Thanks everyone for the replies. There were some questions so I'll answer them all at once.
I would stop using bleach for a number of reasons. Switch to something like Star San, where you can rack right onto the foam. The foam also gets into the grooves and scratches. Your process sounds fine, however the only question I'd have is what kind of paint stirrer you are using and how easy it is to sanitize.
The paint mixer is a squirrel brand mixer. (
SquirrelMixer) It's plastic and I soak it in idophor at the same time I sanitize the fermenter.
springer said:
If its both fermentors that get infected then something prior to them is the reason maybe the paint stirrer maybe not . How do you transfer the wort to the conical? It may be somewhere between the kettle and the fermentor.
I wonder if maybe you're catching something between chilling the wort and sealing it up the conical. Your fermenter sanitation technique sounds good.
Hi Clint! I use the same pump (and chiller) that I used to circulate the idophor in step 3 above. I use the pump to transfer the sanitizer out, then immediately hook it up to the kettle at flame-out. Next time I will try your technique of recirculating the boiling wort ten minutes before flame-out.
I have the same fermenter. The difficulty is in properly sanitizing the large cover. During active ferment you will notice significant condensation on the inside lid, which I suspect has caused an infection for me as well. My solution was to sanitize thoroughly by spraying the lids with StarSan and then never open the lid until you are ready to clean the fermenter.
Thanks for the tip. I drain a good portion of the sanitizer on to the lid. Maybe StarSan would be a better choice. And I never open the lid - just the ports to peek at the beer. (
This practice could be the source.)
Can you describe the infection (off flavors)?Is it mold, lacto, wild yeast? If you can describe the infection, that would be helpful in diagnosing where the off flavor(s) are originating from.
First of all, the current infected beer is very cloudy. I'm going to stick a sample under the microscope and have a look at what's floating around. It is a little sour and vinegarey in the nose. The biggest off-flavor is like vinegar, not so pungent. Might be lacto or wild yeast.
Your infection is common to both fermenters.
In my bug hunt I had an infected counter flow wort chiller.
How do you chill your wort?
I use a copper counterflow chiller, sanitized as I mentioned above. After the brewday is done I run PBW through it and the pump, then rinse with clean water and drain by gravity.
Look around the area you chill. If you are whipping in some nice dirty/dusty air with your paint stirrer, then thats your problem.
Do you mill anywhere near your fermenter? Dust will hang out in the air for quite awhile and land on everything.
Physically clean your transfer tubing or use clean in place chemicals to ensure they are clean before you sanitize.
Hope you figure this out.
This is likeliest since I aerate outside. The only thing that makes me think twice is that the beer ferments out pretty well and the infection doesn't come on 'til about 10-15 days after I pitch. However that could be the lag time for a small amount of contaminate. I also aerate my carboys outside and they never came down with a bug. (I have moved a few times since ditching carboys on the other hand.)
Thanks everyone for the tips. Anything jump out in the answers?
--Dean