well, I guess it happens eventually. I've been brewing since 2002, and just did it. I brewed a gruit (using yarrow, mugwort, chamomile, and sweet orange peel), and that's probably the most at risk style for that, no hops-heh. And, it's NOT bad, not bad at all. A slight bit sour and dry and cloudy. because it was a small batch, I went from the carboy to bottle and bottle conditioned it 2 weeks ago. It could use more carbonation, so I'd let it sit for a bit. Anyway, it's drinkable and surprisingly tasty. Here are my questions: 1. equipment: what's the best choice to clean it? 2. how long is my actual shelf life on this, a google search on other forums indicated that it would be QUITE low, but, I thought I'd ask you guys before believing those guys.
I don't know about your beer but I highly recommend replacing all plastic that has touched this beer if it is indeed an infection. Good luck!
Really it all depends on what the infection is. Sour isn't really a good descriptor. Is it lemony tart? Does it taste like yogurt at all? Is it vinegary tart? The answer to your questions is based on what kind of flavors are there.
After I had an infection go through my equipment everything got a hot water bleach soak and hot water rinse. Problem solved.
not vinegar: ie: not acetic acid. I would go closer to lemony, but more general like a sour candy (not specifically lemon). I assumed it was lactobacillus because I thought that one was pretty mild. No real bret character.
Sounds like Lacto to me. Sorry I can't offer any suggestions about killing it... I keep all my Lacto exposed equipment (except for boil kettles and mash tun) separate from the rest of my stuff.
If it is Lacto I would dedicate the soft plastics (and anything like an auto-siphon) to your sour program, and give everything else a good PBW cleaning and sanitize. Reevaluate your yeast protocol.
yep, I probably will need a new auto-siphon. the thing of it is... and this is just me fretting, I made an IPA afterwards, and I am pretty certain I used the same autosiphon. It had an enormous amount of hops in it, soOOOooo that might help prevent. But, now I'm worried about the IPA that's carbonating in the keg. I didn't taste anything weird in it, but, I'm just fretting. Current yeast protocol: 1 qt yeast starter (3 oz DME + 1 qt water), boil 10 minutes Using a stir plate and either wyeast or whitelabs (in this case I used white labs) Next day brew, I oxygenated the wort after chilling (immersion chiller) and transferring it to the carboy. Then once that was done, I pitched the flask of yeast. This wasn't temperature controlled fermentation, but it was fairly cool (ie: 66). The recipe was fairly low gravity (if I recall correctly, and I'd have to check my notes) the OG was 1.044 or something of that like.
What yeast strain did you use? Do you boil in the flask for starters, or do you boil in a pot and transfer to the flask?
Beer can get contaminated but beer doesn't get 'infected.' Infection occurs when a living organism is colonized by disease-causing organisms such as bacteria ... fungi ... or viruses. Beer is not a living organism.
As with all language, meaning is somewhat fluid and evolves overtime with common use and context. "Infection" and "infected" in the context of the brewing world in common jargon is the same thing as contamination. It's no different than the word "ratchet". In terms of standard adults and especially when refering to tools, we all know what it is, but when used by a teenager it becomes a derogatory term for a girl who thinks she is all that but is not.
Most Lacto strains are sensitive to the acids in hops. Even the few that can do alright can normally only handle up to ~20IBU. Not saying that there aren't some out there that will take hold, but your IPA is probably not in too much danger from Lacto. If there was any Brett etc in it as well though... that's another story
I think in this case we can assume beer is like a wound. If unwanted bacteria and funghi start to grow in a wound we say the wound is infected.
IOW ... repeated misuse leads to a new definition. Seems more like ignorance. Case in point: many brewers believe the terms "dough in" and "mash in" are synonymous. They're not. Guess brewing isn't much of a science after all.
