What to do with a contaminated beer?

[_dani_]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum. But we are still fairly new to brewing. We have done maybe half a dozen to a dozen bought worts with no problem until this one.

We got super busy and went away on a trip and didn't move it from the primary to the secondary. I browsed briefly and got conflicting information on that as well. Some people leave it in the primary with no problem, and then I also found a post saying that leaving it in a primary with a lot of head space is bad. If someone could clear that up too, it would be great.

Anyways, we saw it was getting contaminated and it got worse. We were really busy and also didn't know what to do with it. It's been in the primary for about 3 weeks now, and I'd say I noticed the infection about 2 weeks ago. It is for sure infected (if that's the correct term). Watched it grow, that thing on the right was there (kinda looked like a sludge, slime, colorless in some parts) at the beginning and the white stuff grew after connecting to it.

Also, we stopped doing readings after our first few batches. We brew the same three beers and realized after a while exactly what we are looking for when its done in the primary (waiting for all the foam to be gone/time as well) and secondary and have never had an issue with any of our beers. Always taste great and the same, and it saved us time. I know some people will hate us for this, but I also know we aren't the only ones. Sorry for the blasphemy. Of course, if we tried a new beer, we would do it properly. Anyways, we don't have any readings to compare to if we did take readings on this beer.

So we aren't sure what to do with the beer. I read that it doesn't need to be thrown out? I have also read that we should taste it to know if we should toss it? Would that pose a danger to us? Would the equipment that we use to bottle with be fine if it came in contact and we just properly cleaned it? Should we put it into a carboy first and leave it for a few days before bottling even if the readings are fine? Not even sure how much readings would help us atm. I read before that we can just leave the last few inches and use the beer below the infection? Would this cause the bottles to potentially break? Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated, we know we dropped the ball on this one.

Thanks guys!!

 

[Lefou]

If, or when, I get an infected batch the worms and ants will have a party around the rose bush.

 

[RPh_Guy]

The film is called a pellicle. It indicates the presence of wild yeast and/or bacteria. The organism(s) cannot be identified simply by appearance.
The contaminating organism(s) live throughout the beer, not just on the surface.

The contamination is obviously not mold (mold does have a different appearance), so therefore drinking it is not a health risk.

Taste it. If the flavor and aroma are fine, it's ok to bottle. Use your normal bottling process.
Yes, there is a risk that the beer will slowly over-carbonate or develop different flavors over time. Simply open bottles (drink them) on a regular basis to make sure it's not getting over-carbonated. If it does start to get too fizzy, you'll need to put them in the fridge and/or drink them quickly (or dump them).

The equipment does not need to be trashed. Soak everything in a warm PBW or Oxiclean solution. Disassemble spigots, valves, and other items as needed to make sure everything gets fully cleaned. The bottling equipment needs to be cleaned as well.
Only use non-abrasive scrubbing on plastic. Tiny/microscopic scratches can harbor contaminants.
Use a quality no-rinse sanitizer before your equipment touches your beer. Only clean equipment can be sanitized, so proper cleaning is vital.

Secondary fermentation vessels are generally a bad idea. There's no upside and the downside is increased oxygen exposure and contamination risk.
Generally any oxygen exposure post-fermentation is bad for beer. This means keeping the lid closed!

At least one hydrometer reading before bottling is a good idea to make sure fermentation is complete. Otherwise you're asking for trouble (over-carbonation).

Hope this answers all your questions.
Good luck!

 

[_dani_]

Thank you so much. Will def bottle today and see how that goes. I'll update here too so future newbies have some more information!

 

[shetc]

My last batch was infected, as judged by me and others as tasting funky. So I dumped it as it wasn't going to get better. I brewed today and hit everything with an iodine-based sanitizer to make sure them bugs are dead. IO Star and the like are similar to products they use in hospitals to sanitize. So use on your equipment for your next brew.

 

[_dani_]

Oh we fully sanitize everything and never skip a step. Clearl

The film is called a pellicle. It indicates the presence of wild yeast and/or bacteria. The organism(s) cannot be identified simply by appearance.
The contaminating organism(s) live throughout the beer, not just on the surface.

The contamination is obviously not mold (mold does have a different appearance), so therefore drinking it is not a health risk.

Taste it. If the flavor and aroma are fine, it's ok to bottle. Use your normal bottling process.
Yes, there is a risk that the beer will slowly over-carbonate or develop different flavors over time. Simply open bottles (drink them) on a regular basis to make sure it's not getting over-carbonated. If it does start to get too fizzy, you'll need to put them in the fridge and/or drink them quickly (or dump them).

The equipment does not need to be trashed. Soak everything in a warm PBW or Oxiclean solution. Disassemble spigots, valves, and other items as needed to make sure everything gets fully cleaned. The bottling equipment needs to be cleaned as well.
Only use non-abrasive scrubbing on plastic. Tiny/microscopic scratches can harbor contaminants.
Use a quality no-rinse sanitizer before your equipment touches your beer. Only clean equipment can be sanitized, so proper cleaning is vital.

Secondary fermentation vessels are generally a bad idea. There's no upside and the downside is increased oxygen exposure and contamination risk.
Generally any oxygen exposure post-fermentation is bad for beer. This means keeping the lid closed!

At least one hydrometer reading before bottling is a good idea to make sure fermentation is complete. Otherwise you're asking for trouble (over-carbonation).

Hope this answers all your questions.
Good luck!

I just noticed I could directly reply to you. I did in a post haha. THANK YOU!!!

 

[RPh_Guy]

You're welcome!
Hit that like button. I'm saving up likes so I can cash them in for a free brew kettle.

 

[MaxStout]

Once those bottles are carbonated, put them all in the fridge. That will slow down any additional infection and might buy you some time. However, refrigeration won't kill the bacteria/wild yeast that are already in the beer.

 

[Jayjay1976]

You're right on track, this little learning experience may be your unsolicited intro to sours if you like the taste of the result. Lots of us LOVE sour beers and who knows, you could have a gem on your hands. Like others have said, get some iodine sanitizer or use a bit of bleach, but keep doing what you're doing, sounds like you're becoming a great brewer!

 

[cactusgarrett]

As others have stated, the better option is to NOT secondary a "normal" beer - by this i mean something without fruit or something that warrants clarifying or long-term aging. You didn't get the infection because you didn't move it to a secondary vessel - you likely got it from contact with an unsanitary source. Not calling you out, it just happens to the best of us. Leaving in the primary with significant headspace isn't an issue, since primary fermentation has technically purged that headspace with CO2 and the airlock should keep out oxygen/air.

Luckily, as evidenced by the pellicle and to second what RPh said, it's not necessarily infected with something bad.... just unknown. Since you said it's been in the primary for 3 weeks and you noticed the infection about two weeks ago, if i had a gun to my head I'd suspect some strain of brettanomyces since it produced a pellicle so quickly. These are often beneficial infections for sour/mixed fermentation brewers, so if you let this go for a bit, you might like the resulting beer. Don't sample too frequently, as that would introduce oxygen and turn it gross pretty quickly. Conversely, since it's in a bucket you don't have a LONG time to age it, for the same reason (since buckets are bad about keeping oxygen out).

The issue is that since it's infected, it could drop pretty low in gravity and bottling could produce bottle bombs. Taking gravity readings and ensuring consistent ones before bottling is the only safe bet. Gravity readings won't help you for much of anything else, since you didn't take any initial readings. No biggie, there - just means you won't know the ABV%.

Don't beat yourself up regarding "dropping the ball" on this. Even if you were around, you wouldn't have been able to do anything about an infection taking hold after a week. The main thing is, as alluded to above, go back and re-clean/sanitize everything - especially your bottling equipment if you end up bottling this.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Here's my rationale for packaging now:
- There's a good chance the beer will be fine, suffering no ill effect from the contamination.
- Packaging reduces oxygen exposure, thereby reducing risk that contamination-related problems will occur, and drastically reducing risk of oxidation.
- Packing now allows you the option to refrigerate ASAP after carbonation, thereby further reducing risk that off-flavors will occur and reducing oxidation. There's also the option to pasteurize, but that might be a little extreme.
- If it does start to develop over-carbonation or other problem, it can still be resolved accordingly (refrigerated, consumed, or dumped).

On the other hand if you leave the beer in primary for weeks to months to monitor s.g., it's basically guaranteed that the beer will be oxidized (ruined, in my opinion) -- since pellicles only form in the presence of oxygen, we already know there's too much exposure happening. Also the oxygen encourages many wild microbes to contribute undesirable off-flavors (e.g. acetic acid and ethyl acetate).
Plus, the fermenter is unusable for that period, and the OP may not have spares to make more batches.
Even if the gravity is stable for several months in the fermenter, it doesn't entirely eliminate the risk of over-carbonation/bottle bombs. Fermentation could still kick up again.

That's just what I would do, but either way is a fine option.
Cheers.

 

[_dani_]

UPDATE:

Story time. We didn't bottle right after I made the post. Frankly, neither of us wanted to deal with it and weren't sure if we would even bottle it. Finally today, we were both fed up with seeing this sad sad beer and decided to do something about it. We didn't have much time, so we just moved it to the carboy, since we need to wash the primary anyways to be able to mix in the sugar. Going to have to leave it in there for a couple of days until we can bottle around Thursday. But we found the source....First I want to thank everyone who replied, and I just wanted reassure everyone that "we" take great care in sanitizing. Everything gets sanitized, all the time, every use, even in between if it doesn't get used for a couple of min we give it a quick sanitize with a spray bottle. "We" because I am super anal about it haha, and my bf and I always bicker about that haha but now I will throw him under the bus. He started this fermentation alone and somehow accidentally the plastic bit he cut off from the wort ended up in the bucket. That's the thing floating we see in the picture. Couldn't even tell until we took it out today. Well, that was a big oopsie, but that's ok it happens. It is kinda funny, because once (when we were really new at this) and boiled our water, we put the pots outside to cool quicker, and in the process of pouring the water in, we got a pine needle in the beer. That didn't cause any problems, but funny how a "clean" (clearly not) piece of plastic did us in.

Anyways, tasted the beer. I thought it was bad, he didn't so we will probably bottle. Will then throw everything we used in a nice solution of cholriclean and then sanitize as well (we use Star San - love that stuff). We always always sanitize and are super careful! Based on a lot of the comments, it makes me think some people don't, since that was the main advice given haha. Anyways, we are super clean! Minus when a rogue piece of plastic makes its home in our beer.

Now that we also know we don't need to secondary (though all the instructions say so, still frustrating as a newbie) we probably will still, only because we have two carboys and then have two beers going at once. And we might not buy another fermenting vessel, so might as well use the carboys we do have.


Thanks again to everyone that replied. Will update again after bottling and of course, the taste testing. Crossing fingers for no beer bombs (will take readings to make sure that doesn't happen). Also, based on one of the replies, now I need to do some research into sour beers. Which brings me to a question, is all sour beer safe? Or does that depend on what happened? I guess what I am really asking, does drinking this beer pose a threat to us?

Thank you wonderful brewers!!!!!

Edit: I am super bummed I didn't take another picture and post it. It didn't get too much worse from the original, but I can tell you, whatever it was, it did not stop growing.

 

[_dani_]

Here's my rationale for packaging now:
- There's a good chance the beer will be fine, suffering no ill effect from the contamination.
- Packaging reduces oxygen exposure, thereby reducing risk that contamination-related problems will occur, and drastically reducing risk of oxidation.
- Packing now allows you the option to refrigerate ASAP after carbonation, thereby further reducing risk that off-flavors will occur and reducing oxidation. There's also the option to pasteurize, but that might be a little extreme.
- If it does start to develop over-carbonation or other problem, it can still be resolved accordingly (refrigerated, consumed, or dumped).

On the other hand if you leave the beer in primary for weeks to months to monitor s.g., it's basically guaranteed that the beer will be oxidized (ruined, in my opinion) -- since pellicles only form in the presence of oxygen, we already know there's too much exposure happening. Also the oxygen encourages many wild microbes to contribute undesirable off-flavors (e.g. acetic acid and ethyl acetate).
Plus, the fermenter is unusable for that period, and the OP may not have spares to make more batches.
Even if the gravity is stable for several months in the fermenter, it doesn't entirely eliminate the risk of over-carbonation/bottle bombs. Fermentation could still kick up again.

That's just what I would do, but either way is a fine option.
Cheers.

Hey, I posted an update if you are interested. I am not sure if you get notified, so I am replying to you directly as well.

So... I definitely smelled/tasted a bit of what may have been acetic acid or ethyl acetate. When I described the smell the first thing that popped in my head was acetone (nail polish remover). Not that strong though. Is it still safe? I am just still curious how it turns out and would still drink it if it isn't too awful. Also, thanks for you replies! Such great help. (I did hit the like buttons...all of them!!!).

 

[_dani_]

As others have stated, the better option is to NOT secondary a "normal" beer - by this i mean something without fruit or something that warrants clarifying or long-term aging. You didn't get the infection because you didn't move it to a secondary vessel - you likely got it from contact with an unsanitary source. Not calling you out, it just happens to the best of us. Leaving in the primary with significant headspace isn't an issue, since primary fermentation has technically purged that headspace with CO2 and the airlock should keep out oxygen/air.

Luckily, as evidenced by the pellicle and to second what RPh said, it's not necessarily infected with something bad.... just unknown. Since you said it's been in the primary for 3 weeks and you noticed the infection about two weeks ago, if i had a gun to my head I'd suspect some strain of brettanomyces since it produced a pellicle so quickly. These are often beneficial infections for sour/mixed fermentation brewers, so if you let this go for a bit, you might like the resulting beer. Don't sample too frequently, as that would introduce oxygen and turn it gross pretty quickly. Conversely, since it's in a bucket you don't have a LONG time to age it, for the same reason (since buckets are bad about keeping oxygen out).

The issue is that since it's infected, it could drop pretty low in gravity and bottling could produce bottle bombs. Taking gravity readings and ensuring consistent ones before bottling is the only safe bet. Gravity readings won't help you for much of anything else, since you didn't take any initial readings. No biggie, there - just means you won't know the ABV%.

Don't beat yourself up regarding "dropping the ball" on this. Even if you were around, you wouldn't have been able to do anything about an infection taking hold after a week. The main thing is, as alluded to above, go back and re-clean/sanitize everything - especially your bottling equipment if you end up bottling this.

Hey!! I posted an update and not sure if it notifies you, so here I am in case you are interested. Also, thanks for your reply. I will look into sour beers, and am super curious about how this turns out.

If you do not secondary, do you just mix your sugar in directly, even will all the dead yeast at the bottom? (ours have a lot left over at the bottom normally). I didn't know oxygen was that bad for beer, so thank you for that. We are both super guilty of lifting the lid once or twice a day and taking a look and smelling it. I am sure that doesn't help and will do that way less!!! Only when needed.

Thanks again

 

[_dani_]

Once those bottles are carbonated, put them all in the fridge. That will slow down any additional infection and might buy you some time. However, refrigeration won't kill the bacteria/wild yeast that are already in the beer.

Thanks! Thankfully we have a beer fridge so that will work!!!

 

[_dani_]

The film is called a pellicle. It indicates the presence of wild yeast and/or bacteria. The organism(s) cannot be identified simply by appearance.
The contaminating organism(s) live throughout the beer, not just on the surface.

The contamination is obviously not mold (mold does have a different appearance), so therefore drinking it is not a health risk.

Taste it. If the flavor and aroma are fine, it's ok to bottle. Use your normal bottling process.
Yes, there is a risk that the beer will slowly over-carbonate or develop different flavors over time. Simply open bottles (drink them) on a regular basis to make sure it's not getting over-carbonated. If it does start to get too fizzy, you'll need to put them in the fridge and/or drink them quickly (or dump them).

The equipment does not need to be trashed. Soak everything in a warm PBW or Oxiclean solution. Disassemble spigots, valves, and other items as needed to make sure everything gets fully cleaned. The bottling equipment needs to be cleaned as well.
Only use non-abrasive scrubbing on plastic. Tiny/microscopic scratches can harbor contaminants.
Use a quality no-rinse sanitizer before your equipment touches your beer. Only clean equipment can be sanitized, so proper cleaning is vital.

Secondary fermentation vessels are generally a bad idea. There's no upside and the downside is increased oxygen exposure and contamination risk.
Generally any oxygen exposure post-fermentation is bad for beer. This means keeping the lid closed!

At least one hydrometer reading before bottling is a good idea to make sure fermentation is complete. Otherwise you're asking for trouble (over-carbonation).

Hope this answers all your questions.
Good luck!

Sorry, I re read all your comments and have replied to multiple. So, if we don't transfer to a carboy for secondary, how do we mix in the sugar? There is always so much "gunk" on the sides and all the dead yeast at the bottom. Do you just mix all that in, or do you use a second primary for that step? Thanks.

 

[RPh_Guy]

He started this fermentation alone and somehow accidentally the plastic bit he cut off from the wort ended up in the bucket.

Bummer.

We always always sanitize and are super careful! Based on a lot of the comments, it makes me think some people don't, since that was the main advice given haha.

It's true many brewers could improve on their cleaning and sanitizing techniques.

Now that we also know we don't need to secondary (though all the instructions say so, still frustrating as a newbie) we probably will still, only because we have two carboys and then have two beers going at once. And we might not buy another fermenting vessel, so might as well use the carboys we do have.

Most ales you can package in around 4-7 days. You shouldn't need more than one fermentation vessel.
And certainly no secondary, except for special circumstances.

Which brings me to a question, is all sour beer safe? Or does that depend on what happened?

With the exception of mold (which is visually distinct), pathogens don't grow in beer; it's safe to drink.

Hey, I posted an update if you are interested. I am not sure if you get notified, so I am replying to you directly as well.

Everyone can view all the replies

When I described the smell the first thing that popped in my head was acetone (nail polish remover). Not that strong though. Is it still safe?

That's unfortunate. Yes, still safe. Ethyl acetate is present in all beer, but only bad at high levels caused by wild microbes with too much oxygen exposure.
It may have both acetic acid and ethyl acetate.
For me, at even slight nail polish level, that would be a drain pour.

If you do not secondary, do you just mix your sugar in directly, even will all the dead yeast at the bottom?

Normally, priming sugar gets added when racking into a bottling bucket.
Dissolve the sugar in hot water, put it into the bottling bucket, and gently transfer the beer into it for bottling.

Oxygen is the enemy of beer -- doubly so for contaminated beer. That explains the acetic acid and ethyl acetate. Opening it frequently also increases risk of airborne contamination.
Just smell through the airlock, and/or use a fermenter with a spigot for taking samples.
I love my Fermonsters!

Hope this helps

 

[_dani_]

Bummer.


It's true many brewers could improve on their cleaning and sanitizing techniques.


Most ales you can package in around 4-7 days. You shouldn't need more than one fermentation vessel.
And certainly no secondary, except for special circumstances.

With the exception of mold (which is visually distinct), pathogens don't grow in beer; it's safe to drink.

Everyone can view all the replies

That's unfortunate. Yes, still safe. Ethyl acetate is present in all beer, but only bad at high levels caused by wild microbes with too much oxygen exposure.
It may have both acetic acid and ethyl acetate.
For me, at even slight nail polish level, that would be a drain pour.

Normally, priming sugar gets added when racking into a bottling bucket.
Dissolve the sugar in hot water, put it into the bottling bucket, and gently transfer the beer into it for bottling.

Oxygen is the enemy of beer -- doubly so for contaminated beer. That explains the acetic acid and ethyl acetate. Opening it frequently also increases risk of airborne contamination.
Just smell through the airlock, and/or use a fermenter with a spigot for taking samples.
I love my Fermonsters!

Hope this helps

About the sugar. We use the fermentation bucket as our 'bottling bucket'. Maybe that's where my confusion lies. So we rack to the carboy, then back to the primary bucket after it has been cleaned and sanitized. Our process still greatly relies on the instruction with each wort, but we are learning to not always listen to it. What we do, were literally the instructions from 3 different companies. As we don't have a bottling bucket, and until we invest in something other than the carboys we have, I guess it will have to do. But now that I have googled a bottling bucket, I do not know why we don't have one. That would make bottling way easier. And yes, always dissolve in hot water .

I think we will bottle. Now I am curious what it will taste like, and that way, next time we get that smell, we can choose to pour it out right away. Thank you so much for your help!!!!!

 

[RPh_Guy]

In case you're curious...

Here's what I use for bottling:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-bucket-6-gal-hole.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-spigot-bucket-sediment-block.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/bottle-filler-removable-spring-38.html

The bottling wand fits directly onto this spigot. Super easy.

Sanitizing bottles:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/economy-sanitizer-injector-stationary-bottle-tree.html
Drying bottles:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fastrack24-12oz-beer-bottle-drying-rack-storage-system.html
Capping:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/colt-strong-high-pressure-bench-bottle-capper.html

And this for the fermenter:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fermonster-7-gallon-ported-carboy-spigot-included.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-spigot-bucket-sediment-block.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/rubber-stopper-10-hole.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fermentation-airlock-sshaped.html

The clear, wide-mouth, PET fermenter with spigot has all the right features IMO and is very affordable.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Hey!! I posted an update and not sure if it notifies you, so here I am in case you are interested. Also, thanks for your reply. I will look into sour beers, and am super curious about how this turns out.

If you do not secondary, do you just mix your sugar in directly, even will all the dead yeast at the bottom? (ours have a lot left over at the bottom normally). I didn't know oxygen was that bad for beer, so thank you for that. We are both super guilty of lifting the lid once or twice a day and taking a look and smelling it. I am sure that doesn't help and will do that way less!!! Only when needed.

Thanks again

I actually use a dedicated sour bottling bucket - transfer to that from the primary before bottling.

 

[kh54s10]

Take a look at this thread about bottling: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/bottling-tips-for-the-homebrewer.94812/

 

[IslandLizard]

Big kudos to everyone here helping you. You're getting expert advice.

We are both super guilty of lifting the lid once or twice a day and taking a look and smelling it. I am sure that doesn't help and will do that way less!!! Only when needed.

Many beginning homebrewers have the urge to see what's going on and keep tinkering with their beer, e.g., taking hydrometer samples every other day or worse (I was guilty of that too). The beer being in an opaque bucket doesn't show you much, while curiosity sometimes kills the beer. A clear type of fermenter like a fermonster has more to show, but once you've seen it a few times, the novelty wears off a bit. Still interesting and intriguing, though.

As others have said, it's best to leave the beer where it is and leave lid on until you're ready to bottle. Only open it if you really must, say, to add dry hops or fruit or so. The rim/groove area is not easy to clean and sanitize, which adds to the problem. I spray Starsan underneath the rim/groove then mop around that area with a small dedicated Starsaned washcloth (they stay in my Starsan bucket). Remember, everytime you lift the lid, bugs may enter, so don't do it unless necessary.

Moreover, the CO2 in the headspace protects your beer, most microorganisms need oxygen to propagate. Every time you remove the lid, air (oxygen) mixes in with the CO2. Since the opening is large most of the CO2 dissipates fast, in a matter of 5-30 seconds.

Oxygen is good when pitching yeast, she needs it to grow new cells. A few hours to a few days later, once fermentation starts, oxygen becomes beer's enemy, it causes oxidation which compounds over time. Racking beer from one vessel to another will undoubtedly cause exposure to air and oxygen, which is difficult to avoid unless you can perform (semi-)closed transfers, which is definitely an advanced technique, requiring some specialized equipment and/or nifty adaptations. So... keep the number of rackings to a bare minimum. One racking, to fill your bottling bucket, is all you need, and do it without introducing excessive air (splashing, gurgling, bubbling, etc.).

A few Qs:
That plastic piece you found came off the bag containing the premade wort you bought? You should definitely sanitize that bag (spray/mop Starsan) especially the pouring area before pouring it out. But the wort gets added to hot water isn't it? Do you then boil the wort, adding hops etc.?

From your picture, it looks like there's a yeast raft between 3 and 4 o'clock. Is that the plastic piece?

 

[_dani_]

In case you're curious...

Here's what I use for bottling:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-bucket-6-gal-hole.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-spigot-bucket-sediment-block.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/bottle-filler-removable-spring-38.html

The bottling wand fits directly onto this spigot. Super easy.

Sanitizing bottles:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/economy-sanitizer-injector-stationary-bottle-tree.html
Drying bottles:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fastrack24-12oz-beer-bottle-drying-rack-storage-system.html
Capping:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/colt-strong-high-pressure-bench-bottle-capper.html

And this for the fermenter:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fermonster-7-gallon-ported-carboy-spigot-included.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-spigot-bucket-sediment-block.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/rubber-stopper-10-hole.html
https://www.morebeer.com/products/fermentation-airlock-sshaped.html

The clear, wide-mouth, PET fermenter with spigot has all the right features IMO and is very affordable.

Thanks! This is great. Looks like the only thing we are missing is the bottling bucket! I can't believe we never thought of that. Not even the local shop we get our supplies from suggested it. Looks so much easier. Thank you!

 

[_dani_]

Big kudos to everyone here helping you. You're getting expert advice.

Many beginning homebrewers have the urge to see what's going on and keep tinkering with their beer, e.g., taking hydrometer samples every other day or worse (I was guilty of that too). The beer being in an opaque bucket doesn't show you much, while curiosity sometimes kills the beer. A clear type of fermenter like a fermonster has more to show, but once you've seen it a few times, the novelty wears off a bit. Still interesting and intriguing, though.

As others have said, it's best to leave the beer where it is and leave lid on until you're ready to bottle. Only open it if you really must, say, to add dry hops or fruit or so. The rim/groove area is not easy to clean and sanitize, which adds to the problem. I spray Starsan underneath the rim/groove then mop around that area with a small dedicated Starsaned washcloth (they stay in my Starsan bucket). Remember, everytime you lift the lid, bugs may enter, so don't do it unless necessary.

Moreover, the CO2 in the headspace protects your beer, most microorganisms need oxygen to propagate. Every time you remove the lid, air (oxygen) mixes in with the CO2. Since the opening is large most of the CO2 dissipates fast, in a matter of 5-30 seconds.

Oxygen is good when pitching yeast, she needs it to grow new cells. A few hours to a few days later, once fermentation starts, oxygen becomes beer's enemy, it causes oxidation which compounds over time. Racking beer from one vessel to another will undoubtedly cause exposure to air and oxygen, which is difficult to avoid unless you can perform (semi-)closed transfers, which is definitely an advanced technique, requiring some specialized equipment and/or nifty adaptations. So... keep the number of rackings to a bare minimum. One racking, to fill your bottling bucket, is all you need, and do it without introducing excessive air (splashing, gurgling, bubbling, etc.).

A few Qs:
That plastic piece you found came off the bag containing the premade wort you bought? You should definitely sanitize that bag (spray/mop Starsan) especially the pouring area before pouring it out. But the wort gets added to hot water isn't it? Do you then boil the wort, adding hops etc.?

From your picture, it looks like there's a yeast raft between 3 and 4 o'clock. Is that the plastic piece?

Yea that's the plastic piece. We wipe down the bag and cardboard box it comes in (so no particles fall of), and sanitize the area that we cut off. We don't let any part of the bag touch anything though. We also sanitize the scissors used to make the cut and everything. Can't sanitize the entire bag, because it needs to stay in the box, otherwise it is impossible to pour. Also, I am not concerned about our process now that we know what did it. The plastic piece must have been on the counter and just fallen in (air draft or something) when not looking. So the counter the plastic piece was put on could have been the issue here, even though we clean and sanitize that too, but ya never know.

And yes the wort is pre made. This one needed no water added. Just pitching the yeast. The wort does not get boiled and we don't add anything to it (not there yet). It's a great way to start, all you do is pitch the yeast and done (plus bottling and everything). Taste great too!

 

[IslandLizard]

Yea that's the plastic piece. We wipe down the bag and cardboard box it comes in (so no particles fall of), and sanitize the area that we cut off. We don't let any part of the bag touch anything though. We also sanitize the scissors used to make the cut and everything. Can't sanitize the entire bag, because it needs to stay in the box, otherwise it is impossible to pour. Also, I am not concerned about our process now that we know what did it. The plastic piece must have been on the counter and just fallen in (air draft or something) when not looking. So the counter the plastic piece was put on could have been the issue here, even though we clean and sanitize that too, but ya never know.

And yes the wort is pre made. This one needed no water added. Just pitching the yeast. The wort does not get boiled and we don't add anything to it (not there yet). It's a great way to start, all you do is pitch the yeast and done (plus bottling and everything). Taste great too!

I guess the wort is prehopped then too, ready to ferment?
That's a great way to make beer at home, especially for beginners! It removes a lot of somewhat complicated and error prone processes, leaving those to the pros! You could always "dry hop" that beer if you want more hop flavor/aroma.

Yeah, definitely clean and sanitize that bag/box, especially the top where the spout is, as thoroughly as possible. I'd probably have a Starsaned towel/cloth or large piece of Starsaned plastic wrap draped over the top leaving just the drain spout sticking out. That way no dust or whatever clings to the containers or comes from within gets into the fermenter. Most microorganisms cling to dust; flour, grain, and grain dust (breweries!) is covered with lactobacillus. Actually, throwing a handful of grain into a batch of wort is a way to make sour beer.