Just lost my first brew to infection in 20 years

[Ken L]

I put on two kit brews last week. The golden ale went off like a train and appears to be fine. The stout never really started fermenting and at 4 days, it had developed a slimy surface film that just screamed infection.
I immediately moved the two buckets apart and after waiting another three days to be sure, I just binned the infected brew.
Weirdly, the sugar on the bottom of the bucket was a solid mass that I had to dig out but I've now cleaned everything and wiped all the walls down with bleach.
I don't think it was bad hygiene, instead, I think it was probably just dead yeast and an opportunistic infection.
Henceforth, I'll be doing with my beers what I do with my ciders and using a starter culture to inoculate the brew with yeast that is already hydrated and active

 

[BeerisGOD]

Thats a real Shame. Twenty years Though.
I believe i forgot to Sterilise my fv for my Latest batch Although it was rinsed and sanitised. Fingers Crossed.
Was ur airlock still active during the Infection?

 

[terrym]

Sorry to hear you have lost your first brew to infection, hope it's a one-off. Compared to now I was not so careful about keeping kit clean and sanitised when I started out many years ago but still didn't lose any brews as far as I can remember. I kept my orange plastic dustbin as an FV for years and even though I cleaned it with scratchy pads from time to time even then never succumbed. Nowadays I try to keep everything as it should be but am not overzealous. Nevertheless I believe that in spite of best efforts you can still be unlucky, maybe my luck will run out one day like yours.
I use dried yeast for all my brews and have tried all three methods available for pitching i.e. sprinkling straight on, hydrating, hydrating followed by a small fermentable feed and if I'm honest can't really tell the difference. So I'm back to sprinkling at present. If the yeast appears to be initially struggling I usually give it a max of 36 hours before I have to decide to repitch. but I have only ever had to do this once as far as I can remember.

 

[The Baron]

I put on two kit brews last week. The golden ale went off like a train and appears to be fine. The stout never really started fermenting and at 4 days, it had developed a slimy surface film that just screamed infection.
I immediately moved the two buckets apart and after waiting another three days to be sure, I just binned the infected brew.
Weirdly, the sugar on the bottom of the bucket was a solid mass that I had to dig out but I've now cleaned everything and wiped all the walls down with bleach.
I don't think it was bad hygiene, instead, I think it was probably just dead yeast and an opportunistic infection.
Henceforth, I'll be doing with my beers what I do with my ciders and using a starter culture to inoculate the brew with yeast that is already hydrated and active

Sorry Ken never mind you have had a good run, never had one myself but it will come one day. Probably something airborne as most people have a good clean sanitise method as I am sure you have with 20 years plus experience so upward and onward to the next brew

 

[Gunge]

Sorry about your sad loss. My FV's are in a terrible shape with visible scratches but somehow I've gotten away with it for donkey's years. Only a matter of time before I get caught out so I'm gonna splash out and replace the lot. Not a dead loss tho' - I'll use the old ones for grain and equipment storage!

 

[pms67]

Sorry about your sad loss. My FV's are in a terrible shape with visible scratches but somehow I've gotten away with it for donkey's years. Only a matter of time before I get caught out so I'm gonna splash out and replace the lot. Not a dead loss tho' - I'll use the old ones for grain and equipment storage!

Gunge,Ive done what you are planning,go on,you know you want to

 

[Gunge]

Gunge,Ive done what you are planning,go on,you know you want to

That is, sob, beautiful. How much was it? Given me an idea what to request as a crimbo pressie...

 

[pms67]

£175 from the Malt Miller
Early birthday for me from the full family 😉

 

[Clint]

Will it go in an under counter fridge?
Gunge you are such an old softy!

 

[Ken L]

Was ur airlock still active during the Infection?

No airlocks on the buckets. The lid tends to dome and they leak gas around the edge. There was no doming on the infected bucket though.

 

[Gerryjo]

Gunge,Ive done what you are planning,go on,you know you want to

Just had a look at this on eBay...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-Ltr-Stainless-Steel-18-10-Food-Storage-Container-Fermenter-/162685600696?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

[pms67]

Will it go in an under counter fridge?
Gunge you are such an old softy!

It fits in my freezer with lift up lid but not sure about fridge,it should,it's actually quite small

 

[pms67]

Just had a look at this on eBay...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-Ltr-Stainless-Steel-18-10-Food-Storage-Container-Fermenter-/162685600696?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

Ha,you don't get two beer mats with it though 😂

 

[Gerryjo]

Ha,you don't get two beer mats with it though [emoji23]

Nice touch and you don't have to do anything to it....[emoji106]

Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk

 

[Ken L]

Just thought to ad to this thread for the sprinklers out there. The failed yeast was from a Coopers stout kit so there may be a bunch of Coopers kits out there with dead yeast packets.
If you're doing one, it might definitely be worth doing a yeast starter with a sanitised Coke bottle and a teaspoon of sugar - I knows a big investment but it's probably worth it...

 

[terrym]

I have done quite a number of Coopers kits over the last three years of different types and have only found a dodgy one on a Brew A IPA. You can find out how old the yeast is here
https://club.coopers.com.au/static/media/attachments/1490244512_3_110.pdf
I have a Coopers AuPA on the go at present which started well and is still going fine although the date code tells me it's nearly two years old (35615 = 22 Dec 2015).