Maggots

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
chriscraig

chriscraig

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
Messages
107
Reaction score
4
Location
Fredericton
So, I've been brewing the simple stuff. Pre-hopped canned kits, 7.5 litre bags, 15 litre bags, etc...

Well, this grossed me out. I've been reading that it's a good idea to leave the wort in the primary for 3-4 weeks, and then bottle it. I left the wort for 4 weeks in a primary bucket with a loose lid for 4 weeks. I didn't have enough bottles yet, so I was transferring to a secondary when i noticed mid-way through there were small white things moving on the side of the primary...maggots!

Needless to say, I tossed the whole batch, but man I'm going to be paying extra attention from now on.

Would I have had this problem if I had a primary lid with an air lock instead of a loose lid?
 
Obviously your lid was way "looser" than it should have been to allow flies to lay eggs or you didn't clean the fermenter before hand leaving already laid fly eggs to hatch.

You do get kudos for being the first poster with this problem!
 
I'm honoured to be the first...


I'm usually pretty careful about sanitizing my equipment though. I use sodium metabisulfite for about 5 minutes before rinsing. I've never let the brew go more than 7 or 8 days in the primary with the loose cover before though.

I think I'll drill a hole in the cover and start using a 3-piece air-lock from now on.
 
chriscraig said:
I'm honoured to be the first...


I'm usually pretty careful about sanitizing my equipment though. I use sodium metabisulfite for about 5 minutes before rinsing. I've never let the brew go more than 7 or 8 days in the primary with the loose cover before though.

I think I'll drill a hole in the cover and start using a 3-piece air-lock from now on.
Click to expand...

There really is no reason your way shouldn't work! but obviously something has happened along the way.

I was not saying your sanitation practices may be to blame. I was thinking something along these lines: you could have just soaked the fermenter to sanatize it without actually scrubbing it clean, thus leaving behind some TINY insect eggs. Or the tiny little eggs could have held on to dear life through a cleaning session...

This is just a very strange occurance!
 
My condolances on the batch. I think this is definitely a valid exception to the "never dump your beer" rule. But I'm dying to know... what did it taste like? :D
 
You're probably right. This was my 14th batch, but who know what might have gone wrong. I've already started a 15th. We'll see what happens.
 
Ouroboros said:
My condolances on the batch. I think this is definitely a valid exception to the "never dump your beer" rule. But I'm dying to know... what did it taste like? :D
Click to expand...

Well, it tasted like maggots...JK. Would you have even tried it? I noticed about half-way through the racking to the secondary. I knew I had an infection, because I had a thin white skin on top of the beer, but that hasn't been a problem before.

It really grossed me out when I saw the skins start to move as it transferred to the wall fo the primary when I racked it.
 
Could have been worse... You could have bottle, not noticed, and invited friends over for the inaugural bottle...

Besides the off flavors, you managed to create a beer with plenty of protein. :cross:
 
they was actually living in the beer? or on the walls just above where the beer came up to in your fermenter?
 
I noticed them on the walls of the primary when I was racking to the secondary. I couldn't imagine drinking it after that.
 
well at least you gave them the time of their lives, intoxication 24/7 lol
 
chriscraig said:
Would you have even tried it?
Click to expand...

I have tasted the maggots in the mind of the universe and I was not offended.



The only thing that would keep me from trying that beer is if slithered away faster than I could chase it.

chriscraig said:
It really grossed me out when I saw the skins start to move as it transferred to the wall fo the primary when I racked it.
Click to expand...

Mmmmmm... spread that pellicle on a little bit of toast and you're livin' large.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RippinLt said:
why did you have a loose lid?
Click to expand...

he may not have an airlock, so you can have a loose lid. mr beer kits do this, they have notches cut where you screw the top on so its like having a loose lid
 
Germelli1 said:
There really is no reason your way shouldn't work! but obviously something has happened along the way.

I was not saying your sanitation practices may be to blame. I was thinking something along these lines: you could have just soaked the fermenter to sanatize it without actually scrubbing it clean, thus leaving behind some TINY insect eggs. Or the tiny little eggs could have held on to dear life through a cleaning session...

This is just a very strange occurance!
Click to expand...

+1, very odd.
 
Germelli1 said:
You do get kudos for being the first poster with this problem!
Click to expand...

Not the first. I quite enjoyed this one:



https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/yellow-white-creepy-crawly-things-my-beer-130714/

From that thread (my words... I waxed poetic...)

Although you will not get to enjoy your beer, know that two of God's creatures consummated their love in your carboy. As their bodys succumbed to the alcoholic, oxygen-less environment, their passion spired wildly. The product of their love-struggle squirms before you.

There's always a silver lining.​
 
chriscraig said:
Well, it tasted like maggots...JK. Would you have even tried it? I noticed about half-way through the racking to the secondary. I knew I had an infection, because I had a thin white skin on top of the beer, but that hasn't been a problem before.

It really grossed me out when I saw the skins start to move as it transferred to the wall fo the primary when I racked it.
Click to expand...

I think you need to review your sanitation procedures as this should be a rare if never event, not commonplace. IMO of course.
 
Ummmmm I think its rare because most folks don't primary with a "loose" lid. People have gotten fruit flies in their airlocks. How would you think that would be ok? With wine maybe because the alcohol content is higher but with beer I think you are inviting trouble.
 
akthor said:
Ummmmm I think its rare because most folks don't primary with a "loose" lid. People have gotten fruit flies in their airlocks. How would you think that would be ok? With wine maybe because the alcohol content is higher but with beer I think you are inviting trouble.
Click to expand...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Bottle_bomb

read the bottle bombs in beer brewing paragraph. it names the 3 common ways to let out carbon dioxide while fermenting.
 
Maybe if you had a fairly clean sterile environment. I know the micro brew down the street uses open fermenters I think but I am sure there is no way for flies to get in the brewing room. Your fermenter is a big bucket of sugar basically if insects can get to it they will. As I said I had an Apfelwein that had fruit flies trapped in the airlock in my basement.

dogma9 said:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Bottle_bomb

read the bottle bombs in beer brewing paragraph. it names the 3 common ways to let out carbon dioxide while fermenting.
Click to expand...
 
akthor said:
Ummmmm I think its rare because most folks don't primary with a "loose" lid. People have gotten fruit flies in their airlocks. How would you think that would be ok? With wine maybe because the alcohol content is higher but with beer I think you are inviting trouble.
Click to expand...

Leaving a loose lid in place of a proper airlock is inviting trouble. I too have had fruit flies get into my 1 piece airlock, but they never make it into my wine.

I'm pretty anal about cleaniness and sanitation around my brewery equipment, and think I would freak to see a maggott inside my house
at all, let alone on a piece of brewery equipment.

:mug:
 
It's simple: FFFI (Freakin' Fruit Fly Infestation).

What? Like everything else around here doesn't get acronymized???? :p

I keep a simple fruit fly bottle trap or two or three all the time during their season. They lay eggs in there, can't get out and die, but the larva (maggots) have a great time, then coccoon and hatch and - well, usually die because they can't get out but sometimes they'll breed and it all starts all over again. Fruit Fly Zoo. HEY, THERE'S A NAME FOR YOUR BREW! :D Seriously, don't get all bothered that you weren't sanitary enough, they're as natural as beer itself. The role they play is to speed decomposition. They carry acetobacter (the bacteria responsible for turning things into vinegar, as in acetic acid) on their legs. ALL of them carry it. So even if the brew was still good, odds are it wouldn't be for long; not as in bad for you, but as in sour, vinegary, etc.

Besides, like Revvy says -- NOTHING THAT CAN HURT YOU CAN LIVE IN BEER. Things that can gross you out, YES, but they won't kill you.

Anyways, it isn't your sanitation. Get and USE airlocks! It's bad enough with my wines, using a towel and elastic over the primary; especially the reds, when you have to punch down the cap twice a day or more. The stinkin' mo'fo' fruit flies make it an almost impossible one-man job, ya need 4 extra arms just to keep them away! The traps help a HUGE amount, but the flies are still a problem. Well, maybe they're more of a problem around here, since I have about 80 tomato plants, along with a lot of grape vines, and I'm surrounded by 92-acres of orchard. Fruit flies are more abundant than mosquitoes, they just have a more well-defined season.

Anyways, use an airlock and keep it at the right level. A mix of vodka and glycerin (about 5-parts food-grade glycern to 1-part vodka) works well; the glycerin evaporates extremely slowly and the vodka will kill the little blighters even with that dilution.

Google fruit fly trap, they're crazy easy and simple to make as well as free (empty plastic bottle and some tape), unless you're using a deposit bottle and then you're only out a nickle. :)

Good luck! They (FFFI) do make brewing a PITA this time of year.

P.S. - I don't spray them, because I keep a compost pile or two going and you can't BELIEVE how much those little buggers aid in reducing sweet spoils to soil!
 
Are you using that 10 gal plastic fermentor from kit with loose lid that looks like a garbage bin? I would toss it out, I only used it once, its peice of crap, fles can easily get inside, I freaked out when seen some around my first batch. No really, 5 gal glass carboy is only $20 here in Save-on. I actually converted that fermentor into lagering bucket, I sprayed outside with insulating foam which will help me to regulate temperature better
 
I got maggots in some fermenting cayenne pepper sauce, super-brined and high acid, in a frenchpress covered with sieve and cap, and also a towel over it. Those littles bastards can get into almost anything. I don't know how the bastards on Avery Island do it in open barrels.
 
Actually a note for all Canadians: it seems like only in Canada we have this garbage bucket type of fermentor distributed by RJ Spagnols. I've used it for many years, but there is no way it can accept an air lock, the lid simply is too loose. Our US brothers are using more sophistacted buckets, where we are talking about a plastic trash can essentially.

A reasonable compromise, besides not leaving your beer in here too long seems to be using a thick wad of saran wrap on the rim, putting the lid on, and then weighing down the lid with something heavy. I'm doing this tonight myself....getting way too paranoid over a $50 batch.
 
Duct tape the lid down, drill a hole in the lid and install an airlock. I get free food grade buckets from the bakery and do it all the time.

People ferment in food grade trash cans you can seal the lid also with those springy clamps and keg lube.
 
Hmmm I brew with a loose lid all the time, and have fruit flies about, they just don't get into the fermenter. You've had some bad luck and no need to dump the loose lid unless you have clouds of those dudes.
 
Nasty! Good thing you pitched it. I'd start another batch and get rid of this one entirely. Make sure your cover on the bucket is plenty tight next time.
 

Similar threads

kurds_2408
Question About Keg Secondary
Replies
9
Views
789
Broken Crow
Broken Crow
Gabriel Sayegh
How do folks calculate ABV after a step feed with volume change?
Replies
12
Views
558
MaxStout
MaxStout
N
Wort chilling and brew pot water volume
Replies
7
Views
554
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
mashdar
Compost bucket sour?
Replies
26
Views
546
eliastheodosis
eliastheodosis
T
Potential infection?
Replies
10
Views
538
day_trippr
day_trippr
Brewer's Friend 300

Latest posts

Back
Top