Dump or Keg

[pvpeacock]

I made 3 batches in rapid succession before I realized they were all infected: an Irish Red Ale, a Saison and a Stout. I use SS conicals, so I did not see the pellicle on top before I drained the first two batches into kegs. However, I suspected something was wrong when I opened the conicals to clean them and saw this white film stuck to the sides of the conicals similar to your pictures. When the stout was ready to keg, I opened the top of the conical first and saw a white, bubble filled pellicle on top of the beer which created a white film on the sides when I drained the conical. All three beers tasted fine after I kegged them, but I let them sit for about a month at room temperature. All three kept building up gas pressure over that time suggesting that some form of fermentation was continuing. After about a month, I put the Irish Red in my keezer and tried it. It was delicious and tasked like a young Flanders Red. Everyone who tried it, loved it. I let the Saison sit for about 10 months before I put it in the keezer. It tasted bland and almost flavorless. After trying samples a few times over the course of a week, I gave up and dumped it. The stout is now almost 1 year old and I'm not sure how long I will wait before I tap it and decide whether to drink it or dump it.

I'm convinced that my infection came from the ball valve on my brew kettle. When I disassembled everything, the only "dirty" part of my gear was that ball valve. since cleaning it, sterilizing all my other parts on the sanitize setting of my dishwasher and replacing all hoses and rubber gaskets, I have not had any new infections. Good luck.

 

[Jayjay1976]

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Seems to me that every part of the spigot that is exposed to the wort is fully accessible and cleaned/sanitized.

Regardless, I am going to investigate replacing all the plastic will stainless.

Can folks confirm to me that after 10-15 days the top of their wort is 100% crystal clear (minus some remains of Krausen on the sides). If this is what others get, that is what I am going to try and get.

My beers have been pretty clear on top after the kraeusen drops, guess it depends on the recipe. Either way, to really clean your plastic spigots; disassemble all the parts you can, soak for a few hours in bleach solution and then simmer for a bit in water. Let cool completely before re-assembly. I've become a big fan of bleach for sanitizing equipment before storage. A few weeks later when I need to use it, a rinse with hot water followed by a brief star san soak seems to work fine. Any residual chlorine from the soak evaporates during the time the parts sit dry waiting for brew day.

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

Yroc, we have focused on the spigots which is really important. On a side note, how do your fermenters look? Are they scratched at all? Look for big scratches and then hold it up to the light. Do you see any micro scratches? How have you been transferring cooled beer to your fermenters? Take a close look at all of that. Hoses, ball valves, racking canes etc.
I have had many of the issues others have mentioned in this thread. Tons of soaking, deep cleaning and replacing some parts etc should set you back on course.

 

[Yroc]

My gear is never sitting dormant.. I have two batches on the go at all times. It would be nice if I could boil everything, but that would take one huge pot and a ton of water. I will start boiling some of the other stuff and perhaps even pour boiling water into the buckets after clean and before sterilize.

I looked at that 2nd batch this morning. The large floating white spots have mostly disappeared. There is still a film on the top but it shows less in person than it does in the photo below (1st photo is two days ago, 2nd was taken today)

My fermenters are a couple years old. They have no big scratches inside but likely thousands of micro scratches all over the inside surface (only thing ever in them is a plastic spoon and cloths I use when I clean them prior to sterilization.

I have to wonder if this batch will end up looking like the 1st in 8 days or so. Time will tell the tale.

 

[Yroc]

Here is a close up.

 

[Yroc]

I have been reading about fermenting in glass carboy. Does anyone do this for primary?

example: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01ANDX4WO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Abbas]

I have been reading about fermenting in glass carboy. Does anyone do this for primary?

example: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01ANDX4WO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I currently use glass and SS fermenters. They work just fine. They are definitely superior to plastic in my opinion although many people swear by using plastic. If you go with glass use caution. I believe there is an ongoing thread of brewers with some serious injuries caused by glass carboys breaking. I'm in the middle of transitioning from glass to SS. It's costly, but SS will last you the rest of your homebrewing career.

 

[Yroc]

I move my brew from the kitchen to the basement... so glass is a concern. I have been looking at SS options. This one came up and seems reasonable. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[Abbas]

I move my brew from the kitchen to the basement... so glass is a concern. I have been looking at SS options. This one came up and seems reasonable. Do you have any suggestions?

View attachment 601292

I’m considering picking one of those up after the holidays are over. From the reviews I’ve seen, they are a solid value SS fermenter.

I have the SS Brewtech Brew Bucket and love it. It is more pricey though.

 

[Yroc]

I was looking at this one as well. It seems to be the top performer for this type of thing. Quite expensive at my local store.

 

[4of7]

I have been reading about fermenting in glass carboy. Does anyone do this for primary?

example: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01ANDX4WO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

13 gallon keg is a primary

 

[4of7]

I have been reading about fermenting in glass carboy. Does anyone do this for primary?

example: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01ANDX4WO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

carboys...85 batches not to bad with what you have.till now

 

[4of7]

My brew barrels have a bottom spout so "gravity siphon" might be a better way to describe how I pour the beer into the kegs. The only tools I use are this siphon hose, and the barrel when I keg. When I brew I also use a spoon. Then there are the kegs. So you think I should replace some of these items instead of cleaning them?

View attachment 600997 View attachment 600998

You could start to use the Corny to ferment in

 

[Yroc]

I am going to go pick up two SS Brewtech 7 Gal Brewmaster's. From what I read although they are a bit more money they are better built and I can afford the extra $200. Turns out it will be $614 including tax shipped from Toronto to Ottawa or $640 if I get them from my local brew shop which I will more than likely do.

The original brew that was infected is carbonated now and I am trying it as I write this. It is quite good (photo below of it in the glass).

As for the 2nd batch which is still in the plastic bucket, this is how it looks as of today. My barrels do not seal and that is likely half of my problem. This not to mention they are plastic and I have never been a fan of plastic so I am happy to make a step up and see how things improve (if they do)

.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I'd say buy some new plastic carboys and carry on for another 85 brews. 650$ for 2 buckets is a pretty big investment imho considering besides the cleaning aspect theres no real other advantage. Of course if your budget is unlimited go for it but at that point you might as well spend a few 100$ more and upgrade to a unitank as that's a pretty substantial upgrade that has alot of bonuses . Cheers

 

[ApolloSimcoe]

+1 to Blazin. No need to spend big bucks to fix this problem when you aren't sure 100% that the buckets have now are the problem. Spend $30-40 on new buckets. Treat them well and they will last a long time.

 

[Yroc]

An update.

1st photo is the bucket that was cleaned and replaced on Dec 5 (it being the new version of post 1 and 6). So far it appears a good cleaning has resulted in a new brew without problems. 10 days old tomorrow.

The 2nd photo is the one that was shown in post 23 and brewed on Nov 24. While it seems to have issues, it is nothing like the one that made me start this thread in the 1st place. It will be 21 days old tomorrow.

 

[WBB]

If you’re going for SS, while I don’t doubt the SS brewtech is a nice piece of equipment, I have 2 of the anvils and I find they are great.

 

[Yroc]

Went to keg the 21 day version from the plastic bucket today and it is bad. It tastes like apple cider, down the drain it went. Funny how the one that looked really bad was good (1st post on this thread) whereas the one that looked better is wicked bad.

Photo that follows shows how I hope to make this my last BAD batch ever.

Any advice on SS spoon versus plastic one?

 

[Yroc]

Here we go.

 

[Soulshine2]

I tasted it again, and since it tastes quite good, I decided to keg it.

Most of what was floating on top stuck to the sides of the primary as I poured it into the kegs (see photo). I did not keg the last 2 or so inches. Now it's a matter of making sure whatever happened this time does not happen to me again. I clean quite thoroughly with Diversol... although I have been thinking of changing to a no rinse as soon as this container runs out. Any suggestion regarding how to up my game cleaning wise?View attachment 600995

my cleaning regimen- oxy clean , then star san...so far, so good

 

[Yroc]

I have to think the plastic simply got old and hard to clean. Choice was new pails or the rig shown above. Looking back.. they were purchased Oct 2015.

 

[Yroc]

1st batch is in the kegs now.. it came out looking picture perfect. A bit soon to keg, but I will take green over infected or store bought any day. New SS brew barrels are a breeze to clean.

2nd batch will remain in primary for 20-30 days.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Yroc]

2nd batch in the kegs... picture perfect. If I have any complaint about the SS Fermenter.. it's that it is a bit small. I have kegs from Italy which are 3 Imperial gallons. 23 Litres was a good volume in my old fermenter, a bit tight to do that in these new ones. A world economy with 2 different sized gallons is not the best.

 

[Abbas]

I forgot to mention, if I were you, I would pick up a couple packs of replacement O-rings for the fermenters. I've gone through a few of the O-rings for the racking arm since purchasing mine.

 

[Yroc]

I am not a fan of the racking arm. I removed it for batch 2... will see if I like it better without.