Awww! Brewer's First Infection!

[tomakana]

As the title suggests, I've officially got my first infected batch - a Belgian Tripel that I was really looking forward to, unfortunately. While I don't know the exact vector, let's just say that the post-boil steps and early days of fermentation were not without their mistakes. It's definitely not salvagable, unfortunately.

My question relates to my fermentation equipment and chamber and steps I should take to clean everything to make sure I don't just reintroduce whatever bug this is to a later brew. Some of it is older and probably near end of life anyway (some of the tubing and the spigot, for instance) so I'll probably just pitch it rather than take chances, but I want to make sure I'm doing a thorough job on the stuff I'd like to keep. Here's what I'd appreciate some advice on (both what types of cleaner to use and cleaning method if applicable) :

1. Tilt Hydrometer - normally I'd soak it in an oxygen cleanser and starsan it, but I'm worried there may be stuff hiding in the seams. Disassemble and clean the case separately?
2. Stainless steel thermowell - this is about a 12-inch thermowell that was inserted through the stopper at the top of the fermenter. There was an issue with my blowoff tube at one point, so some krausen does appear to have entered the thermowell itself. I've got brushes that could get inside it - what's the best cleaner? Worth it just to boil the tar out of it?
3. 3-Gallon Fermonster - it's a few years old and has been pretty well used. The exterior and interior would need to be cleaned and sanitized (see the reference to the blowout above). I'd like to keep it, but worried that it's got some wear and tear that might be tough to completely sanitize. Worth it to try? What's best practice if something like this gets an infection. Not the end of the world if it needs to be retired, but curious.
4. Interior of the chamber - not sure if this needs anything other than a good wipe down with bleach or something like that, but there's some wiring and electrical in there and fan that was running while the infection took hold. It's an upright freezer that's less than 6 months old. How worried should I be about the interior and/or the wiring and such?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Tom

 

[Kickass]

It's definitely not salvagable, unfortunately.

Dont be so quick to make such assumptions. I’ve had two “infected” batches. Both were salvageable.

Have you already dumped it?

 

[IslandLizard]

Sorry to hear, what makes you so sure it's infected?
If you haven't dumped it yet, can you post some pictures of the infected beer in the fermenter?

Thoroughly cleaning (inside and out) is always advised, especially areas where bacteria and other microorganisms can harbor and hide, such as connections, spigots, lids, tubing, anything that has screws, or threads, such as valves, couplers, etc.

Once it's clean, it can only then be sanitized.
What sanitizer are you using? And how?

Opening fermenters or lifting lids during fermentation can introduce spoiling organisms, especially during the early period, when there is no alcohol yet.