Fruit fly in my airlock

[telebrewer]

I've had my last two batches get infected. On the most recent, before I dumped it, I found a fruit fly in the airlock liquid. If that is as far as the fly gets, will my beer be safe? Could this be the cause of infection. If so, WHAT can I do? Thanks...

 

[springer]

my last 10 gallons of Octoberfast was infected also by fruit flies But the airlock had been off for a while maybe 2-3 days there was a lot of those bastards floating on the top of the beer. I did rack a BB off and set it aside we'll see how it turns out .


If they didn't get passed the airlock then I don't see how they would have caused your infection.

 

[ChshreCat]

That's part of what the airlock is for. If you use something like StarSan in the airlock, you'll be fine even if the liquid gets sucked into your beer after a fly's died in it. Just dump it out, put it back and refill. NEVER DUMP YOUR BEER!

 

[buffalobrewer]

NEVER DUMP YOUR BEER!

I don't know about that. I had a bird dive bomb my brew kettle once. I dumped, scrubbed, sanitized, scrubbed, and sanitized again.

 

[IXVolt]

I don't know about that. I had a bird dive bomb my brew kettle once. I dumped, scrubbed, sanitized, scrubbed, and sanitized again.

That's crappy!

 

[Gremlyn]

I use cheap vodka in the airlock, flys get in, nothing gets out

 

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I use cheap vodka in the airlock, flys get in, nothing gets out

Ditto

8910

 

[Bsquared]

I use cheap vodka in the airlock, flys get in, nothing gets out

+1 on that
I've noticed a lot of them these day's, and have found one in the air lock as well. but like gremlyn I use Vodka in my air lock. If you don't use some type of sanitized, the bugs (bacteria) will be in the air lock liquid, and if you had a blow off into the air lock early in the ferment and you did not replace the air lock, they will have a super highway to your beer.

Also I set up a trap to catch them. Put one cup Apple cider vinegar in a mason jar with about a tsp of dish soap, cover to opening with plastic wrap and poke a few small holes in the plastic. The vinegar attracts them, and then they crawl in through the holes and they are some what trapped. When they try to feed on the vinegar there is no surface tension due to the soap, and they get pulled right in an killed!

 

[jgln]

I don't know about that. I had a bird dive bomb my brew kettle once. I dumped, scrubbed, sanitized, scrubbed, and sanitized again.

It thought you needed more blackberries.

 

[ChshreCat]

Fruit flys were insane around here last month. I'm just getting around to bottling my saison later this week after almost 2 months in fermenters because of the little buggers.

 

[philrose]

Fruit flys were insane around here last month. I'm just getting around to bottling my saison later this week after almost 2 months in fermenters because of the little buggers.

They were awful in seattle too. I was blaming the compost bins but maybe its a statewide thing?

 

[springer]

I don't know about that. I had a bird dive bomb my brew kettle once. I dumped, scrubbed, sanitized, scrubbed, and sanitized again.

little bit of bird poop in gallons of boiling wort nothing to worry about.

But really sanitizing a boil pot not once but twice? I would have just clean and boiled some water in it .

 

[buffalobrewer]

little bit of bird poop in gallons of boiling wort nothing to worry about.

But really sanitizing a boil pot not once but twice? I would have just clean and boiled some water in it .

Yeah, but i feel better about it. still feel like there are a couple "floater cells" in every batch

 

[springer]

my last 10 gallons of Octoberfast was infected also by fruit flies But the airlock had been off for a while maybe 2-3 days there was a lot of those bastards floating on the top of the beer. I did rack a BB off and set it aside we'll see how it turns out .


If they didn't get passed the airlock then I don't see how they would have caused your infection.

I drew a sample off with the thief last night , its been sitting 3 months all activity stopped it went from 1.068 to 1.007 And its actually very tasty. Tasted like a pre dry hopped IPA its now dry hopping with 2 oz of leaf Cascade.

That's part of what the airlock is for. If you use something like StarSan in the airlock, you'll be fine even if the liquid gets sucked into your beer after a fly's died in it. Just dump it out, put it back and refill. NEVER DUMP YOUR BEER!

I agree Don't ever dump your beer

 

[dantose]

I have issues with fruit flies too. Important thing is to clean your bottles right after pouring. +1 to the not worrying what gets in your airlock.

 

[jgln]

Those old fashioned fly strips work great for fruit flies. Hanging it above a glass of beer or OJ makes it work even better.

 

[Clayton]

Yeah, but i feel better about it. still feel like there are a couple "floater cells" in every batch

lol this guy clearly has never seen whats in raw grain.
ode to the mouse turds and beatles.
and the hops just think thoes things where outside and you put them in your beer with out washing it.

i would have just tossed that bird out and brewed on it not like it wouls have hurt anything with a little more boiling.
are you a vegan or something?

 

[springer]

lol this guy clearly has never seen whats in raw grain.
ode to the mouse turds and beatles.
and the hops just think thoes things where outside and you put them in your beer with out washing it.

i would have just tossed that bird out and brewed on it not like it wouls have hurt anything with a little more boiling.
are you a vegan or something?

I believe he meant the bird pooped in the wort . Lots of nasties in grains as you say.

 

[flananuts]

Fruit flies live only about 10 days and will do everything they can to lay eggs before they die. Cut flowers in vases are sometimes the culprit when there's no fruit or other things out.

There are great tricks to catching and trapping fruit flies. The best way is to create a paper funnel with the bottom cut just big enough to allow the fly in. Put the funnel in a class or jar with some cut bits of fruit, bananas etc. Tape the funnel to the jar so a seal is formed. The flies get in, but they don't get out(unless you cut the hole in the funnel tip too big).

Another good one is to add some red wine vinegar, a squirt of dish soap. Add water to create a lot of bubbles and suds and fill to the top. The fruit flies will be attracted to the sweet smell of the vinegar and get trapped in the bubbles.

I found the jar with the funnel works the best when you get an infestation of fruit flies.

I too use sky vodka in the airlocks, and usually will swish/drink the hop infused vodka post fermentation

 

[buffalobrewer]

I believe he meant the bird pooped in the wort . Lots of nasties in grains as you say.

yep, pooped in it. Nothing wrong with trying to minimize the crap in your beer, is there?

 

[Gremlyn]

I get fruit flies dive bombing my buckets that are soaking in oxyclean! I guess there must be 1 ppm residual wort in there...

 

[Bsquared]

Those old fashioned fly strips work great for fruit flies. Hanging it above a glass of beer or OJ makes it work even better.

Thanks I did this Yesterday,I used white vinegar, and now I have 50 dead flies on a strip! It worked much better than my old trap.:rockin:

 

[hopvine]

yep, pooped in it. Nothing wrong with trying to minimize the crap in your beer, is there?

I have the funniest image in my head of you sitting in a lawn chair watching the boil while a bird swoops down and squirts a turd in the wort. I'm amazed that you saw it happen, I wonder how many have brewed without realizing there was a special ingredient.

 

[cheezerman]

I am surrounded by vineyards, here, and it is harvest time. Needless to say, fruit flys are part of life this time of year. They always get in my airlocks, and i've not had an infection as of yet.

 

[Omahawk]

We've had a fruit fly infestation all summer long here in Omaha. We'll get 'em cleared out of the house employing several of the methods listed earlier in this thread, then they'll come back. More relevant to this thread is that during a couple of different bottling sessions I had a few fruit flies get into the bottling bucket. I fished them out, and had no infection.

 

[jgln]

I don't know why but if I am adding kitchen scraps to the compost and I get a fruit fly in my eye it REALLY screws my eye up. For the rest of the day my eye is irritated and feels like the fly is still there. Just about anything else in my eye (excet knives and sticks, etc.) no big deal, little fruit fly and I am done.

 

[ColoradoBill]

I've had that exact thing happen before. Took a while to scrape the little bugger out of the inside of the airlock too. The beer turned out just fine.

I think the flies also suffocate before they get anywhere near the beer, remember, that's pure CO2 coming out of the airlock. That's probably why they're attracted to the beer in the first place. A lot of blood sucking flies are attracted to CO2 exhaled by mammals.