Brett Infection on my ESB... Does this mean?

[theck]

Quick update, just kegged my second soured beer... got a good sampling of it and it actually tasted great. When I opened the lid I wasn't sure how it was going to be since there was an off smell. Funny I can't remember which one it is, red or the esb once I get though this keg and finish the last sour I'll be replacing the lines, boiling the parts, etc... I switched to better bottles (got em for <$20 each), now I don't have to see how it's going by opening the lid. Question though, can I use my sour buckets to crush grain into ok? Or would that cause problems down the line, it's pre boil so I wouldn't expect any issues? Have 3 sour buckets and hate to just trash them (keeping one for future sours).

 

[youreanimpulse]

Preboil should be fine.

 

[gometz]

No issues with pre-boil, your grain already has tons of lacto on it that is killed during the boil. If you are enjoying the flavor of whatever bug you caught, I'd keep a jar of the dregs for a future brew.

Sorry if this is pedantic, but since it seems you have a brett strain and not a lacto strain, your infected beers are not actually soured. Brett can add a slight tartness, but not a real sour flavor. For sourness you'd need lacto or pedio.

Good luck! I am pretty sure a yeast I bought last year from a small company was infected with brett, didn't notice until after I had bottled. Ended up with bottle bombs, one of which blew up right as I was cleaning up the previous bomb (glass embedded in the ceiling, I was lucky it was in the back row). Now I have added brett to at least 4 beers (drinking one now, delicious).

 

[Chrisbrewbeers]

I am no expert but I would think something not mentioned is that a green scrubby is abrasive enough to cause scratches, I use microfiber towel.

 

[theck]

Good point I always use green scrubs... I'm keeping at least one bucket and might do another brew in it just to see what happens. That's if it turns out good when carbed in a couple weeks. I have one more infected bucket of beer (had 3 total) afterwards and can get another brew in and fermented while I drink that one. Who knows maybe I'll always have an infected one on tap.

 

[Gameface]

I am no expert but I would think something not mentioned is that a green scrubby is abrasive enough to cause scratches, I use microfiber towel.

Yeah, that caught my attention as well.

I don't use anything more abrasive than my fingertips on my plastic fermenters.

Hot water pre-rinse, oxy soak, triple rinse.

 

[pdietert]

my $0.02:

Scratched buckets from green scrubby + spraying Starsan (as opposed to soaking) + milling/storing grain in fermentation buckets = infection.

Use those for milling/storing (mark them with a permanent marker) and buy new buckets (or carboys) for fermenting, just give them a good PBW soak and they should be fine.

 

[eastoak]

i know there is a strong belief that scratches from scrubbies or scratches in general lead to infections but i have not seen any evidence in my own brewing to support this belief. if it is just being cautious that's one thing but being certain that this is true is another. like many other people i have some pretty old, scratched buckets and have never had an infected beer. my 60 something year old neighbor gave me some of his scary looking buckets from when he brewed in the 80s and i used them as an experiment with no problem. souring bugs are not immune to soap or star san and if the bucket has been properly cleaned then any subsequent infection probably came from some other source. i fermented a lager in a plastic carboy that held a sour beer for almost 2 years. i kegged the sour washed the carboy as i was brewing and in went the lager. i wasn't sure what would happen but it did not go sour after 2 months so i can only conclude that the cleaning was effective in that case. the danger in offering this point of view is that someone may get an infection using a scratched bucket and conclude that i'm full of it

 

[IslandLizard]

i know there is a strong belief that scratches from scrubbies or scratches in general lead to infections but i have not seen any evidence in my own brewing to support this belief. if it is just being cautious that's one thing but being certain that this is true is another. like many other people i have some pretty old, scratched buckets and have never had an infected beer. my 60 something year old neighbor gave me some of his scary looking buckets from when he brewed in the 80s and i used them as an experiment with no problem. souring bugs are not immune to soap or star san and if the bucket has been properly cleaned then any subsequent infection probably came from some other source. i fermented a lager in a plastic carboy that held a sour beer for almost 2 years. i kegged the sour washed the carboy as i was brewing and in went the lager. i wasn't sure what would happen but it did not go sour after 2 months so i can only conclude that the cleaning was effective in that case. the danger in offering this point of view is that someone may get an infection using a scratched bucket and conclude that i'm full of it

:rockin:

I've seen this argument before and I don't think you're full of it. It ultimately comes down to cleaning and sanitation methods. Swishing water around in a bucket is not cleaning, one needs a detergent for that and appropriate cleaning techniques, brush, sponge, soft scouring pad, etc.

But... scratches could harbor bacteria if not obliterated. So a smooth container is much easier to clean and sanitize.

 

[theck]

Ok more interesting stuff here... just finished kegging my red ale. I brewed it before I discovered all the infected batches. So, it was done by milling the grain in the brew bucket, spraying starsan, etc etc... the only difference was that I decided not to open it to check gravity, etc... like I usually do. I let it sit with the top on until one of my kegs blew and no infection, turned out great. I think I got an infection then when I checked the other batches it carried over on my hands or ?? to the other batches when I checked them as well.