Wild Yeast infection or did I scare myself?

[czeknere]

Just got done reading this thread and I am now concerned about a few of my beers.

Specifically when it is mentioned that a sign of a yeast infection is: "the carbonation in the bottles will start to become higher and higher, and the beer will loose body and flavour as the wild yeast consume the sugars the brewer's yeast left behind."

My last three brews (white chocolate pale ale, spiced red ale, and a german alt) have all had a very light mouth feel - almost like they were too carbonated. The Pale ale started this way. However the red ale and the German alt are slowly losing their body. Last night I was enjoying one of the German alts when I noticed the strange fact that the head was actually growing as I was drinking. It started at about 1/2 inch and ended up filling half the glass - weird. I haven't really noticed any rings around the bottle, and there aren't any off flavors/smells. I haven't reused any yeast for these beers. I primary in a plastic bucket - the beers spent between 2-3 weeks there and then secondary for 2 weeks in a glass carboy.

So, is it a wild yeast infection that is causing my beers to be over carbonated and gain carbonation? Or did I psych myself out reading the other thread?

 

[Revvy]

It would help if we new specifically what your bottling AND sanitization regimin is, and specifically in terms of sugar amounts for your recipes....also how you sanitize your bottles and caps...

and about when this starts happening?

I sort of sounds like your getting bottling infections....

Um...how do you clean you bottling bucket...especially the spigot..also the wand? You might have a micro particle someplace in that path, and you keep reinfecting it..

Let's see if it's process or if it is tools...or both..

 

[czeknere]

I sanitize using Onestep. Everything is in contact with the solution for a minute and then air dried. Bottles are cleaned out of any sediment/dust/dirt and then soaked in the sanitizing solution, drained and air dried. Caps are soaked in the solution and then air dried. But, now that you mention it, I probably should pay more attention to the bottling spigot and the wand...I didn't really think about it, but I should take the spigot apart and clean it out.

Like I said, the pale ale was off the bat and I attributed that to a change in the recipe that I shouldn't have made. The red ale has been in the bottle one month and a week and started to show the signs within the last two weeks. The German Alt has been in the bottle for one month and I really started to notice it last night. All have been 5 gallon extract batches and have used 5 oz of priming sugar dissolved in water to prime.

Hopefully I answered all your questions...

*Edit: just double checked my notes, the Red ale has been in the bottle for two months. Started to notice the problem within the last two weeks.

 

[timgman]

I think Revvy is concentrating more on "disassembly" of the components... (and this is from a person getting over an infection)
I'd take the wand / spigot / bottling pail and any other components apart, wash them and soak them in your one-step (in their disassembled state).
Let them cook in there for a while... like 20 minutes or so....
.........then re-assemble with clean hands.

 

[flyangler18]

I sanitize using Onestep. Everything is in contact with the solution for a minute and then air dried. Bottles are cleaned out of any sediment/dust/dirt and then soaked in the sanitizing solution, drained and air dried. Caps are soaked in the solution and then air dried. But, now that you mention it, I probably should pay more attention to the bottling spigot and the wand...I didn't really think about it, but I should take the spigot apart and clean it out.

I think I just identified your problem. One Step is a wet contact sanitizer; the surface has to remain wet to kill the bugs.

I'd recommend StarSan or Iodophor as your sanitizer, as these are the only FDA approved no-rinse sanitizers available to my knowledge.

 

[timgman]

Perhaps you can try another water source for your next batch as well?

 

[czeknere]

I think I just identified your problem. One Step is a wet contact sanitizer; the surface has to remain wet to kill the bugs.

I'd recommend StarSan or Iodophor as your sanitizer, as these are the only FDA approved no-rinse sanitizers available to my knowledge.

The package I have says that it cleans with oxygen. Wouldn't that mean that it needs to be air dried? Basically I soak my equipment in the solution, take it out and put it on a clean rack to drip dry .

Perhaps you can try another water source for your next batch as well?

I have switched to buying bottled spring water for my last 5 batches. You don't mean switching water sources for sanitizing do you?

I think I need to pull apart all of my equipment and soak it that way. I should also buy new tubing before doing anything with the Orange Cream ale I have going now. And it would probably be a good idea to switch sanitizers.

Also, would this type of thing not present itself with off flavors/aromas? Because like I said, the only thing I'm noticing is that they are gaining too much carbonation. Not off flavors or aromas have shown themselves.

 

[Revvy]

I think I just identified your problem. One Step is a wet contact sanitizer; the surface has to remain wet to kill the bugs.

I'd recommend StarSan or Iodophor as your sanitizer, as these are the only FDA approved no-rinse sanitizers available to my knowledge.

You guys beat me?????


Cool..

I concur...read this, there is a LOT of info on why onestep sux as a sanitizer, why you should never let sanitizers dry, which ones you should use, and some tips to making it easier...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/sanitizer-question-54932/?highlight=Sanitizer+question

 

[czeknere]

Thanks guys. I'll have to clean everything out and get a new sanitizer. Would putting the bottles in the fridge help the situation at all?

Revvy, I think I was updating my post while you were posting so you may not have seen the last line I wrote. "Also, would this type of thing not present itself with off flavors/aromas? Because like I said, the only thing I'm noticing is that they are gaining too much carbonation. Not off flavors or aromas have shown themselves."

Just wondering if I should expect the flavors to change or if the only thing changing is the carbonation/mouth feel.

 

[reim0027]

EDIT: oops, posted too late, sorry.

 

[Revvy]

Thanks guys. I'll have to clean everything out and get a new sanitizer. Would putting the bottles in the fridge help the situation at all?

Revvy, I think I was updating my post while you were posting so you may not have seen the last line I wrote. "Also, would this type of thing not present itself with off flavors/aromas? Because like I said, the only thing I'm noticing is that they are gaining too much carbonation. Not off flavors or aromas have shown themselves."

Just wondering if I should expect the flavors to change or if the only thing changing is the carbonation/mouth feel.

Not necessarily....I had a porter that had the same thing...bottle gushers no less...during judging at a contest...I was lucky though I had two patient judges...the let the first one gush, then asked for the second...it gushed as well...but they let the gushing stop and actually judged the remaining beers...

AND THEY LOVED THE FREAKIN TASTE!!!!!

They said had it not gushed I would have prolly placed in the top 3...and they were stymied, because they wrote in my evals, that there were absolutely no off flavors..

It sucked because I drank plenty of those beers (most of the cases) with no problem...but out of the last 6 were where the contest entries were...and I was home on the weekend of the judging, and when I opened one...right around the time I knew they were judging, I pretty much crapped in my pants...especially since I opened a second one and it gushed too....

I left the other two alone for several months in my fridge...and they gushed as well..

I'm thinking your "cidery-ness" and loss of body is the result of the infection, chewing through the remaining fermentables....my porter on the other hand had some lactose and some maltodextrine for body....so I'm betting that covered up the cideryness of it..

 

[czeknere]

Thank you! It makes me feel a little better that I had a bunch of lactose in the chocolate stout I bottled last week. Hopefully that one won't suffer too much. And the equipment will be getting a thorough cleaning before getting anywhere near the orange cream in my primary.

Thanks again!

 

[Revvy]

Thank you! It makes me feel a little better that I had a bunch of lactose in the chocolate stout I bottled last week. Hopefully that one won't suffer too much. And the equipment will be getting a thorough cleaning before getting anywhere near the orange cream in my primary.

Thanks again!

Honestly I would do more than a thorough cleaning/sanitization...Here's what I did after that...replace all my hoses, my autosiphon and my bottling wand...(actually I think the source of my infection was that it was broken at the bend I had just heating hose and made a tight connection over the break...rather than either replacing it or making a clean saw at the bread...but it happened at a crucial moment and I was more concerned with finishing...

But I would break down my bottling spigot and either replace it of try to sanitize every bit of it....and replaces hoses and your bottling wand...those are cheap. Make sure you have no scratches in you bottling bucket...

Then I would "strafe and burn" all your fermenters, & your bottling bucket if you keep it with a bleach/ water/ vinegar solution but listen to the starsan podcast where charles talley of 5-star chemicals explains how to safely combine all three ingredients and not kill you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and get rid of ones step, read the thread I linked earlier and decide which sanitizer sounds best for you...Iodophor or starsan...I use both and can't say enough good things about either of them....


Good luck