Infection taking over and I'm at my wits end

[Ridenour64]

yeah I just wanted to show that they are putting this information out there. I assume just to ensure success with newer or inexperienced users? Idk. I do however mix up a fresh batch every brew day though. Just feels right to me. I have 2 dogs and keeping dog hair at bay for a brew day is a nightmare. Even if I didn’t, would still probably mix a fresh batch. I will however keep a batch longish term if it’s mixed with distilled or RO water and in a water bottle.

As far as the bottle of Star San itself, yeah that has been on my shelf for years and I don’t think twice about it.

 

[bwible]

From recent reading of other posts, the valve of the kettle could be the culprit.

I just took mine off and yeah. It was nasty. Looked mostly like a layer of old hop pellet residue. Scrubbed it out with my airlock brush, perfect size. Soaking all the parts now in pbw.
You’d think this would be the last place to check, with the kettle being flamed and boiled.

Thank you. Hopefully this solves that.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Glad to be of help.

I know it sucks to have a bad batch, even worse, several.

A number of years back, I had a large inventory of kegs on deck and discovered a bunch that had gotten infected, I think I dumped 6-10 kegs that day, it hurt to have to do that. Lots of work and a bit of money.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I haven't had an infection in a long time, but when I get home from Alaska, I WILL be taking my valves apart and checking them.
I fully expect them to be nasty and gross.

 

[mcleanmj]

So, I did rip apart my Brewzilla and found a decent amount of crud in the pump tubing. I soaked everything in PBW and cleaned it very well. I put it all back together and pumped star san through. Right now I'm thinking that was the source or contamination for the best bitter. I think the porter got infected by a bad piece of siphon tube.

I brewed a batch two days ago. Well see what happens. I'm gonna bottle this one directly from the fermenter.

 

[marc1]

You're probably right, something is up.

I didn't expect the EPA to be involved in beer sanitation "strategies."
But dealing with effluents, yes!

Now dumping more Starsan down the drain would not be exactly helping the environment, would it? 1 hour of pot life surpasses the duration of many brewing activities, and we would need to make fresh solutions whenever we'd be using it.

Oddly, the EPA is in charge of sanitizers and disinfectants, not the FDA.

Specific cases, like sterilizing devices to be used in health care facilities are FDA.