Something's gone very, very wrong...

[stuknkrvl]

Hey all,

I'll try to be brief. Bear with me...

I've been brewing for almost two years. All grain, bottle conditioned as I don't have kegging equipment.

We moved in May, and I made the mistake of leaving several cases of my brews in the hot, humid garage. Can't say I'm surprised they went bad. I'd chill a few down to drink them, but as soon as I popped off the cap the beer foamed up like crazy and gurgled out the top of the bottle. That which was left had a sour, acrid, nasty off flavor to it.

I chalked that up to the poor treatment of the beer and went about my business.

Brewed a batch recently, bottled it almost two weeks ago, and have had them in my fermentation chamber set at 76 F to let the yeast do their thing and carb it up. I started drinking them after a week in the bottle to see if they were ready, and I've had four or five since with no troubles except that maybe they weren't very well carbonated, last bottle being Tuesday morning.

Opened one tonight and had the same issue with the heavy foaming and nasty bitter taste. Opened four more bottles only to have the same thing happen with each of them. So batch ruined.

Here's the deal - I've never had this issue before, and I didn't do anything outside my normal routine, which as I said has been two years in the running.

My MO is as follows -

Dry, empty bottles are stored clean in boxes. I use a bottle washer (from Northern Brewer, the kind you attach to your sink that shoots pressurized water) to clean out any debris, but I don't use soap because I worry about soap residue and all the issues from that

Bottling day, my bottles all get a hot rinse with the bottle washer again and each and every one gets a thorough sloshing with star-san.

Bottle the beer, cap it, and let it sit for a week or so to do it's thing.

Again, I've never ever had any problems until now, but I'm banging my head trying to figure out what I've done wrong.

Suggestions?? Advice?? Anything??

Thanks!

 

[Pi Kapp Beer Guy]

I would suspect the bottles. Complete pain, but if you don't use a bottle brush and either soap or bleach on the preliminary scrubbing your likely to get bottle bombs or gushers. Starsan and Iodine only sanitize a clean surface.

That being said I would replace any rubber tubbing and go through the entire system cleaning and sanitizing. It's not a lot of fun but you want to get the infection out.

 

[soccerdad]

Infection in the spigot of the bottling bucket .. my guess.

 

[Bensiff]

I skimmed through so I might have missed something. I'd say you bottled too soon, but massive off flavors indicate you have an infection. I'd replace all the plastic bottling gear...tubes, bucket, etc. Also, sanitize your bottle caps if you are not doing so.

 

[buzd]

Also, sanitize your bottle caps if you are not doing so.

That was my guess.

 

[stuknkrvl]

Thanks, all.

I sanitize my bottle caps, tubing, bottling bucket, bottles, bottle tree, the whole nine yards. This is all pretty weird.

I'll take apart my spigots and wash everything thoroughly before my next batch, and I'll do the bleach water wash on my bottles next round.

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Bensiff]

Thanks, all.

I sanitize my bottle caps, tubing, bottling bucket, bottles, bottle tree, the whole nine yards. This is all pretty weird.

I'll take apart my spigots and wash everything thoroughly before my next batch, and I'll do the bleach water wash on my bottles next round.

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep you posted.

I'd avoid the bleach, chlorophenols do not make for good beer. PBW or oxy to clean and Starsan to sanitize is plenty.

 

[MaryB]

I have pretty much gone to an hour soak in PBW followed by a rinse and check under light for anything int he bottle then it goes in the fast rack until dry. Extras get stored upside down in closed beer boxes until needed. Then they all get a dunk in StarSan, drained and placed in the Fast Rack. I bottle wet shortly after, sure I get some StarSan foam over, no biggie!

 

[Homercidal]

Definitely take apart and clean your spigots each time after use. You think they would be easy to clean just by running hot water through them, but it doesn't to a good job.

Also, gunk stuck to the bottom of a bottle *might* create nucleation points for the beer, which will cause foaming. Really clean bottles is a must, really.

 

[jabba11]

I dotn bottle as much anymore, but ya I soak mine in oxy clean and tsp. Then I bottle brush them then I rinse with a bottle rinser then to the rack to dry. Starsan before filling. I had the same issue once before though and it was in my bottling equipment somewhere. I replaced it all and it went away (bucket lines siphon wand etc)

 

[BryceL]

Are you using a spring loaded bottle filler? When I was bottling, I'd rinse the bottle filler out but never bothered to take it apart. I didn't know it came apart for the longest time lol. When I finally did take it apart I was surprised how much mold and nasties were growing in the spring area. If you're using one of these, be sure to take it apart and clean it well.

 

[Brew_G]

I had an infection a little over a year ago that I was able to trace to a spitball-sized bit of gunk in the top of my boring wand. I didn't clean it well enough (I didn't realize you couldn't take it apart), and it was in there for two batches. I then got an infection on the next batch, and I chalked it up to the bugs still sitting in my bottling equipment and/or the bottles.

I tossed all plastic bottling equipment and bleach bombed the bottles. Haven't had any issues since (knock on wood!).

I take apart all bottling items after bottling and do a 6-8 hour soak in Oxy before a thorough rise.

In terms of washing bottles, I rinse them well as soon as I pour the beer into a glass. I drip dry them on a bottling rack and swish around some Star San inside just before bottling. That's it. If you keep them clean and sanitize prior to bottling, you don't have much to worry about.

 

[stuknkrvl]

Thanks for all the advice!

I hit up the LHBS for some PBW, a new bottling bucket, and a bottling wand. Gonna dismantle my old bottling bucket and old bottling wands (spring loaded - had no idea you can take them apart!) to see if there's anything in there and then give it a solid hot soak in the PBW.

My biggest concern is that the issue might be in my big mouth bubbler carboy. It's my favorite/go-to carboy, but it's plastic, so it could have a scratch somewhere that's breeding some nastiness.

Have plans to brew the S'mores Cream Stout recipe I found here on the forum next. I'll update in a few weeks and let you know how things turn out.

Again, thanks a lot! You've all been a huge help!

Cheers!