Wild yeast infection...

[Jako]

Well I bottled my California common after about 6 weeks in primary. I used star San on bottles and then baked the bottles for a hour. After a week and a half in the bottle I noticed lots of stuff floating around like a ton! I should note the beer was crystal clear when I bottled.

I brewed 3 beers in a row with no head forming at all and the bottles are not carbonated like it should be. This is the 3rd bath that's gone wrong each time I stepped up my sanitation. Thinking of taking a break from brewing untill this is sorted out. Tossing money down my sink needs to stop.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Sorry to hear you're having troubles. I have ideas!!

I'm going to assume your previous batches were fine. Nothing changed in your process or equipment usage?

Switch sanitizers -- Iodophor is a good choice or you can make a bleach/vinegar no-rinse sanitizer (5 gallons water: 1oz bleach: 1oz vinegar. Never mix bleach and vinegar together before adding to the water because you will produce chlorine gas.)

Make sure you are not rinsing with tap water or doing anything with tap water on cold side (without boiling it) including water for top-up or water used for dissolving priming sugar.
On that note, add your priming sugar to boiling water to kill anything from that vector for the remote possibility the sugar is somehow contaminated.

Soak everything cold side in a PBW cleaner or equivalent to remove any buildup.

Consider replacing plastic and rubber pieces & parts on the cold side -- new hoses, spigots, airlocks, stoppers, siphon, bottling bucket, wand, plastic fermentation vessel, etc. -- especially anything that looks damaged or scratched.

Clean plastics with only gentle, non-abrasive methods (e.g. paper towel, soft sponge, microfiber towel) and only if really necessary. No-scrub cleaners like PBW are best imho.

Use low-oxygen bottling process. If it is indeed a wild yeast infection, it really shouldn't be growing that much. Oxygen is required for yeast growth. Make sure your bottle capper is working or consider trying a different one or try bottling a sample in a plastic soda pop bottle to rule-out issues with your caps/capper. Do you sanitize your caps?

Hope you get it sorted out soon. Grab a 1 gal glass carboy and make some small batches

 

[RM-MN]

Well I bottled my California common after about 6 weeks in primary. I used star San on bottles and then baked the bottles for a hour. After a week and a half in the bottle I noticed lots of stuff floating around like a ton! I should note the beer was crystal clear when I bottled.

I checked 3 beers at this point and no head forming at all and the bottles are not carbonated like it should be. This is the 3rd bath that's gone wrong each time I stepped up my sanitation. Thinking of taking a break from brewing untill this is sorted out. Tossing money down my sink needs to stop.

When you add priming sugar and bottle you start a new fermentation which will stir up any trub you transferred to the bottles. With time this will settle out. During this time the compounds that cause head forming to occur come together too. If your bottles are sealed you will have carbonation. With more time you will get heading. The recommended minimum time is 3 weeks from bottling to sampling. Head forming also requires clean glassware including the bottles. Any soap or detergent residue will kill the heading. Washing the glasses in the dishwasher is a common cause as most dishwashers have an anti-spotting dispenser that will deposit a tiny bit of compound that keeps glasses from having water spots and also does a wonderful job of keeping beer from forming a head. Hand wash your beer glasses.

 

[Renegade Brewer]

I hate hearing new brewers get discouraged when things don’t go right. I think this is the number one reason people drop the hobby before giving it a fair chance.

To combat this, I teach a beginner brewing class which runs new brewers through an entire brew day and gives them hands-on in the process. I’d suggest visiting your local homebrew shop and ask them if they offer such classes. Also take in a bottle of your beer and let the staff pull it apart. Most homebrew shop owners/workers are BJCP certified and can identify off flavors as well as offer suggestions on how to correct it.

Stick with the star San and ensure you are not rinsing. There is no need to bake your bottles as long as they are clean. Soak them in star San and fill them as soon you empty the sanitizer. Sanitize your caps as well. Make sure to sanitize your bottle filler, siphon, and tubing. Lastly it’s possible your bucket picked up a rogue bug and now every beer that goes into that fermenter will be ruined. You may have scratched or not sanitized your fermenter well enough. I’d probably replace the fermenter and make sure not to use any abrasive scrubbers on it. Soak it in hot water and PBW and wipe it out with a paper towel. I keep sanitizer in my fermenter until I’m ready to run my wort off into it.

Good luck, and don’t get discouraged; you’ll figure this out and be making great beer in no time

 

[Jako]

thank you all for the great advice. just reading this i know i am doing a few things wrong. this is my 14th batch now? something like that. i wonder if over time i have a bug that has mastered the art of avoiding star-san. just happy i didn't start my second 5 gallon batch i planed for this past weekend. i have a IPA in the fermenter now. need to sort out this nonsense and hopefully this batch will turn out this time.

 

[Renegade Brewer]

I’d place my money on an infected fermenter. Once plastic becomes scratched, I’m talking about microscopic scratches you’d never see, bacteria will hole up in there and can not be killed no matter how much star San you throw at them.

I think replacing your fermenter and lid would most likely solve this problem. That’s why we recommend not scrubbing your plastic and we put a life expectancy of about 6 months on a bucket.

 

[Jako]

I’d place my money on an infected fermenter. Once plastic becomes scratched, I’m talking about microscopic scratches you’d never see, bacteria will hole up in there and can not be killed no matter how much star San you throw at them.

I think replacing your fermenter and lid would most likely solve this problem. That’s why we recommend not scrubbing your plastic and we put a life expectancy of about 6 months on a bucket.

thing is i just bought a new one and the first batch in the bucket ended up infected. i wonder if i am getting it post ferment. also my gravity's are ended up normal for the most part. i have noticed a oil slick look to the top of my last two batches. thought i was being paranoid.

also i would love to add a picture but everything i take just reflects off the bottles. so i don't have a good example. i did notice chilling the beers causes the funk to fall out should i just chill the lot and drink fast?

 

[Renegade Brewer]

Yeah the oily substance is usually indication of a wild yeast inoculating during fermentation. It’s possible you caught the infection during your first batch and now it forever resides in the plastic. Also the lid is a big culprit too along with your grommet.

If you are on your 5th batch or so and the problem persists start by improving your sanitation habits and slowly remove variables until you find the one that was causing the problem.

 

[Jako]

yeah good idea. going to start to pick this apart. going to read around the sanitation thread the next few days.

 

[beerlover77]

I use glass carboys. Never have an infection (knock on wood). All plastic parts need replacing after your episode.

 

[RM-MN]

I’d place my money on an infected fermenter. Once plastic becomes scratched, I’m talking about microscopic scratches you’d never see, bacteria will hole up in there and can not be killed no matter how much star San you throw at them.

I think replacing your fermenter and lid would most likely solve this problem. That’s why we recommend not scrubbing your plastic and we put a life expectancy of about 6 months on a bucket.

With decent care buckets will last a lot longer than 6 months. My oldest is about 10 years.

 

[DSK901]

I am just starting but the risk of infection as well as the lack of durability steered me clear of the buckets. I would only use glass or stainless. I use my original BS kit bucket for my Star-SAN, keep in mind I don't even have a carbonated batch yet so my advice isn't even worth 2 pennies lol.

 

[Jako]

my only worries about glass is cleaning it and the chance of it exploding on me. but i might go in that direction just to get away from infections and i would love the ability to see the activity to know when things are slowing down or just starting up.