Taming acetobacter

[ThorGodOfThunder]

I'm pretty sure I have an acetobacter infection. It isn't bad yet, and the cider still tastes just like cider should, but I do get a little bit of white slime on the surface.

I've been keeping it cold (~50ºF) and it seems to help a lot, but this isn't feasible for bottling/distributing. Since acetobacter needs O2 to survive, would kegging it slow down the infection enough? I'd intend to keg, then bottle with a counter-pressure filler. I'm wondering if kegging, specifically carbing then bleeding the keg out several times, would remove enough oxygen to make it safe to bottle? The bottles will eventually be stored in my basement, so they'll be warm enough for an infection to continue, and eliminating O2 seems like the easiest way to approach this.

 

[caseymac91]

I'd say your doing just about all you can, hit it with sulfite/sorbate to slow things down further. I'd drink a bottle at least once a week to see if it starts turning to vinegar.

 

[gregbathurst]

White slime can be film yeast, not as bad as acetobacter but still undesirable. Sulfite will definitely help, bottling should fix it if you carbonate. If it has finished fermenting and you have some headspace you should bottle soon, if it is still fermenting you shouldn't be getting film yeast unless you have a bad seal.