Hi Everyone, I made a starter with WLP013 a couple days ago in a 4L screw top water bottle. What I do is I leave the screw cap on the bottle but I leave it loose enough for the CO2 to escape during fermentation. This is pretty standard for me, it's pretty much how I always make my starters. In the middle of the night I woke up, went over to my starter to shake it and two fruit flies flew off the top of the bottle (where the bottle meets the cap), so I took the cap off and sprayed everything with Star San. This morning I went to shake it again and those little bastards were back. I'm thinking there's probably nothing wrong with the starter cause there's no fruit flies in the starter, however I'm a little concerned about pitching the starter and fruit fly feet residue on the lid of the bottle. I'm thinking if I clean the lid well and sanitize it everything should be fine. What would you do? Pitch the starter into your wort or pitch your starter down the drain?
I would toss it and start over. not because you can't sanitize the bottle but because fruit flies are nasty. they carry acetobater. that will get you vinegar. the bastards don't need to take a swim either, just crawling around the inside of the bottle or coming in contact with the wort is enough. they will sink to the bottom too, so you can't be sure there aren't any bugs down there. i'll go even further and suggest that they don't even need to touch the wort since the bacteria can be transmitted in the atmosphere. it is a big risk. and the bacteria will work right next to your beer yeast, it isn't simply a matter of having a healthy starter that dominates the fermentation. just not worth it to me. a small bowl of vinegar mixed with a bit of dish soap is an effective trap btw. a foam stopper will keep them out and allow the starter to breath as well. a small fan directed at your starter will keep the bastards at bay. they are not strong winged insects after all. Cheers.
"I'm thinking if I clean the lid well and sanitize it everything should be fine." I agree with this strategy. The fruit flies did get inside your bottle so I am of the opinion that the starter is not infected. Cheers!
I've had fruit flies get into my Starsan filled airlock on my fermenter on several occasions. No problems from that. Cheers!
No fruit flies actually in the starter = safe to pitch in my mind......fruit flies in the starter is a different story
Thanks everyone. I'm confident none of the little bastards made it into the starter, they've just been hanging around on the cap/lid of the bottle.
If hey didn't actually get INTO the bottle, I'd think you're OK. If they were inside, even if not into the wort, I'd be hesitant about using it.
Rex Banner: You're out there somewhere, beer baron! And I'll find you. Homer: [way off in the distance] No, you won't. Rex Banner: Yes, I will Homer: Won't!
I would cut the bottom and drain through a coffee filter into a sanitized container...If no flies are in the filter, I'd use it if it smells good...still risky though...In the future, I'd use a coffee filter and a rubber band to allow air in and keep flies out...
Thanks again everyone. The cap was on the bottle, screwed down tightly then loosened off about a turn so it was loose enough to let the CO2 escape but not allow anything in (I hope). I'm not really worried about the flies getting in, more worried about the flies landing on the bottle neck and the left behind fruit fly foot residue when I go to pitch my starter.
If your starter tastes ok it's probably good. That stuff makes me nervous though. Had to dump a 3 gallon batch of sauerkraut in May because fruit flies got in it (lid knocked off a little at some point). If you think a bad batch of beer stinks you ain't smelled nothing yet.
I just noticed a couple fruit flys buzzing about my fermenter last night. It's my first time using the big mouth bubbler, but I racked a berliner into it on top of some peaches. I don't know how many are familiar with the big mouth bubbler, but the lid that screws on to the top has a smaller cap in the middle of it that unscrews and can be replaced with an airlock cap, then you fill part of the lid with water, and that acts as the airlock. When I added the peaches, it kicked off a secondary fermentation, and it was enough that a little started seeping out into the airlock water on top of the lid, I can because tell the water is tinted a little pink/peach color. I set up a vinegar trap, sprayed the top of the fermenter with star san, and covered it loosely with a plastic garbage bag hoping to keep the flys away. I'm thinking I will probably be ok, but when I saw the flies, I remembered this thread and figured I would go ahead and post here to see if anyone wanted to weigh in.
