400 Liters Lost To Infection

[Tony]

I dont have $160 laying around for new ones at the moment and they arnt the problem. I did have one problem one and its burried at the tip now.

This brew will tell. If its sour the firmenters go and i sell my body on the streets to raise funds for new ones.

I have copious quantities of habanero chillis growing. Might make bottles of Habanero concentrate and sell them for some cash.

taking a $50 paycut weekly these days with interest rates.

no cheers to that

 

[SJW]

Steve........... i use bleach to steralise after firmentation and rinse out 24 hours later. I put in about a 1/4 cup and fill to the top (60 liter firmenter)

I rinse 3 or 4 times with a good spray nozzle on the hose and its fine......... cant smell it.

I then dry the firmenter and give it a hit with iodophur before duty. Too easy.

Comp results and picky brewing friends and family say there is no bleach in there!

cheers

Sounds like u got the sanitization thing all covered. If I have done a Ginger Beer or a Cider or a big messy dark Ale I will soak the fermenter in a mix of Pink Stain and rinse and just hit with Iodophor prior to using again. I agree with Tony that I to have found no reason to dump my old fermenter even after 70 odd brews. I would say your infection was coming from the brewery and not old fermenters with a cleaning system like that!

Steve

 

[Tony]

Ive hear a few good reports on the Pink stain stuff...... will have to give it a go!

Wasnt having a go at you mate...... just saying I dont find Bleach leaves a smell if you rinse it well.

A jug full of boiling water helps if its a bit strong.

cheers

 

[KHB]

Completly off topic but what is insulating your mash tun tony?? looking to do mine soon

 

[SJW]

Ive hear a few good reports on the Pink stain stuff...... will have to give it a go!

Wasnt having a go at you mate...... just saying I dont find Bleach leaves a smell if you rinse it well.

A jug full of boiling water helps if its a bit strong.

cheers

Its all good mate. I to used to use bleach but I think it was Mark who had some negative things to say about it and it was then I went over to Iodophor. Pink Stain works every bit as good as Sodium Per just quicker IMO. I was sold on pink stain after doing the Napi San thing on some bottles and then straight after hitting the with Pink Stain and u should of seen all the floaties that came out of the bottles, its pretty heavy duty stuff I find and at 1 level tea spoon to 5 litres it goes a long way.
Any no I dont have shares in the stuff.

Steve

 

[SJW]

Completly off topic but what is insulating your mash tun tony?? looking to do mine soon

Same as mine I reckon. 25mm Aeroflex (a closed cell insulation foam) all taped up with wide heavy duty tape.

 

[Pumpy]

Tony ,

No sure what sort of 'Orgasm' you have .

I am sure you have really cleaned your system a number of times ,those ball valves do get gunky

suggest you get use the silicone tubing .

and go to No chill .

You are our brewing Guru and expect you will over come it but think you need some significant drastic changes .

I went though a period when I dumped a lot of beer and nearly gave up, but after seeing you brew, I changed a few things and ever since i have been on the right track .

Pumpy

 

[mr brau]

don't use ball valves - they are not sanitary. I know lots of home brewers use them, but judging from those photos, there is no chance that you will get them clean without dismantling them, which you can't. Don't brew until they are cleaned or replaced. Because of their mechanism, there is no chance of getting them clean - although you could pull them out of your line and boil them in a pot of water for 2hrs. You need butterfly valves for anything downstream from the kettle. try Geordi Stainless - you can probably google them. You can knock down these valves in 20 min (during the boil or heating water) and reassemble - spray all the bits and your hands with metho, and reassemble - and you can take them out of the equation. ball valves are the work of the devil. My 2c.

 

[browndog]

don't use ball valves - they are not sanitary. I know lots of home brewers use them, but judging from those photos, there is no chance that you will get them clean without dismantling them, which you can't. Don't brew until they are cleaned or replaced. Because of their mechanism, there is no chance of getting them clean - although you could pull them out of your line and boil them in a pot of water for 2hrs. You need butterfly valves for anything downstream from the kettle. try Geordi Stainless - you can probably google them. You can knock down these valves in 20 min (during the boil or heating water) and reassemble - spray all the bits and your hands with metho, and reassemble - and you can take them out of the equation. ball valves are the work of the devil. My 2c.

If you use an immersion chiller then the only problem you will have is with the valve that dumps into the fermenter. I guess this is where the NC shines as you can pretty well be assured that your wort is going into the fermenter without any living nasties coming along for the ride.

cheers

Browndog

 

[Zizzle]

The anti-ball valve post got me thinking: valveless kettle outlet, just use a G-clamp on some silicon hose. I think someone was talking about that at babbs the other night after jye was showing off his whopping perstaltic pump.

 

[mika]

If it takes you 20mins to pull down a 3-piece ball valve I'd suggest you started drinking before hand and are probably at the point of needing to hold onto the floor to stop from falling oof

 

[kook]

If you use an immersion chiller then the only problem you will have is with the valve that dumps into the fermenter. I guess this is where the NC shines as you can pretty well be assured that your wort is going into the fermenter without any living nasties coming along for the ride.

cheers

Browndog

Or using a counterflow / plate chiller too.

I think butterfly valves attached to the kettle via triclover clamps would be the ideal solution for easy cleaning. Still poses a problem if you want to clean your pickup tube though... In the meantime I think I'll pick up a couple 3pc ball valves for my kettle and pump. Should be easier to clean than these 2pc jobs.

 

[NRB]

Can you post a picture of the Pink Stain everyone raves about? I can't find the damned stuff anywhere! (Probably doesn't help that I don't know what I'm actually looking for on the shelves.)

 

[pint of lager]

PSR or pink stain remover is a pink powder, although I have seen a white version too. Looks like a fine pink powder, a bit finer than napisan.

Chlorinated trisodium phosphate is the name of the chemical.

1 teaspoon per litre in hot water, wash and rinse well.

Not suitable for stainless steel.

I alternate between PSR and napisan in the brewery. Sometimes out comes the caustic soda.

 

[mr brau]

If it takes you 20mins to pull down a 3-piece ball valve I'd suggest you started drinking before hand and are probably at the point of needing to hold onto the floor to stop from falling oof

I believe I said butterfly valve which need to be dismantled, cleaned and reassembled. I am happy to race you.

 

[mika]

Was commenting that 3pc ball valves are available and quite easy to clean. In other words, not all ball valves are evil.

 

[mr brau]

Whatever. Just promise me that you'll pull them to bits often. I have never seen ball valves in breweries, and have never used them myself. All I know is that there is so much crap than can get stuck behind the ball in the valve - even when you put caustic through them - that you're better off without them. Especially if your brewery lies dormant for a week or two.

 

[haysie]

Can you post a picture of the Pink Stain everyone raves about? I can't find the damned stuff anywhere! (Probably doesn't help that I don't know what I'm actually looking for on the shelves.)

Try Woolies, K-Mart, i seen it at both in the last few days. IMO, why bother. Looks like a gimmick overpriced product to me.
Far better options available.

 

[Tony]

Its only the one ball valve that the cooled wort comes into contact with....... will look into a good SS 3 piece to do the job.

Anyone know a good suplier on the east coast?

cheers

 

[pint of lager]

Haysie, try your local homebrew shop, they will probably sell it by the kilo, rather than a marked up little plastic container of the stuff like Coles, Woolworths and Big W sell.

I have tried heaps of cleaners and PSR certainly works well. It is the only cleaner I have used that will clean the gunk out of a one piece airlock that has had krausen go through it.

Labs do use it too, have seen a bucket of it for cleaning glassware in laboratories.