Just curious if there are any folks out there who dedicate a growler solely for beers with Brett so as not to infect their other beers. I'm not personally this fussy and don't usually keep filled growlers around long enough for them to really become infected, but as any homebrewer will tell you, Brett bugs are just goddamn impossible to kill and have a knack for infecting non-Brett beers.
I don't right now, but certainly would if buying a growler of a Brett beer. Cilurzo at RR reports that some vintners won't even set foot in the brew house he uses for his Brett beers. But while I'm not that worried about cross contamination, I figure why take chances. On the other hand since the contents of growlers aren't being aged and seldom last long around here there's not likely to be a problem with Brett changing my beer.
If you helps you sleep better at night then obtain a dedicated growler for Brett beers. Brett is not a super-organism, it is just a type of yeast. Regular old cleaning/sanitation will kill/eliminate Brett from a growler just like it would for brewers yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Cheers!
If you see yourself buying alot of brett beers or wilds or sours. Whatever you want to call them. I would buy a seperate growler. If not designate one of your current ones to that style. IMO
Would you get a different growler for sours? It's my understanding some breweries even go as far as to age and produce their sours in other locations. I know New Belgium brews them all on site, but double cleans the line after making and bottling La Folie.
Folks, it really is not difficult to clean/sanitize a glass growler. If some reason you fell you are incapable of doing this (which is a mystery to me ) then feel free to dedicate separate growlers for beers brewed with wild yeast (Brett) and bacteria. Cheers!
It's just not feasible to submerge an entire room or brewery in sanitizing solution and know you covered every possible harbor for the yeast, but that's no problem for a growler. Merely having a growler cleaning regimen will eliminate the need for a separate "wild" growler.
We brew Brett beers in the same 30 BBL fermenters and use the same brite tanks at my brewery and even one of the same bottle fillers. We change out the gaskets and have had no cross contaminations (confirmed by White Labs). It is not "impossible" to kill Brett. It is cleanable and sanitizable just like Saccharomyces. I would feel much more comfortable cleaning and sanitizing a 64 oz. glass growler than I am cleaning and sanitizing a bottle filler and tanks with with rubber gaskets.
LOL, if you need a separate growler than you might need a separate glass too. Normal washing is just fine, your hands are more of a threat of infection than the beer inside.
For the purposes of a growler, boiling water is sufficient. Brett is a non-spore forming yeast. I've seen its largely inactivated by temps of 32 degrees celcius, and since it is non-spore forming, killing most of them with 100 degree celcius water will render any contamination more of less destroyed. Just remember, time and temp. Let the boiling water rest in the glass for a while.
Yeah and if you do like some people and leave beer in it for several months.... Someone came into WF to get a growler fill and when they removed the top off of their growler it was solid vinegar. I would never put a beer in that puppy without taking it back home and soaking it for a month
