Cube infection?

[JoshRunciman]

guys,

Cubed a pale ale a few weeks ago. Transferred to fermenter and pitched the yeast today.

When I brewed the beer, I cooled it to below 80 (immersion chiller) so I could do a hop stand, and when I cubed I reckon the wort was around 60 degrees.

Because of this, I sanitised the cube, which was brand new. I came under on volume (20 litres) and as a result, there was some air in the cube (25 litre cube).

When I opened the cube today, air rushed out of the cube. it smelt pretty funky as well, kind of like a lambic but with an unpleasant aftertaste. I don't know enough about Brett to know if this is a Brett infection.

I'm worried that the beer has an infection of some sort, as a result ofcubing while the beer wasn't boiling hot. In hindsight, leaving air in the cube was also not a good idea.

Has anyone done something similar? Could this result in an infection?

 

[barls]

So what your saying is it was pressurised and you didn't squeeze the air out when u cubed it.
Definitely sounds like an infection

 

[JoshRunciman]

definitely pressurised.

 

[JoshRunciman]

my thinking is that the air left in the cube contained bacteria etc. this bacteria survived because the wort wasn't hot, and wasn't crowded out by yeast as it would be if I pitched and fermented straight away.

does this seem like a reasonable thought process?

 

[dmac80]

Yeah,
But you can't pitch and ferment at 60 degrees. Either cube at higher temps, or chill to ferment temps and pitch straight away in future i'd say. But i think you know already know this now.

I wouldn't try cubing at 60 degrees again, i think it's inviting infection regardless of whether you have sanitised the cube.

Cheers
Dan

 

[JoshRunciman]

Ok. This is what I was thinking, but it's good to have a second opinion on it. It's a shame as I was really excited about this brew.

Cheers

 

[Yob]

Cubing has to be done at near boiling to be effective, I've got 5 liters left over from today's brew, ive "cubed" it but not expelled the air but I'll be pitching on ir tmoz, so a slow chill, I won't put money on it not going south but it doesn't matter really as it's a bonus 5 liters anyway.

 

[dmac80]

Yeah,

It sucks when that happens to a brew that you're excited about.

Cheers

 

[GalBrew]

Yeah, I don't understand the logic behind chilling a no-chill wort. Either chill or no chill, and accept the known effects on hop utilisations. There is no in between, you only set up conditions ripe for infection.

 

[JoshRunciman]

The thought process was that I wanted to hop stand but not add any bitterness. Of course, that is a flawed logic, as I can no-chill and save hops. But, I'd had a few beers when I decided to chill, so it's not surprising my logic was off.

On a very related note, thanks for the responses. As a novice brewer, it really helps having forums like AHB.

 

[GalBrew]

You can add hops to the cube, that is the latest addition you can effectively make when no-chilling. But you really want the cube to cool as slowly as possible to pasteurise the wort/cube as best you can.

 

[Yob]

You can add hops to the cube, that is the latest addition you can effectively make when no-chilling. But you really want the cube to cool as slowly as possible to pasteurise the wort/cube as best you can.

and most awesome.. just did 3 tonight like that :beerbang:

 

[Black Devil Dog]

You can add hops to the cube, that is the latest addition you can effectively make when no-chilling. But you really want the cube to cool as slowly as possible to pasteurise the wort/cube as best you can.

and most awesome.. just did 3 tonight like that :beerbang:

Do you still dry hop into the fermenter when cube hopping?

 

[JoshRunciman]

You can add hops to the cube, that is the latest addition you can effectively make when no-chilling. But you really want the cube to cool as slowly as possible to pasteurise the wort/cube as best you can.

Ok cool. I'll make sure I do this in future.

 

[Yob]

Do you still dry hop into the fermenter when cube hopping?

Depends on the brew, I may wait to keg hop or if bottling, dry hop at end of the ferment

 

[GalBrew]

Do you still dry hop into the fermenter when cube hopping?

Sure do.