks and I have not had any problems but I think I have a pretty good cleaning a best practices program overall. I probably should separate airlocks and stoppers though.

 

[secondbase]

I hand down my old clean equipment to my brett/wild stuff. Anything plastic is kept separate, stored near but not touching my clean equipment. I do keep my fermentors of clean and wild beers side by side and haven't had an issue. Plastic equipment is cheap and easy to replace so I don't really see a reason not to keep a separate set for wild/clean beers. It's just not worth my time or the risk.