First infection, toss all my plastic?

"My question is do I dare use the equipment again or toss it too?"

Is there a specific reason why you think you can't properly sanitize this equipment? I have used plastic buckets for over 10 years (and hundreds of batches) and never had issues with them.

Generally speaking the items you are referencing are inexpensive so if that will make you feel more comfortable then maybe replacing them would be helpful for you?

Cheers!

 

I usually replace all plastic in the fall every year at the start of the my NE hombrew season. Usually that's not a very expensive proposition .....but this year someone convinced me to buy a really nice plastic speidel fermenter......going to try to get another year out that one.

 

Since your tubing is heat resistant, I would have some confidence that you can kill any infectious agents with heat. I would think you can also sanitize your pail and airlock too. On the other hand, what you really seek is peace of mind, and for $30-40, it is easily purchased by buying a new bucket, airlock, and tubing. I periodically buy a new bucket or two and relegate the old ones to duties like primary fermenter for bug beers and crushed grain catcher.

 

I just spoke with a Grand Master II judge this past Saturday (Brian Joas -- maybe you've heard of him??). He says that whenever he judges an obvious contaminated beer, he always recommends to the entrant: "You must dispose of all plastic fermentation equipment to prevent recurrence", to which I heartily agreed. We learned the hard way, so that you don't have to!!!! There's no way in hell you can ever kill 100% of contaminated plastic or rubber equipment. Get rid of it and start over!!!!!!!

 

I wouldn't argue with tossing the bucket - it was in solid contact with whatever bugs got in there.
I would think the airlock should be OK, just soak in sanitizer.
What did you use the tubing for? did you siphon the beer out or just dump?
If before souring, you'll be fine no matter what, if after... well, it's up to uyou.
Out of curiosity, why couldn't you pitch for 2 days? No yeast in hand? In a case like that, just direct pitching of a vial or smack pack is better than nothing.

 

I had a batch of ipa get infected with brett unintentionally. I went through the brewery and soaked everything in bleach. Problem solved. Now I make it a habit to do a bleach soak yearly.

 

Carpet bomb all your equipment with bleach. I work in a lab, and we just bleach everything to kill all of the spent bacteria that could contaminate our next round. If you do a hot, strong bleach solution overnight with your equipment filled TO THE BRIM, nothing's gonna survive that.

This being said, if you have the disposable income, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get new fermentation equipment as a safeguard. Plus, who doesn't like getting new stuff?

 

Maybe some trapped oxygen did something. I've read about people pumping co2 into those. I also have the screw top speidel and will be opening it soon to check on a batch.

 

Don't throw the buckets out. Keep them to use with sour brews!

 

Bollocks! I've used sour beer buckets for clean beers many times without a problem. The buckets had spigots too. Bleach has never been used.

 

Count yourself lucky, then. It's just not worth the risk. Buckets and hoses are cheaper than 5 gallons (or whatever) of beer. And then glass is a whole 'nother option.

 

I once had a doctor tell me he could assess the cause of my pain by sticking a big needle in my knee and drawing a lot of fluid out of it, and then evaluate how loud I screamed. Or we could let the pain go undiagnosed and try ibuprofen. Not a perfect analogy, but the take home message is you can further evaluate the problem by trying to sanitize your equipment at the risk of more bad batches or you can opt for the easier fix of buying new equipment.

I once brewed Bat Shit Brown, a brown ale in a fermenter that got sanitized after I discovered a bat had been roosting over it my cellar. It came out fine. I don't think you should automatically infer that your equipment is compromised, but if you want to eliminate the possibility, you need to lose the equipment.

 

The OP has a $60 Speidel fermenter and @dmtaylor thinks he should scrap it to reduce the risk of losing a $30 beer. On top of that, DMT wants him to buy glass. Math is easy. Risk management is hard.

The Speidel can be decontaminated without calling the hazmat squad.

 

Yeah, don't toss your equipment. You have a problem with sanitation. You need to perfect your brewing and cleaning, not build a new brewery.

1 or 2 cups bleach, 5 gallons of cold water. Place everything that's not metal into the bucket and let it soak. Let is sit for a good while. Then rinse 10 times or more. I do this in the shower sometimes. Because bleach is nasty stuff that needs to be rinsed thoroughly.
I have some buckets that are about 20 years old.

The lesson here is that if you give the undesirable bugs a foot hold they will take over. Don't do that.

Cheers.

 

True there is no way in hell to kill 100% of contaminated plastic or rubber equipment. But that has nothing to do with starting over with new equipment. This is just nonsense and misleading. We don't need to be sterile and never will be. We just need to be clean enough. That is a really basic rule of brewhouse sanitation.

New equipment is not 100% sanitized either. In fact a properly sanitized old bucket is just as clean if not more so than the new bucket you pick up at the LHBS.