I'm infected :-(

[SnickleFitsBrew]

Well. I've got about 10 batches under my belt. All extract brews w/ some steeping ect. So far this summer I have had some terrible luck. I messed up my Kolsch by diluting it far to much. I ended up bottling half and racking the other half to a secondary to cold crash and see the difference it made. Well, 2 weeks in the basement, low and behold I open to bottle and boom a white film that smells like cheese. Nasty, dumped it. Whatever... That was a brand new never before used bucket that was properly sanitized. other half bottled was NOT infected... Only thing I could imagine was there was to much oxygen in the bucket? Either way. I was upset.

Now, I brewed up a Hefeweizen on 5/15. Bavarian Wheat LME, DME + 8 oz carapils + Tettnang + Hallertau on wyeast 3068. OG @ 1.050.. checked on 5/21 @ 1.019.. Bottled on 6/11. I left it in the primary the whole time, mostly due to being busy.. Beer seemed to come along nicely. Well. I had some cooper tabs laying around so I said screw it, bottled straight from primary. 57 bottles. Upon completion of bottling I open the fermenter to find a white film had at some point grown and the smell was present... didnt notice it all while bottling... Well last night decided to check out the bottles and sure enough each bottle has a nasty white film around the neck.. and smells kind of bad.. i fridged one and opened it.. no carbonation at all.. tastes blah... what the hell is this!? its so discouraging.. I currently have a IPA and Blonde Ale in the fermenters chuggin along and now I am concerned about this infection taking over my beers... its really got me down.. to the point of giving up on brewing.. all the work and this happens?
Sanitation has not changed, same thing every batch....

ALSO, it seems the 4 weeks in the primary was to long, most of the yeast seems to be settled out and carbing may now also become an issue.. seems far to clear thus far for a hefe..... this sucks!

WHAT IS THIS!?

 

[fineexampl]

You need to revamp your sanitation process. That's not normal.

 

[IXVolt]

Are you fermenting in a bucket or carboy? Sounds like you need to go through the sanitation process again like fineexampl suggested.

 

[PIGMAN]

Have any of the 10 batches turned out good?
What are you using to sanitize?
Are you sure you are sanitizing everything, such as the inside of the spigot, the siphon and hose, the bottling wand?
Did you use an abrasive while cleaning anything, that could have left a scratch? Scratches harbor bacteria.
There is an answer I'm sure.
IF YOU QUIT, THE TERRORISTS WIN!!

 

[zepolmot]

1. There is plenty of yeast to carb the beer despite a 4 week primary.
2. No carbonation because its only been bottling conditioning for 4 days.
3. It tastes 'blah' because its flat green beer.

Bottles occasionally will develop a second krausen, though not always, so I wouldn't immediately assume infection. Forget about them until July. If you're concerned with infections and bottle bombs put them in a secondary container away from anything you fear may get damaged. Worst case scenario there are scratches in your fermenters harboring bacteria. Replacing them won't likely break the bank. Keep on brewing!

 

[fineexampl]

1. There is plenty of yeast to carb the beer despite a 4 week primary.
2. No carbonation because its only been bottling conditioning for 4 days.
3. It tastes 'blah' because its flat green beer.

Bottles occasionally will develop a second krausen, though not always, so I wouldn't immediately assume infection. Forget about them until July. If you're concerned with infections and bottle bombs put them in a secondary container away from anything you fear may get damaged. Worst case scenario there are scratches in your fermenters harboring bacteria. Replacing them won't likely break the bank. Keep on brewing!

A 2nd krausen after a month in primary sounds a bit far fetched.

My guesses are in 3 spots. 1. your siphoning/bottling equipment needs replacing. 2. your buckets are scratched to heck. 3. your bottles are really filthy.

I'm at this about 2 years and i've never seen an infection and i KNOW my sanitation isn't the best it could be.

Always have on hand: plain bleach used sparingly and rinsed WELL after use. Follow it up with Starsan or Iodophor according to directions. I prefer Starsan for it's "green" qualities.

I change my tubing every 2-3 brews. It's only a few cents a foot and worth the cost. I also like to keep a bucket of sanitizer next to where i'm working as a kind of drop bucket in case i need to put something down. I switched to glass fermenters for their anti-scratch qualities. (Get a brewhauler if you go this way.) Keep a spray bottle of sanitizer around at all times.

I hope i don't sound preachy. I just want you to have good beer.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I've never had an infection, but I have to second the posters that say it's a sanitation issue. What kinda of fermentor are you using? And how do you go about sanitizing equipment and bottles on bottling day? Do you thoroughly clean the room and surfaces you use during bottling? If you're getting infections in the bottle, my guess would be that it's becoming infected during the bottling process.

 

[rewster452]

I have never had an infection, and like finexampl I can safely say my sanitation is not shall we say, exemplary. But I have seen something like this. From using one step, and not rinsing properly. I don't KNOW that this is your problem, but if you're using one step, stop. Use iodophor. And whatever you're using, if you leave too much sanitizer lingering on your bottles, guess what sanitizer kills? Yeast. And if there's even a tiny amount of something resistant to the sanitizer it isn't going to make your beer taste better when it has the whole playground to itself.

But, that's only if you're very certain you don't have a weak link in your sanitation. Check for that first.

 

[rewster452]

And almost certainly you're acquiring this problem on bottling day.

 

[NWMOBrewer]

Do a quick search on sanitizes to find a better one for you. I love starsan

 

[zepolmot]

A 2nd krausen after a month in primary sounds a bit far fetched.

Any particular reason why? There is yeast and fermentable sugars in the bottle. Doesn't seem too far fetched.

 

[mewithstewpid]

starsan +1

dont fear the foam!

 

[rewster452]

starsan +1

dont fear the foam!

I've been meaning to try it, but I have a very large bottle of iodophor that hasn't done me wrong yet.

 

[biggerthanyou83]

starsan +1

dont fear the foam!

Totally off topic... I just used starsan and is the foam supposed to look like some one blowing bubles? And if its foamed up in a bottle is it safe to fill with beer?

 

[eastoak]

Totally off topic... I just used starsan and is the foam supposed to look like some one blowing bubles? And if its foamed up in a bottle is it safe to fill with beer?

yes and yes as long as you mixed it in the correct concentration of 1oz to 5 gallons 'o water.

 

[PIGMAN]

Totally off topic... I just used starsan and is the foam supposed to look like some one blowing bubles? And if its foamed up in a bottle is it safe to fill with beer?

The beer will displace the foam as you fill the bottle.

 

[hops2it]

Having multiple infected brews makes me think it's a particular piece of equip. Since you were using a new bucket, my guess is tubing. It's hard to get that stuff clean and even harder to get it dry on the inside which breeds growth of nasties. I'm thinking of replacing my tubing before doing any more brews as I noticed a small spot in mine last time around...seem to have got away with it but not rolling the dice again. It's cheap insurance.

Could be many things, just a guess on my part.

 

[flagman]

I had an issue a few years ago when I started brewing with two batches that I bottled back to back. They were my second and third batches. They both looked, smelled and tasted great when I bottled them. After three weeks both beers where horrid. I threw away the hose and bleached, oxi cleaned and PBW the heck out of everything I had. When It came time to bottle the forth brew I decided to take the spigot off of the bottling bucket to clean it. Why I had not done this before I do not know. When I got it apart low and behold there was gunk inside the valve. I cleaned it really well, sanitized and bottled. The beer was great. Now I take everything apart to clean it and after 25 batches or more that I have bottled with the same bucket no problems.

 

[PIGMAN]

Having multiple infected brews makes me think it's a particular piece of equip. Since you were using a new bucket, my guess is tubing. It's hard to get that stuff clean and even harder to get it dry on the inside which breeds growth of nasties. I'm thinking of replacing my tubing before doing any more brews as I noticed a small spot in mine last time around...seem to have got away with it but not rolling the dice again. It's cheap insurance.

Could be many things, just a guess on my part.

I siphon a gallon of hot water through the hose after bottling, and then follow that up with siphoning Starsan. I then hang it up to dry. Seems to work, although the stuff is cheap enough to switch to a new hose every now and then.

 

[malkore]

Infections definitely taste off...not 'blah' but straight up FUNKY and BAD.
Stuff like brett. species throw flavors of "band-aid" "horse blanket".
Acetobacter makes it turn to vinegar and it'll taste like malt vinegar.

if its just 'blah' it sounds like green beer, or a bad recipe.

 

[hector]

if its just 'blah' it sounds like green beer, or a bad recipe.

What do you mean by " a bad Recipe " ?

Hector

 

[SnickleFitsBrew]

OP here...

A lot of decent responses.. to clear some things up:

Ive succesfully made 10 batches of pretty damn good beer. From an oatmeal stout, to a porter, to an oktoberfest style, the list goes on... all of which have been excellent. My two current batches that are fermenting have already reached target gravity and seem to be coming along awesome.. Ive recently switched from using a bleach/vinegar solution to using 1 step claimed 'cleaner/sanitizer'....this may be where the problem is as someone mentioned they have seen this happen with this product, i will be switching to pbw and starsan immediately ... it is clearly not a bottle krausen it is a white film.. that breaks apart.. the smell is pretty hideous however the beer did not really taste off and obviously it is still a green beer but it tasted better from a fermenter sample a few weeks into fermentation so i dont know... i usually use dextrose to carb which usually works extremely fast whereas the cooper tabs seem to be going pretty damn slow even though it only day 6...

a few things to also consider: not a single item was used on the original infected batch to make or transfer the second infected batch....

it appears to be some sort of mold? smelled like a cheese kind of thing but who the hell knows.... the original infection was in a secondary on half my batch of Kolsch.. that was stored in my basement.. it was about 2.5 gallons in a 5 gallon bucket.. maybe to much head space, maybe acquired from a moldy basement?

this film was found in the fermenter after bottling so it was there BEFORE I bottled the beer and merely transferred itself into the bottles.... some bottles are worse looking then others..

I guess only time will tell..