Belgian Yeast Infection in Plastic

[Dirty]

Any one have problems with this? Read an article on how Vinnie Cilurzo at Russian River never brewed Belgians at his other brewery because they used Plastic fermenters. Thanks

Rock Chalk

Chris

 

[erikpete18]

Was he talking about Belgian-style sacc yeasts, or the Brett yeasts that he uses in some of the Belgian brews? I know they brew a few different Belgian beers with Brett in them, and I'd definitely keep them out of the plastic fermenters as the Brett is pretty good at getting into little cracks and sticking around for a while. I've never heard that about any sacc yeast, and I'd be surprised if there's anything different about them from a standard cali ale yeast or what have you.

On the home brew note, I'd suggest the same if you are doing any brett/wild/sour beers. I ferment in glass, but have a separate set of autosiphon and tubing for any brett/wild/sour beers that I do just in case one of them gets a scratch somewhere and some friendly bug sets up shop.

 

[pohldogg]

The times I've heard Vinnie mention this he was talking about brett and bacteria, and the point he was making is that he keeps a separate set of "soft" parts for the wild beers. For him that's hoses, gaskets, etc. For us it's tubing, siphons, plastic fermenters. Plain old belgian sacch strains like WLP500 don't pose the same risks and can be used with the same equipment non-belgian beer is brewed on.

 

[Beezy]

I have a beer I just bottled. Used 500. There is something going on on top. Didn't taste bad. But it in bottles and now something is happening in the bottles but it still tastes aight. IDK. It probably has nothing to do with the yeast strain but you asked.

 

[erikpete18]

I have a beer I just bottled. Used 500. There is something going on on top. Didn't taste bad. But it in bottles and now something is happening in the bottles but it still tastes aight. IDK. It probably has nothing to do with the yeast strain but you asked.

This sounds like you're just getting a little bit of krausen in the bottle from the priming sugar, nothing to worry about. I'll bet in a week or two its gone other than maybe a very thin ring around the top of the beer.

 

[Beezy]

No it's not. It's not my first brew.





Looked like this. I bottled it and at day 3 I started to see some in the bottles.

 

[AmandaK]

No it's not. It's not my first brew.

View attachment 32679

Looked like this. I bottled it and at day 3 I started to see some in the bottles.

That, my friend, is a pellicle. It is not a Saccharomyces based strain, but most likely a Brettanomyces based strain (and possibly some other guys in there too!). I had a Wyeast Lambic Blend that looked like that for a while before it formed huge (3" diameter) white bubbles in the fermenter.

Could make for an interesting brew!

And so as not to thread hijack, Dirty, I believe you are talking about soft plastic parts, not plastic fermenters and Brett strains, not Sacc strains. Unless you can post the article...

Amanda

 

[Beezy]

That, my friend, is a pellicle. It is not a Saccharomyces based strain, but most likely a Brettanomyces based strain (and possibly some other guys in there too!). I had a Wyeast Lambic Blend that looked like that for a while before it formed huge (3" diameter) white bubbles in the fermenter.

Could make for an interesting brew!

And so as not to thread hijack, Dirty, I believe you are talking about soft plastic parts, not plastic fermenters and Brett strains, not Sacc strains. Unless you can post the article...

Amanda

Yeah like I say it doesn't taste or smell bad but it hasn't had much time to work. When I took my FG it wasn't there. So this formed in a matter of a week. I was recommended to let them carb and then through them in the fridge. Maybe I'll luck out and they will still be drinkable.

 

[Dirty]

That, my friend, is a pellicle. It is not a Saccharomyces based strain, but most likely a Brettanomyces based strain (and possibly some other guys in there too!). I had a Wyeast Lambic Blend that looked like that for a while before it formed huge (3" diameter) white bubbles in the fermenter.

Could make for an interesting brew!

And so as not to thread hijack, Dirty, I believe you are talking about soft plastic parts, not plastic fermenters and Brett strains, not Sacc strains. Unless you can post the article...

Amanda

I cant remember where i read it. I was wondering if it wasn't Brett that he was referring to i just didn't' want to ruin any of my equipment because i pitched a certian type of Belgian yeast that wanted to stick around.

Thanks everyone for the help

Rock Chalk

Chris

 

[erikpete18]

No it's not. It's not my first brew.



View attachment 32679

Looked like this. I bottled it and at day 3 I started to see some in the bottles.

Yup, definitely something funky! Good call on fridging them fairly quick too. One it will stop the brett from funking up your beer, and two it will stop the brett from making too much more co2 and overcarbing/exploding your bottles.

And so as not to thread hijack, Dirty, I believe you are talking about soft plastic parts, not plastic fermenters and Brett strains, not Sacc strains.

I think plastic fermenters can also be a problem, but I'm not sure if Russian River is still using them or not. Did find this link where he mentions not wanting to ferment brett before because he was using plastic fermenters. I'd think he'd be in stainless steel by now!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

No it's not. It's not my first brew.



View attachment 32679

Looked like this. I bottled it and at day 3 I started to see some in the bottles.

Congratulations, you have lactobacillus. Unless you intentionally pitched it, you had a error in your sanitation process or you infected it with something after fermentation.

 

[Beezy]

Congratulations, you have lactobacillus. Unless you intentionally pitched it, you had a error in your sanitation process or you infected it with something after fermentation.

Oh I am so excited! I don't know what happened. I guess I was due for something to go wrong. It was fine when I took the last gravity reading. Maybe my turkey baster wasn't clean. It was sitting in starsan. Who knows. Lacto happens eh...

 

[pohldogg]

Dirty, you're fine. Unless you're adding brett, lacto, pedio, or other wild stuff there's no reason to worry about our equipment. This thread kind of got hijacked by the bottle infection, but per your OP don't be afraid of belgian yeast.

 

[AmandaK]

I think plastic fermenters can also be a problem, but I'm not sure if Russian River is still using them or not. Did find this link where he mentions not wanting to ferment brett before because he was using plastic fermenters. I'd think he'd be in stainless steel by now!

True, plastic fermenters could be a problem if scratched. However, I've been to Russian River and didn't see any plastic fermenters. Just SS conicals and wooden barrels...

 

[Dirty]

Thanks

Gives me time to work on a Boulevard Dubble Clone..


Rock Chalk


Chris