How sterile is our equipment?

[yeastinfection]

so how about a "how to" thread on cleaning, im quite concerned now as both my brews might have a "wild" yeast inf apparently .ive allways just rinsed and wiped down,sprayed with star san before use, but thinking about my fv was stored in the greenhouse for a while ,,probably didnt help

 

[Pfeffer]

What does the label on the star san say on how to use it? that should do the trick.

Most likely the source of infection is not in the container it self, but in a tube, tap etc as they are far harder to clean. Before cleaning, rinse with hot water. It will loosen debris.

 

[yeastinfection]

some said on another thread that star san is yeast friendly?

 

[MyQul]

some said on another thread that star san is yeast friendly?

Yes, else it would kill your brewing yeast. So it doesn't do anything to wild yeast. I use bleach for that

 

[Pfeffer]

Star san is based on phosporic acid, a virtually taste and odorless acid. So on the moment you use it, it has a very low pH. However when you put your wort in that dilutes the residu in such a way it won't hurt your yeast. Hence the "no rinse" properties. It has no after effect, however.. It's not a powerful toxic that obliterates micro organisms. if the pH is low enough it will kill everything - also wild yeast.

 

[Gunge]

Bleach/boiling water/starsan/sod.met etc, you're all doing it wrong. I've got a small lump of plutonium in me shed which I find works fine if you wave it around the article in question. Only problem is I've gone bald.

 

[terrym]

In case anyone is concerned they might have a tiny scratch on the internal surface of their FV that may be harbouring the plague, whatever you do.....

.....I'm sure it will be fine :thumb:

 

[Pfeffer]

To prevent new forum STD outbreaks (sorry Ninja) I sent some text to editor@media thingy.

 

[Hoddy]

You sure can. However a fungal "wild yeast" contamination is far more likely, as that will take hold much easier. Most pathogenic bacteria prefer a less acid environment though (wort is slightly acidic). However if bacteria take hold, the by products are usually far more noticeable. You can have small fungal infections that you would never notice.

Especially slow fermenting beers with a high OG tend to be sensitive for bacterial infections. If your brew is infected it's likely already sufficiently inocculated before the yeast gets a chance to fight it.

You might even have a botulism infection in your mead or krausen ring if you are extremely unlucky. The few proteins/polypeptides in there are enough to start a small culture when they coagulate (krausen ring/foam) on your fermenter.

Should this put you off brewing? Nah. You are far more likely to win the lottery.. And as I still drive a Fabia I'm pretty sure that never happened to me either. It can also happen to dried sausage etc in a commercial factory.

So would I be correct in my assumption that I have had bacterial/pathogen infection in my equipment where it has been showing up later after bottling due to there being low bacterial content from cleaning and sterilising.

But always some bacteria present somewhere which means that they are able to re-produce and create the same characteristic taste/smell given enough incubation time?

This is the conclusion I had come to. Just interested to see if you would be able to confirm my assumptions. Not being a microbiologist and all.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Pfeffer]

It can. But it can also be byproducts of your fermentation. You can have "bad byproducts" that taste good but that are chemically unstable (they basically fall apart after a while), chemicals that react with others and create "off" flavours etc. So it does not necessarily have to be a biological issue, it can also relate to chemistry. If good tasting chemicals break down or react with another, you can end up with a disgusting brew anyway because the "bad" flavours are suddenly overpowering.

Taste can be a strange thing. You can think about it like perfume. A good perfume has very strong odours like musk, whale vomit, animal bile etc in it. Each one seperate is a very, very bad smell. But when combined in the correct proportions you get a nice perfume. So if some of the chemicals in your brew are off, you're basically wearing perfume without the flower oils etc. and you just end up smelling like a roadkilled skunk.

 

[Tau]

There is something people should remember in all this is that cider and wine makers need malolactic bacteria for secondary fermentation, so if you over chemically santitise your wine or cider at the end of primary fermentation malo/lactic fermentation may never happen.

 

[MattH1973]

For a first timer like me this is an interesting thread. I sterilized the fermenting vessels and major equipment but I didn't (for example) sterilize the press of the vessel for initially collecting juice. I took some reassurance from adding campdens at the start and again after fermentation.

It did occur to me that sucking on the siphon tube probably didn't do much good. Can anyone recommend a suitable pump ?

 

[MyQul]

For a first timer like me this is an interesting thread. I sterilized the fermenting vessels and major equipment but I didn't (for example) sterilize the press of the vessel for initially collecting juice. I took some reassurance from adding campdens at the start and again after fermentation.

It did occur to me that sucking on the siphon tube probably didn't do much good. Can anyone recommend a suitable pump ?

You can buy auto syphons.http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Auto_Syphon_4.5ltr_1_gallon.html

I syphon using this method, except I fill the syphon with star san instead of water like he does in the video. No point santising your syphon then using water that can contain bacteria. It takes a bit of practice to get it right but I can do it almost every time now

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6wnVFsGdv0[/ame]

 

[Chippy_Tea]

It did occur to me that sucking on the siphon tube probably didn't do much good. Can anyone recommend a suitable pump ?

Just get a short piece of syphon tube and if yours came with a tap join the two together then start the syphon with your mouth on the short tube, keep the end above the top of the DJ ot FV and once the wine (beer cider) fills the tube remove the short piece and carry on,.