My first infection ( pics)

[OHIOSTEVE]

I make a kool aid hooch. ( don't judge me it is good lol) Anyway it is simply sugar water with nutrient, energizer, a little tannin and yeast ( skeeter pee recipe minus the lemon juice). I let that ferment dry then stabilize it and use that to mix kool aid ( wife and her sister love it, so does my oldest son) Well I made a starter this time and like an idiot I did NOT boil the water.. I have no idea why ... had the starter on the stir plate and realized it....I decided to just let it ride. Well looked in the bucket this morning ( mixed it all up yesterday) and saw this. I am sure it is an infection and it is not an expensive batch of high dollar stuff but that is a BRAND NEW bucket!

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Oh yeah, besides the bucket the only things that touched this that are part of my brewing set up were my flask and stir bar and thermometer...I figure pitch the bucket...blast the flask and bar with bleach......maybe pitch the thermometer also?

 

[brewski08]

put a lock on your bucket; that thing looks like it's gonna grow some arms and legs!

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

put a lock on your bucket; that thing looks like it's gonna grow some arms and legs!

I have ALMOST decided to let it ride and see what happens. I KNOW the bucket is toast. Since it is just sugar water I wonder how much it can really mess up the taste?

 

[IdiotSlayer]

This is what happens to people who can say "I made kool aid booze" and mean it.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

This is what happens to people who can say "I made kool aid booze" and mean it.

lol...don't knock it till you try it....nothing but skeeter pee that is a different flavor than lemon...strawberry...grape...black cherry....etc.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

lol...don't knock it till you try it....nothing but skeeter pee that is a different flavor than lemon...strawberry...grape...black cherry....etc.

Nothin' wrong with a little hooch! Sucks about your bucket, but hey, let it ride, could be fun!

 

[SmoothSmoke]

The bucket is toast? You can't fill it up with equal parts of water and bleach and let it set for a few days to knock out the bad bacteria?

I've got to try making me some hooch too. First time I've heard of it.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

The bucket is toast? You can't fill it up with equal parts of water and bleach and let it set for a few days to knock out the bad bacteria?

I've got to try making me some hooch too. First time I've heard of it.

This all started after we made skeeter pee. We wondered what other flavors we could make and wondered what to actually flavor them with. kool aid works great. I recommend using kool aid brand..we mix it one gallon at a time and taste test as we go to get the flavor and sweetness right . Please don't misunderstand I am by no means saying this is a high quality drink. However it is very good tasting stuff. Just follow the skeeter pee recipe. heat the sugar and water mix.. add the 1/3 cup of lemon juice initially then just skip the bottles of lemon juice.

 

[iambeer]

However it is very good tasting stuff.

I mean, if you stopped writing "skeeter pee" which I have no idea what it's about, I might consider it.

Hmm, no. I wouldn't.

 

[Warthaug]

The bucket is toast? You can't fill it up with equal parts of water and bleach and let it set for a few days to knock out the bad bacteria?

The problem tends to be that sufficient exposure to bleach to kill the bacteria will leave a near-permanent chlorine odour (and flavour) that will transfer to new batches.

However, in the case the bucket may be recoverable. The main issue with bacterial infections in plastics is that the bacteria form biofilms within scratches in the plastic which is almost impossible to sanitize - and these films act as reservoirs of bacteria for future batches. But, because the OP's bucket is brand-new, there may be little/no crevices like this, meaning a thorough cleaning with some sanitizing agent may restore the bucket.

Of course, the OP has to decide whether recovering the fermenter is worth risking another batch...

Bryan

 

[SmoothSmoke]

Excellent explanation. Now I fully understand the reasoning. Thank you

 

[BrewScout]

You might end up with a killer sour hooch! Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Brewnoob1]

Interesting, I've never heard of bleach bombing plastic fermenters ever being a problem. I have a batch of bleach water in my bucket right now as I usually just clean and sanitize, but thought it's a good time to hit it. I use 1 cup of bleach to 5 gallons though.

 

[iambeer]

Can always try to use vinagre to remove the chorine smell if it doesn't fully evaporate after a few days... For a brand new bucket I'd certainly give it a try.

 

[mojo_wire]

Couldn't you just mix Kool Aid with 1/3 vodka and 2/3 water and save yourself the aggravation?

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Couldn't you just mix Kool Aid with 1/3 vodka and 2/3 water and save yourself the aggravation?

probably but i could also buy beer. A nd to be honest the "mixing day" is pretty fun. Usually 5-6 people tasting and offering suggestions. You guys are all kinda putting it down but have any of you tried it? And skeeter pee is a lemon drink...very good and very popular....look it up on here. Lot of threads and talk about it

 

[KevinW]

Oxyclean free and some very hot(not boiling) water, 3-4 days soak and you should have a bucket as clean as the day it was made!

Buckets are cheap but not as cheap as Oxyclean!

Just my thoughts

 

[homebrewdad]

Hang on. At first glance, I thought "pellicile!" I then re-read the OP's post and saw that this was mixed yesterday, and looked funky today.

That's not enough time for a souring pellicile to grow.

I think you have some funny krausen/yeast rafting going on. Let it ride and see if this doesn't turn out okay. Like you said, it's not like you have anything to lose at this point.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

probably but i could also buy beer. A nd to be honest the "mixing day" is pretty fun. Usually 5-6 people tasting and offering suggestions. You guys are all kinda putting it down but have any of you tried it? And skeeter pee is a lemon drink...very good and very popular....look it up on here. Lot of threads and talk about it

Right, you said it's Skeeter Pee without the extra lemon juice, you use Kool Aid for that? Sounds like it'd be a hit at a BBQ if ya ask me. I was thinking a skeeter pee/iced tea mix would be really good too. That'd make a great half and half for the disc golf course!

 

[Warthaug]

Interesting, I've never heard of bleach bombing plastic fermenters ever being a problem. I have a batch of bleach water in my bucket right now as I usually just clean and sanitize, but thought it's a good time to hit it. I use 1 cup of bleach to 5 gallons though.

50% bleach* (as was suggested) is quite a different beast from the ~1% solution you are using. In the lab (and in law, in regards to sanitizing for food prep, etc) you need a 10% bleach solution to ensure effective sanitation; 10% is enough to give the chlorine off-flavours/odours. The ~1% solution you are using will only be bacteriostatic, meaning it'll keep bacteria from growing, but won't do a good job of killing.

*FWIW, 50% bleach won't work any better than 10%; 50% will simply be marginally faster.

Bryan

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Right, you said it's Skeeter Pee without the extra lemon juice, you use Kool Aid for that? Sounds like it'd be a hit at a BBQ if ya ask me. I was thinking a skeeter pee/iced tea mix would be really good too. That'd make a great half and half for the disc golf course!

yes except it isn't fermented with the kool aid.. just sugar water and the additives.. then stabilized THEN the kool aid and sweetening sugar

 

[iambeer]

You can't write 'delicious' and 'pee' on the same thread and get positive feedback about your most likely infected kool aid pee drink in my humble opinion!

Even if it's delicious, they need to rename the drink from Skeeter Pee to anything that doesn't sound disgusting. I'm not going to search for pee on this forum with the hopes of discovering a new delicious yellow colored drink.

And now to be extra snobby (please forgive me) this is the beginner's beer brewing forum.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Hang on. At first glance, I thought "pellicile!" I then re-read the OP's post and saw that this was mixed yesterday, and looked funky today.

That's not enough time for a souring pellicile to grow.

I think you have some funny krausen/yeast rafting going on. Let it ride and see if this doesn't turn out okay. Like you said, it's not like you have anything to lose at this point.

You know I thought this as well. this stuff appeared immediately. I put the starter together wed afternoon....mixed up everything last night and pitched the starter ( that looked normal) and within a few hours actrually had this. Obviously last night it didn't look quite this bad. The pics are from this morning...smells normal...looks gross lol.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

*

 

[tre9er]

You know I thought this as well. this stuff appeared immediately. I put the starter together wed afternoon....mixed up everything last night and pitched the starter ( that looked normal) and within a few hours actrually had this. Obviously last night it didn't look quite this bad. The pics are from this morning...smells normal...looks gross lol.

I've had beers that smelled so sour and funky when I bottled/kegged them that I wondered if something was up...yeast and krausen can be pretty weird. Let it ride. If it settles out like krausen does, taste a little and see?

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

I am treating this just like making skeeter pee so it got stirred up earlier today...looks NOTHING like the pics now.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

yes except it isn't fermented with the kool aid.. just sugar water and the additives.. then stabilized THEN the kool aid and sweetening sugar

Gotcha. So it basically is like a half and half, or however you end up mixing it. Cool. Betcha it's good, huh? Sorry this one got sick... let it ride, you may have invented a new sour version.

 

[pabloj13]

Gotcha. So it basically is like a half and half, or however you end up mixing it. Cool. Betcha it's good, huh? Sorry this one got sick... let it ride, you may have invented a new sour version.

This is what happens when we give people from Ohio freedom to make their own choices.

 

[homebrewdad]

I am treating this just like making skeeter pee so it got stirred up earlier today...looks NOTHING like the pics now.

Fermentation can be ugly, stinky, and downright disgusting. After all, it is - in effect - simply decomposition going on.

I'm betting this turns out just fine.

 

[wilsojos]

Oxyclean free and some very hot(not boiling) water, 3-4 days soak and you should have a bucket as clean as the day it was made!

Buckets are cheap but not as cheap as Oxyclean!

Just my thoughts

My thoughts exactly. I soaked my 2 primary buckets for a few days with Oxiclean and hot water. When I opened the buckets, I was amazed. They did look just like brand new.

 

[Zuljin]

Oh he'yeah! Hooch on! :rockin: That's what my WoW inspired Kungaloosh is. Think Apfelwein with all sort of other juices. Classy? No. Some damn fine hooch? Oh he'yeah.

I have a well used Ale Pail. I got an infection in it several brews ago. I filled it with hot water and a lot of BEST brand iodine, washed it, rinsed it and filled it up again with hot water and the iodine. Let it sit for a few days. Rinsed a few times with hot water. Set it out in the sun for a day and the next time I brewed, I cleaned it as usual with water and iodine. That was several brews ago. No more infections. No off flavors.