BamaPhil
Well-Known Member
So a few days ago I posted this thread where I asked if you guys thought I had an infection.
I'm now confident I have a systemic problem. My brown saisons, a few of which I really liked, have started to foam pretty badly and taste off. I also have an ESB that I just bottled a week ago. It's having the same junk floating in many/most of the bottles and a bottle I just opened gushed pretty bad. Not explosive, but half the volume was gone within a minute. Many of the caps are also starting to show the pressure inside (my capper makes a small indentation that doesn't "pop" any with a properly carbed bottle).
1) At one point do I preemptively open and dump the ESBs? I don't want explosions on my hands, but I also want to give them a shot in case a few aren't contaminated.
2) Where am I going wrong? I clean and Starsan well.
-It COULD be the plastic secondary I've used, but I didn't secondary my ESB at all.
-It COULD be re-used yeast, but the brown and yeast were fresh
-It COULD be old Starsan. I have heard if it's clear it's good to go. I'm buying pH strips to use in the future.
-It COULD be just bad cleanliness, but I have a hard time accepting that. Everything gets soaped down and rinsed after brew day, and sanitized before use.
It's been a major blow to the confidence. Luckily I have a white IPA that's turned out pretty well, albeit with more trub in the bottles than I wanted.
I'm now confident I have a systemic problem. My brown saisons, a few of which I really liked, have started to foam pretty badly and taste off. I also have an ESB that I just bottled a week ago. It's having the same junk floating in many/most of the bottles and a bottle I just opened gushed pretty bad. Not explosive, but half the volume was gone within a minute. Many of the caps are also starting to show the pressure inside (my capper makes a small indentation that doesn't "pop" any with a properly carbed bottle).
1) At one point do I preemptively open and dump the ESBs? I don't want explosions on my hands, but I also want to give them a shot in case a few aren't contaminated.
2) Where am I going wrong? I clean and Starsan well.
-It COULD be the plastic secondary I've used, but I didn't secondary my ESB at all.
-It COULD be re-used yeast, but the brown and yeast were fresh
-It COULD be old Starsan. I have heard if it's clear it's good to go. I'm buying pH strips to use in the future.
-It COULD be just bad cleanliness, but I have a hard time accepting that. Everything gets soaped down and rinsed after brew day, and sanitized before use.
It's been a major blow to the confidence. Luckily I have a white IPA that's turned out pretty well, albeit with more trub in the bottles than I wanted.
