Bottle infections

[wordswithtim]

Hey guys,

Really need help from the collective brains trust. I've been brewing for about a year. Simple set up. I've worked my way up to a partial brew recipe with added malt or DME etc, then into a 25L plastic tub for fermentation. After which I bottle in 750ml PETs and I use carb drops (two per bottle as per instructions) for carbonation. Here's my problem:

Typically I'd yield about 25 bottles per brew. Of which, I will typically lose about 5-7 to bottle infections - basically they over fizz and I dump them. Well, I assume that's what's going on as the rest of a batch are unaffected and mature just fine for months. But no matter what I do cannot put a dent in that average; I'll lose 5-7 bottles to over fizzing within about 8-12 days after bottling. And I've tried everything I can think of to clean everything better, or sterilise longer.

Any tips? Are there some usual suspects that infect bottles that I can focus on? Is it possibly the carb drops as there's no way to sterilise them prior to adding? Is this a normal or expected loss ratio?

Any tips here would be very much appreciated.

Thanks guys (and gals)

 

[olotti]

My only advice since I bottle condition too Is to change to using dextrose ie corn sugar for bottling. Buy a small scale I got mine for 10$ on Amazon and weigh out your priming sugar. I use 4 oz for my IPAs and about 3.5 for my stouts. Use the priming calculators like Brewers friend and they'll get you where you need to be. Until you do this I'm not 100% certain you have a bottle infection problem but just make sure each bottle is really clean and since u bottle small quantities u could do a bleach/oxy Clean soak before you bottle just to make sure and make sure you use oxyclean free as its fragrance free.

 

[d3track]

Let the bottles sit longer before opening? They may just not be ready at days, and by 14-21 they are ready.

 

[wordswithtim]

Let the bottles sit longer before opening? They may just not be ready at days, and by 14-21 they are ready.

I do let them sit. I would not typically drink a brew until about two months in bottle. That's when I've found they get to their best. It's the ones that fizz over all by themselves around the 7-12 day mark that are causing me headaches.

 

[C-Rider]

You can also use Table Sugar it's a lot cheaper than dextrose ie corn sugar and works just as well. Just tell the "calculator" what you are using. Add the sugar to your bottling bucket before adding the finished wort (flat beer).

 

[flars]

I do let them sit. I would not typically drink a brew until about two months in bottle. That's when I've found they get to their best. It's the ones that fizz over all by themselves around the 7-12 day mark that are causing me headaches.

It is not normal to lose any bottles. Definitely something going wrong.

Collect all the beer from one of these bottles in some container that will hold all the foam. Take a SG reading after the beer goes flat. These bottles may be infected if your SG is substantially lower than when you bottled.

How are you cleaning and sanitizing the bottles and caps?

 

[mattdee1]

A few thoughts

- throw infected PET bottles into the recycle bin after dumping out the beer. They cost a few cents each, so no sense rolling the dice
- if you're not already, get into the habit of cleaning all the gunk out of the bottles immediately after pouring out the beer into your drinking glass. It's a pain in the arse, but it's SO much easier to clean out wet/fresh sediment, and do a thorough job of it
- maybe you need to replace some of you bottling gear? Hoses, valve on bottling bucket, bottling bucket itself, etc. Plastic things can develop scratches that give nasties a place to hide.

 

[wordswithtim]

It is not normal to lose any bottles. Definitely something going wrong.

Collect all the beer from one of these bottles in some container that will hold all the foam. Take a SG reading after the beer goes flat. These bottles may be infected if your SG is substantially lower than when you bottled.

How are you cleaning and sanitizing the bottles and caps?

Process is as I was told when I first started

1. I use bottle wash detergent (in the concentrations specified) with hot water. Scrub out the bottle with a bottle brush (I do rinse out bottle after I've drank them with hot water so there should be reduced residue tobegin with).

2. Rinse with cold water.

3. No-rinse steriliser, which I ensure contacts all surfaces and I leave in each bottle for about 10 minutes before draining and filling with beer.

As for the caps, they go through all this. I usually just chuck them into the sink at each step. For detergent, I use a little toothbrush to scrub the insides. They get rinsed in the sink when the bottles do. And when sterilising, they're on each bottle, so presumably get sterilised too.

And I really do try and take my time with all that, so there's not much chance of infection. But I'm surely doing something wrong if you're saying I shouldn't be losing any. I'm also really careful with the gravity reading stuff. More than happy to leave things for a couple of extra days even after FG has been reached.

 

[wordswithtim]

A few thoughts

- throw infected PET bottles into the recycle bin after dumping out the beer. They cost a few cents each, so no sense rolling the dice
- if you're not already, get into the habit of cleaning all the gunk out of the bottles immediately after pouring out the beer into your drinking glass. It's a pain in the arse, but it's SO much easier to clean out wet/fresh sediment, and do a thorough job of it
- maybe you need to replace some of you bottling gear? Hoses, valve on bottling bucket, bottling bucket itself, etc. Plastic things can develop scratches that give nasties a place to hide.

Yeah, It's got to the point that I'm now marking the affected bottles to see if they're repeat offenders. But you're probably right, I may as well just chuck them. And I do rinse bottles immediately after use.

This really has got me stumped, hence my question here. No idea what else to try.

 

[slym2none]

Right before I start bottling, I chuck a few more caps than I need in a bowl with StarSan in it. The first time I bottled, I put the caps in the StarSan and ended up waiting an hour or more before using, and I swear they had started to rust. Now I wait until the last minute.

 

[dwhite60]

I'd ditch you caps and buy new. The gasket in the lid is not sealed to the inside of the lid on most I've seen. I'd expect you've got something growing in there that sanitizer is not getting to.

If you crack the lid slowly and it starts to turn into a gusher just re-tighten it and vent it a few times. You may find it's enough to reduce the pressure to an acceptable level. THen put them in the fridge for a couple days.

What brand carb drops are you using? Wonder about their consistency.

Lastly, try carbing a batch with table sugar boiled in water and stirred into your wort.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[wordswithtim]

Funny you mention the drops. I've actually tried experimenting with them quite a bit. Different brands. Only using drops freshly opened, as opposed to ones left over from my last brew. Nothing there has changed anything very much. Your point about ditching caps seems to be one a few people have suggested. Guess that's my next step. Much appreciated.