Dismantle Brew Kettle and Clean Spigot?

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mkukiela

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Folks,

I have been brewing for a couple years and have had 2 stretches of having bugs in my brew. Very astringent flavor and carbonation that vanishes like ginger ale.
I have recently moved from "One Step" to "Star San" and still have a spoiled batch. I have one more that I used Star San and a yeast starter...but that is still currently fermenting.
I believe my troubles could lie with my brew kettle spigot or the mesh strainer I use to filter my wort into my primary.
When I experienced bugs in my pumpkin ale a year ago...I dismantled my brew kettle spigot soaked it scrubbed it and then had about 10 months of good batches. Now I am back to square one. Bad batches abound, and my spigot is now soaking. What are other homebrewers doing in relation to making sure their brew kettle spigot is not causing problems?
Thank you for any advice!
 
BK ball valve can get nasty!, I have a three piece and take it apart regularly, first time I did it had been quite a while and that won't happen again.
As far as a source for an infection I doubt it, It was just hot enough that the wort was boiling effectively killing of any thing that would cause one.
Good luck:mug:
 
Are you using the Star San as a cleaner? If I remember right 1 step is a cleaner. Star San is a sanitizer only, for cleaning you will need something similar to PBW.
 
Was using Straight-A as cleaner and 1-Step as sanitizer and had many good batches with this scheme. Now I am using the Straight-A for cleanser and Star San for sanitizer. Still having issues...
 
ChefRex
I read somewhere once that even though the inside of the valve is in contact with boiling wort, the outside may not reach a bug killing temp. I am flummoxed at this point. Perhaps it is my metal mesh strainer?
 
ChefRex
I read somewhere once that even though the inside of the valve is in contact with boiling wort, the outside may not reach a bug killing temp. I am flummoxed at this point. Perhaps it is my metal mesh strainer?

If you're worried about that you could try draining a few pints out through the valve during boil and pouring them back in. Heat it up a bit.

Kettle is the last place I'd consider to find the source of infection.
 
ChefRex
I read somewhere once that even though the inside of the valve is in contact with boiling wort, the outside may not reach a bug killing temp. I am flummoxed at this point. Perhaps it is my metal mesh strainer?

Touch it the next time you're brewing, I dare ya, no,I double dog dare ya!:p
 
Perhaps my wire mesh strainer or transfer tube? I soak them both for hours in cleanser then sanitizer before using.
 
There's a whole article on brulosophy about a brewer who had bad batches for an extended period of time. It was caused by his ball valve. It happens
 
Thank you Armedcor,
I knew I had heard this somewhere before...I brewed an American Pale Ale today (very basic ale) after soaking my ball valve overnight. I replaced my transfer tube to my primary and eliminated my mesh strainer. Hopefully I will be enjoying a homebrew soon.
Thanks again!
Mark
 
Thank you Armedcor,
I knew I had heard this somewhere before...I brewed an American Pale Ale today (very basic ale) after soaking my ball valve overnight. I replaced my transfer tube to my primary and eliminated my mesh strainer. Hopefully I will be enjoying a homebrew soon.
Thanks again!
Mark

Hope it works and you get to enjoy some tasty HB:mug:
 
I was just going to post about this seeing what everyone does with their kettle. I'm using a keggle and after a few times using it, I noticed when heating my strik water black stuff was coming out of the spigot, I disassembled everything and cleaned it running a brush through my dip tube. I've even noticed the black stuff in the bung my thermometer is in. Is everyone taking everything apart and cleaning after every brew? Or just running a brush and hot water with cleaner through everything?
 
You're talking about soaking, for hours.

But soaking alone may not be enough. Put a brush on things, scrub 'em until they're squeaky clean. They make 3' and 6' long draw brushes to get inside tubing and racking canes. You can't sanitize unless its clean. Just be careful not to scratch anything (e.g., plastic) that touches your chilled wort and beer, as bugs can hide where sanitizer can't reach.

If you use a bottling bucket, that main spigot body comes apart into two 3/4" barrels, I found a lot of black slime in there, luckily before I was going to use it.

And yeah, definitely take things apart you suspect build up. Most parts can be boiled in PBW.

Replace your racking hose when in doubt. I always keep mine in a bucket with Starsan. They turn milky and get a bit stiff, but work fine. I still brush the insides of them regularly.
 
Perhaps my wire mesh strainer or transfer tube? I soak them both for hours in cleanser then sanitizer before using.



How big is the opening in the wire mesh you are using?

http://www.bwire.com

Comparing on this site - is it something very fine like a 100x100 mesh? Or is the % open area larger - like something along the lines of a 10x10 wire cloth?

The finer the mesh, the dirtier your filtration system is going to be.... If you have larger openings, junk tends to fall right through - hence the need for the filter.
 
Have had 3 successful brews since addressing my kettle ball valve. I believe it is the hose barb connected to the ball valve that caused my problem. I believe I was catching bugs on the lip where the inside of the barb meets the valve. Thanks for help with this one...
 
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