Infection Help

[Dilligaf76]

I have had three, possibly four, five gallon batches of beer with a progressively worsening apple/band-aid taste after bottling. I brewed them all within a few weeks of each other using tap water to top off after a 3 gallon boil. There are no real signs on top of the fermenting batches and I've kept the fermenting temps around 70 degress+- 2. The only place I can see a problem with sanitation is I leave the lid on my primary cracked while its in the ice bath and it usually takes up to 2 hrs to cool to pitching temps. The guys at the LHBS asked if I kept a ceiling fan on during this and we do.
My question is could my racking cane or tubing be causing this continued contamination? I rinse and wash everything after use and rinse and soak in sanitizer for several minutes before using anything. Could I do anything else to try and further sanitize my equipment or do I have a flaw in my process? I initially thought my taste was due to my tap water but it doesn't make sense to me that it would progress. Its a strong enough odor to totally block my dry hopping it eventually gets too bad to drink. The last batch is in the secondary now and has looked fine but has a few 1/4" bubbles on top. I used spring water for the top off on this batch.
Any help is appreciated. SWMBO is beginning to question the whole homebrewing hobby.

 

[TheBrewLebowski]

Make sure you pre boil the top off water before adding it to the fermenter. Also, what sanitizer are you using?

 

[Dilligaf76]

I've been using the powdered no rinse sanitizer that came with my kit but bought some star san last week and have been using that since. The batch I have now was brewed using the powdered and transferred to the secondary and dry hopped using star san. I soaked my paint strainer before putting my hops in it for dry hopping. Im planing on bottling this last batch sometime this week and I guess I'll know if its bad as well.

 

[Dilligaf76]

24 hrs after dry hopping.

 

[TheBrewLebowski]

Star san is the way to go. The powdered stuff that comes with the kitsis usually just a cleaner. Mine just came with easy clean, which isn't really a sanitizer. That may be part of the problem. It supposedly has some sanitizing properties but isn't really intended for that. Other possibilities are your bottling wand, bottle caps, bottles, or tubing for your wand or racking cane. Make sure your submersing/ soaking all of these in the star san.

I guess I should also ask, if all of your batches got infected, or if this just started happening. Also, at what point during your process do you notice the off taste starting? Edit- Just noticed the 24 hrs after dry hopping comment. Never tried that before, so I'm not certain if the hops themselves need to be sanitized. Is this done right after you rack into a carboy, or do you dry hop in your primary?

 

[dnslater]

Sounds like tap water might be your culprit. In the warm summer, i can only imagine the bacteria in city tap water.

 

[BradleyBrew]

I've brewed well over 30 batches with using straight tap water (to top off with) and never had problem... doesn't mean I will not but I do not think that is the culprit... buy some starsan get some new tubing because its cheap.... buy or make a immersion chiller so you can get your wort down to at least 80 degrees faster...

try to cool your wort in the boil kettle with the sanitized lid on then transfer to your primary fermenter. Are you using ale pails? do they have scratches in them? There are many ways a infection can be introduced. I would start with new sanitizer, new tubing, chilling in the kettle and then topping off with what ever water you choose.

 

[dnslater]

I've brewed well over 30 batches with using straight tap water (to top off with) and never had problem... doesn't mean I will not but I do not think that is the culprit... buy some starsan get some new tubing because its cheap.... buy or make a immersion chiller so you can get your wort down to at least 80 degrees faster...

Your probably right, although the tap water here comes from a local river, which is probably very warm, and is 80 degrees straight out of the faucet here in an Indiana July. I don't trust it to be bacteria free. I use it for the boil, but not to top off. I'm probably an overly cautious newbee, also we have really hard water.

 

[BradleyBrew]

Well all those combined and i would most likely not use tap water either! Good luck on figuring out your problem!!

 

[Dilligaf76]

I have 7 batches under my belt and two of those were at a brew buddy's house and those beers turned out ok. I bought an entire kit off craigslist for $25 and started brewing at home to boost my supply. Every beer I've made here has that smell/taste. I'v been using star san the last week or so and used spring water on the current batch so maybe between the two of them I have solved it. The last time I had to put a lid on the primary while it was in the ice bath to go to a bday party for a couple hours before pitching the yeast. Hopefully things will go ok with this one. I will definitely be getting some kind of chiller soon. Thanks for all the help. At least theres good beer at the store nearby!

 

[BradleyBrew]

Just keep at it! It will come around.. I've had a few failed batches. It happens to everyone!

 

[Dilligaf76]

Another question that may be a clue. I have my thermometer in a drinking glass full of water inside my fermentation cooler. Could my wort temp be significantly higher than the water? Maybe the flavors I'm getting are due to that rather than infection. I opened a bottle of beer I thought was infected last night and it was normally carbed. Seems like it would have progressively more carbonation if it were infected. (Still had the nasty flavor)

 

[Jayman931]

water conditions change with the weather..we recently had a "Boil your water advisory" here in MS...I have really good filter I use...but i would never use straight tap water...


http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20110808/NEWS01/108080319/Lamar-boil-water-notice-lifted

 

[Lost]

Since you're not doing a full boil I would ABSOLUTELY boil the top off water. No question about it. If it's an infection then that's probably your source

I've never yet had an infection and I've been doing this a long time. Here's what I do:

-Use starsan, believe it or not I don't usually soak things, I keep it in a spray bottle and spray liberally. If I were bottling I would soak the bottles and caps though.
-boil my hoses if they haven't been used in a while and/or replace them frequently. Starsan them inside and out before each use.
-clean plastics such as brew buckets with a very strong bleach solution
-always disassemble and clean everything thoroughly. This means take the bottling wand apart, disassemble the fitting on the bottling bucket, take the o-ring out of the lid on your brew bucket, etc.
-clean AND sanitize after each use. Never ever put away dirty!
-wash your hands frequently and spray with starsan
-sanitize your work area with starsan (spray the counter top)
-keep lids on things always, if using a bucket don't take the top off to check it out.


I usually use glass carboys but I do have a couple plastic buckets and I've had them stored in the garage for over two years at one point. I always starsan them prior to storage but I will say that I can recall more than once when they got moldy. I washed them with bleach and a scrubby and they came out just fine. A good rinse and a liberal dose of starsan and I used them without issue. So you see I have my doubts about this myth of the infected plastic bucket that can't be killed.

So, I think proper disassembly and cleaning and A LOT of starsan on EVERYTHING will go a long way. That and boil your darn top off water!

Good luck and don't sweat it, you'll get there. While I haven't had an infection I almost always have at least 1 significant screw up on brew day!