Another Infection - really frustrated

[Mw4nu]

None of my extract beers had any off flavors and I recently began doing BIAB.

3 out of 4 BIAB attempts have ended in infection. As near as I can tell a lacto infection. Sour taste develops in the keg after a couple of days. The taste going into the keg has no hint of sour and the first few pints pulled taste fine as well. All 4 have been low gravity beers..1.040

I built out a keggle with a sight glass, digital thermometer, and a 3 piece ball valve. I used weldless fittings from Brewhardware.com. I also built a custom burner stand so that I didn't have to worry about boiling the sight glass or moving a keggle full of boiling wort. I bought 2 white rv hoses for potable water and a whole house chloramine filter. One hose stretches from the hosebib to the filter, and then the filter to the kettle. I have shutoff valves and quick disconnects on all of the hoses for ease in getting setup. In-between brews, the filter sits on the shelf.

I brewed a vanilla porter which was great through the end. And, then followed it with an American Wheat, which took almost 3 weeks to develop the sour flavor. That was followed by an American Brown, which was so sour that it was undrinkable within a couple of days. Finally, another shot at the american wheat was brewed. 4 days in, it seemed fine. At a week it was sour - still drinkable, but developing sour.

For the last brew, I felt that my keg cleaning could be improved so I built out a keg cleaner. 1240 gph flow pump with some pvc piping with an array of holes drilled in it and ball lock connectors to clean the posts. I ran pbw through the keg for 30 minutes, then Iostar for 20 minutes, then starsan for 5 minutes. In-between the pbw and the iostar, I ran hot water through the keg for 5 minutes.

Just incase, I bought a brand new siphon, brand new bucket and lid, and all new lines and ball locks, and new perlick 650ss taps (not thrilled with them). The only things that remained the same that came in contact with the beer for the last wheat beer was the keggle, CO2 regulator and bottle, and chloramine filtered water from potable water hose (white rv hose).

I am getting set for another brewery tomorrow. Any ideas where I might look to curb my infection? What am I missing?

 

[giraffe]

How are you cleaning the carboys? Are you pbw'ing them or similar to they sparkle, then sanitize? Sanitizer isnt enough if there are deposits. Are you using star san or bleach? If star san, what is the ph, it must be under 3. Bleach often doesnt cut it.

How are you cooling the beer, how long is it exposed to air? Is it dusty, or are there pets around?

Are you grinding the grain in the smae room that you cool, or transfer the beer?

 

[LLBeanJ]

Are you completely disassembling the kegs when you clean them? Removing posts/poppets and dip tubes? Have you disassembled your disconnects, both gas and liquid?

 

[mrdail87]

Did you just but the new equipment? Or was this the equipment used for the vanilla porter?

Buying the new bucket and lid sounds like the best place to start, hearing the horror stories makes me grateful I started with glass carboys.

 

[Mw4nu]

I have been using PBW to soak my fermenter buckets after transferring the wort. On brew day, I put 5 gallons of starsan solution in the bucket until I transfer it to a different bucket just before filling the fermenter. I don't have a ph probe, so I don't know the ph of the starsan solution.

I have only been doing a single fermentation for 14 days or so in buckets (have always hit my gravity) and no secondary. I never open he buckets in fear of an infection (ironic I guess).

I use an immersion wort chiller (put into the boiling wort for the final 15 minutes) and usually cool the beer to pitching temp in about 20 minutes. I brew in my garage perhaps it is dustier than I think. There are no pets around. However, I do siphon from the fermenter into the keg in the kitchen and I have a small dog and two kids running around usually.

I do have an oxygen wand and tank. I may be lacking in cleaning procedures there. I put the wand into starsan for 15minutes before and after use.

At this time, I grind my grains at the store then bring them home to brew.

 

[Mw4nu]

Bucket, lid, and other items were new for the last brew.

 

[Mw4nu]

Are you completely disassembling the kegs when you clean them? Removing posts/poppets and dip tubes? Have you disassembled your disconnects, both gas and liquid?

How do you remove the poppets? I have otherwise disassembled and cleaned the keg, posts, dip tubes. I have not disassembled the disconnects until I replaced them. The new ones were dipped in starsan prior to being put in place.

 

[jfk69]

Once you unscrew the post, you can push down on the poppet from the top, and it should fall out the bottom. They can be a little sticky coming out at times, but they should come out for you.

 

[sportpak]

It may not hurt to boil your aeration stone a few minutes. I'll boil it while I chill, then aerate prior to dumping into a carboy. When I'm done aerating, I will usually go back to the hot water I had a purge a little o2 through it to clean whatever wort may have been left on it so it doesn't get clogged up.

 

[mrdail87]

After rereading this post, pretty sure LLBean is on the right track. I'm pretty certain If doesn't start to sour until it's kegged, it's either the keg itself, or something you're using to transfer it to the keg.

Unfortunately I haven't started kegging yet, so I can't offer any tricks. But I'd say clean/sanitize the kegging equipment like you were gonna sell it. If it comes apart, take it apart, and scrub/sanitize it.

 

[LLBeanJ]

How do you remove the poppets? I have otherwise disassembled and cleaned the keg, posts, dip tubes. I have not disassembled the disconnects until I replaced them. The new ones were dipped in starsan prior to being put in place.

As jfk69 stated, they should push right out. Often, they will fall right out once you remove the post from the keg, but obviously that didn't happen when you did it or you wouldn't be asking. If they stick, set the post thread-side-down on a solid surface. Get a Phillips head screwdriver that is small enough to fit completely thru the poppet hole in the post, set the end of the screwdriver on top of the poppet, and give the top of the screwdriver a good whack with the palm of your hand. The poppet should pop out.

Do you still have the old disconnects? There is a screwdriver slot on the top that will allow you to unthread and take apart. Over time they can accumulate nasties that can infect your beer, they should periodically be taken apart and cleaned.