Could use help with persistent infection

[eastoak]

have you done a full boil to eliminate top off water?

 

[Bamsdealer]

Haven't read through everything, but I suspect changing your carboy will take care of the problem. IMO, they're much tougher to clean and handle than a wide mouth bucket. I'm not convinced they're any "safer" than plastic either. Small chips or porous glass might be hard to detect.. especially through the thick class of a carboy. Hot water and a sponge is all I use to clean my buckets... my carboy requires hot water, a cleaner and good scrubbing just to get rid of the ring on the neck of my secondary. I suspect a primary better bottle or carboy would leave a big crud ring that's even tougher to get at with a bristled brush.

Knock on wood, I'm pushing 50 batches and have used various brands of spring and distilled water on quite a few of those without issue.

I doubt your chiller is the issue, but I'd shine it up and put it in with 30 minutes just to be safe.

Good luck. Trash the carboy and get a new fermenter, whether it be glass, plastic or stainless. Your sanitation isn't the issue...

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

How dusty is it in your house? I had persistant peddi infectoon years ago from airborne bacteria.

 

[WileECoyote]

I can't think of anything else to try,

Try HYDROGEN PEROXIDE it works...

Cheers

 

[gbuttar]

Thanks again for the advice,

have you done a full boil to eliminate top off water?

Good luck. Trash the carboy and get a new fermenter, whether it be glass, plastic or stainless. Your sanitation isn't the issue...

Regarding the Deer Park water and carboy: switching to a new 3 gallon carboy and a full boil brew, I'll eliminate both of those potential sources (for my next batch, not sure when I'll get the chance yet). The small batch should allow my to get a better pitch rate without a starter, eliminating that as source

How dusty is it in your house? I had persistant peddi infectoon years ago from airborne bacteria.

I don't think my apartment is particularly dusty, anyone know of any quick n dirty checks/rules of thumb for airborne contaminants (ie one that does not involve preparing a growth media and an incubator)

Try HYDROGEN PEROXIDE it works...

If I get a good batch using the 3 gal full boil, I may try going peroxide on my 5 gallon carboy. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're suggesting, I'm thinking that much hydrogen peroxide (I'm assuming 50/50 means a one to one ratio with water to the already diluted "drug store 3%" hydrogen peroxide) will cost more than the 3 gallon carboy, so I figured I'd give it a shot first, plus I can save some money on my next batch using less (or hopefully no) extract

Thanks again for the help, I'll update with results from my next batch

Also - the IPA I made previously which tasted half decent for a week tastes like absolute sour ass now, completely undrinkable

 

[IslandLizard]

...Also - the IPA I made previously which tasted half decent for a week tastes like absolute sour ass now, completely undrinkable

Sad to hear the problem still perseveres. It means something in your equipment is still a source for infection.

Is that IPA bottled or still in the fermentor?

How about that valve on your kettle? How well can you clean that? And the tubing?

Did you cut that bottom star off the airlock? If so it should be sanded or filed fairly smooth to make it sanitizable.

 

[JaggedIce]

do you mill your own grains? in the same area as you ferment?