Fruit fly in my priming sugar!!

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Argghh!!! I have always had an issue with fruit flies in my house. Over the years, I tend to lose about 1 brew a year to an aceto infection (knock on wood, never had a lacto infection). I've narrowed it down to a bottling issue, not fermenter. I use all the standard tricks. I seal around the siphon as I transfer to the bottling bucket. I keep the bottling bucket covered. And I put a bowl of cider vinegar elsewhere in the kitchen to keep the little buggers away. I also replace all my plastic (bucket, hoses, spigot, siphon, etc) once a year. Ninety-five percent of the time that's enough but they are sneaky little bugs.

Today was a first. I boiled my priming sugar with water in a pot and then poured it into the bucket as I siphoned from the fermenter. As I put the empty pot down on the counter, I spotted a dead fruit fly in the bottom. Let's just say it's a good thing my kids weren't home.

I guess the good news is that it stayed in the pot and didn't go into the bucket. It must have gotten in there as the solution came to a boil. However, I boiled for 10 min and once I shut the stove off I put the lid on the pot so it couldn't have gotten in after the boil. So it died in boiling water and sat there for 10 - 15 min before it was added to the bucket.

My hope (prayer!) is that the boiling water killed any aceto and I will have a healthy enjoyable DIPA.

Anyone else ever experienced this?

 

[njohnsoncs]

I would be really surprised if fruit flies cause any type of infection...

 

[TasunkaWitko]

He won't eat much ~

 

[65C]

it'll be fine - I like good hygiene but there are limits to where it matters

a fruit fly getting in to a bottle of 5% isn't going to make the slightest difference - but you might have some explaining to do if you serve it to a mate (btw a glass of cider vinegar in room is a good trap for fruit flies)

hygiene matters at some critical points like once your wort is cool and going in to the primary - outside of that you just need to be sensible

almost every story I've read of infection has been related to:

1. using some fruit or similar in a secondary (9 stories out of 10)

2. underpitching with sketchy hygiene after the boil

3. dry hopping

under normal circumstances with a good ferment - it's bloody hard to screw it up - same with making bread, sour dough etc. - you need something that's going to overpower billions of beasties

I'm not even convinced the airlocks are critical - better to be safe - but people brewed for centuries without them

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I would be really surprised if fruit flies cause any type of infection...

Actually, fruit flies do carry acetobacter, which basically turns your beer to vinegar.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

it'll be fine - I like good hygiene but there are limits to where it matters

a fruit fly getting in to a bottle of 5% isn't going to make the slightest difference - but you might have some explaining to do if you serve it to a mate (btw a glass of cider vinegar in room is a good trap for fruit flies)

hygiene matters at some critical points like once your wort is cool and going in to the primary - outside of that you just need to be sensible

almost every story I've read of infection has been related to:

1. using some fruit or similar in a secondary (9 stories out of 10)

2. underpitching with sketchy hygiene after the boil

3. dry hopping

under normal circumstances with a good ferment - it's bloody hard to screw it up - same with making bread, sour dough etc. - you need something that's going to overpower billions of beasties

I'm not even convinced the airlocks are critical - better to be safe - but people brewed for centuries without them

Yes, I did have a bowl of cider vinegar as a trap (caught 3 this time). The 3 things you list are definitely possible causes of infection. However, over the years I have reasonably ruled them out (no fruit, no dry hop, healthy pitch and anal retentive sanitation). Those causes also tend to result in wild bacteria or lacto, not usually aceto. Yes, there can be lapses or accidents but the odds that every one of those would result in an aceto infection and not something else are pretty slim. I'm clear these have all been aceto. Lacto makes your beer sour but aceto turns it to vinegar. Again, my hope is that the bug was boiled enough to kill any aceto.

 

[65C]

if you're getting so may contaminations - maybe try re-using yeastcakes or at least taking a good slug of previous yeast to pitch with - and going heavy on the aeration

 

[BrewKnob]

I ground my grain in my garage right were I made the batch on same day (it rained that day) and I had a batch go bad...sour.

One more scenario.

 

[njohnsoncs]

Actually, fruit flies do carry acetobacter, which basically turns your beer to vinegar.

I never said fruit flies do not carry bacteria. I said I would be surprised if they caused an infection especially after fermentation.

 

[Smellyglove]

I've only had bad experiences with fruit flies. Which is two times. Once in a starter, and once in a batch where the lid wasn't completely on. Like someone mentioned they carry acetobacter. Both my starter and batch got vinegar taste to them. Both went down the drain.

Yesterday I found one of those bastards swimming in my rehydrated yeast, but since I didn't have any other available options, it went into the wort. I'll se how it turns out.

 

[6midgets]

Did the fruit fly die from boiling? If so then he was also sanitized. I had a yellow jacket fly into my carboy as I was transferring from it to the keg. I was worried about contamination but I just went with it and everything turned out fine.