Is Acetobacter as prolific as Brett?

[Rugrad02]

The weather in my area has been back and forth here recently. We had snow flurries last Wednesday but had to turn the AC on last night. With that said, the fruit flys are still around.

Twice this fall I've had to swap out airlocks due to finding kamikaze fruit flys floating in my airlocks water/star san mix. I know fruit flys can carry acetobacter and was wondering if the bacteria is as prolific and hard to kill as Brett. In other words, every time I find a fruit fly in my airlock, should it then be repurposed for use in my sour beers? Thanks.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I don't think the small amount of Acetobacter (or Brett) that could have been introduced into the airlock would be anything to worry about. A very small population straight into sanitizer should take care of it. It's different than an infected (or intentionally inoculated as the case may be) batch where there's a substantial microbial population that's been allowed to make a home for itself.

 

[ColoHox]

Agreed, you probably have nothing to worry about. But, bacteria is everywhere. You, me, and all our stuff is covered in it. For the most part, its pretty easy to kill though, as far as beer spoilage organisms are concerned.