First infection!

[mmmbeer]

Well heres how it went down, I was brewing an English bitter and thought to pitch it on the yeast cake of a london cream ale i had recenlty brewed. Things went great during the brewing and transfer. That night though i was awakened to a loud boom. I ran to check the beer and sure enough the airlock had become clogged and beer and trub were everywhere, all down the bucket and walls. I cleaned up as best i could and hoped for the best. A couple weeks later i kegged it and chilled it. The first glass was absolutly awefull, it smelled horrible and had a weird plasticy taste. So last night i had to dump the entire 5 gallons down the drain. What a waste. hopefully others can learn from this as i have and use a blow off tube when repitching on a yeast cake.

 

[FlyingHorse]

Condolences on your loss

I don't think plastic-y is a usual byproduct of infection...might be a different problem?

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

Solvent-like
This group of flavors is very similar to the alcohol and ester flavors, but are harsher to the tongue. These flavors often result from a combination of high fermentation temperatures and oxidation. They can also be leached from cheap plastic brewing equipment or if PVC tubing is used as a lautering manifold material. The solvents in some plastics like PVC can be leached by high temperatures.

Medicinal
These flavors are often described as mediciney, Band-Aid™ like, or can be spicy like cloves. The cause are various phenols which are initially produced by the yeast. Chlorophenols result from the reaction of chlorine-based sanitizers (bleach) with phenol compounds and have very low taste thresholds. Rinsing with boiled water after sanitizing is the best way to prevent these flavors.

 

[mmmbeer]

I read that a plastic like taste could be due to infection with wild yeast. The other beers that i have brewed have brewed before and after this one have had no hint of the is taste.

 

[sully]

the only way to go is to stop using plastic buckets and plastic all together, it scratches too easily making a place for nasties to hide. I use a plastic bucket for a sanitizing bucket, all it ever has in it is sanitizer. Glass carboys are awesome. you can watch fermentation and they dont scratch unless you are trying to scratch it.(dont know why anyone would do that.) loose the plastic fermenters.

 

[Beerrific]

There is no reason not to use plastic. BetterBottles are just as good (some argue better) than glass. Just don't scratch it, it's not hard.

 

[delarob]

For the crean ale, did you use dry yeast?

 

[rohanski]

I have been plagued by infections. I use glass for the primary and plastic for the secondary. I sanitize the plastic fermenter for at least 24 hours with a bleach solution but it seems to be a hit and miss problem. I have changed to glass on both and still waiting to see how it goes.

 

[CharlieB]

if its only use is for brewing, what would you put in a plastic bucket or betterbottle that would scratch it?

 

[BierMuncher]

the only way to go is to stop using plastic buckets and plastic all together, it scratches too easily making a place for nasties to hide. I use a plastic bucket for a sanitizing bucket, all it ever has in it is sanitizer. Glass carboys are awesome. you can watch fermentation and they dont scratch unless you are trying to scratch it.(dont know why anyone would do that.) loose the plastic fermenters.

I've got 220 gallons of good beer YTD, that say otherwise.

There's nothing wrong with the plastic brewing buckets.

 

[Beerrific]

if its only use is for brewing, what would you put in a plastic bucket or betterbottle that would scratch it?

The metal on a carboy brush, brillo pads, maybe the green scrubby things on sponges, metal spoons. Not hard to avoid these. And, IMO, scratches on plastic may increase the possibility of infection but I am not fully convinced that with proper sanitation this increased risk is in any way significant.

 

[mrb]

My sympathys for yous and yours.

 

[sully]

im not saying you cant make great beer with a plastic fermenter, just saying it is a little iffy even if you are careful with it. do you know of any breweries that use plastic? didnt think so. i cannot afford to lose a batch, to much time and effort. you can also make beer without actually boiling it, there is something to be said for piece of mind.

 

[BierMuncher]

...do you know of any breweries that use plastic? didnt think so. i cannot afford to lose a batch, to much time and effort. you can also make beer without actually boiling it, there is something to be said for piece of mind.

I don't know any breweries that use glass carboys or cornies either...

Let's not try to compare equipment between homebrewers and the BMC makers. Otherwise we all need to go out and buy copper kettles.

I'm intrigued by the no-boil-beer you speak of....

Do tell.

 

[Beerrific]

im not saying you cant make great beer with a plastic fermenter, just saying it is a little iffy even if you are careful with it. do you know of any breweries that use plastic? didnt think so. i cannot afford to lose a batch, to much time and effort. you can also make beer without actually boiling it, there is something to be said for piece of mind.

Most don't use glass either for the same reason I like to use plastic.

 

[sully]

you know the no boil beer kits, when i saw these i laughed and said ''Probly something you mix together in a plastic fermenter and put the cap on." im not trashin you guys, the only infected batches i have had have been in plastic buckets. who said anything about bmc? im just tryin to give some friendly advice. i would love a copper kettle and stainless fermenter, glass is as good as i can do for now.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You could have a stainless fermenter if you converted a Corny Keg...Just a thought.

But why would that make a difference? Stainless scratches also. I think that sanitation practices make all the difference, regardless of scratches. I use both plastic and glass and I think that it is easy to clean a bucket vs glass. I soak both in Straigh A to loosen the gunk for a day or two, dump, and then fill to the top with water and sanitizer. Infection could be from many other sources other than scratches...

 

[jdcoffman]

I haven't been doing this for all that long, but I've never had a problem when I do primary in plastic, I tend to mix it up depending on what's available in my brew-room but, never had a problem either way.

 

[Willy Boner]

One thing to get,STARSAN:rockin: