How long should you keep your fermentor

[Mall]

Hi all,

Over the last 2-3 brews, AG, I have been getting off tastes, a sour tinge. I am usually pretty good on sanitation and use cling wrap in the ferment fridge.

Is it possible fermenters (mine a the std food grade from LHBS, 2 years and prob 10 years in age) lose their ability to stay sanitised and no amount of cleaning will allow safe ferments or am I missing something?

 

[klangers]

There could be an imbedded colony of bacteria or whatever which is causing these ongoing sour notes - once they take hold they are very difficult to be rid of. As fermenters age and more and more scratches etc build up there is more surface area for the buggers to hide on.

What is your sanitisation regime?

 

[rehabs_for_quitters]

Have you ever pulled apart and cleaned your taps as they are filth traps?

 

[Mall]

After draining to keg, rinse fermentor with warm water, add splash of dish washing liquid, clean with kitchen sponge, empty, fill with warm water and add Sodium Percarbonate, let sit 5 mins, empty, rinse, then add starsan mixture and let sit for 5 mins, empty and wait to dry sitting upside down on dry towel.

Not sure what else to do.. :huh:

 

[Mall]

Have you ever pulled apart and cleaned your taps as they are filth traps?

Umm, fermentor taps or kegerator taps?

 

[eamonnfoley]

Replace it.

 

[Weizguy]

It's possible that it's just a seasonal thing. As the weather warms, there is more chance of catching a lacto or aceto bug that's floating in the air, based on sheer weight of numbers.

So, maybe the fermentor has a clean bill of health and it's a seasonal brewing factor. That's why Germany once had laws banning brewing in the warmer months.

I caught some wild yeast in my new stainless fermentor. Should I throw it out, or more likely, pay extra attention next time? (No, you can't have it.)

 

[rehabs_for_quitters]

Umm, fermentor taps or kegerator taps?

Fermenter taps

 

[Blind Dog]

Umm, fermentor taps or kegerator taps?

Pretty sure s/he meant fermentor taps. they're the 1st place id look

 

[pnorkle]

Umm, fermentor taps or kegerator taps?

Fermenter tap. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to bash the tap "cock" out of the tap, then clean with whatever you use. Personally, I wouldn't be using dishwashing liquid on my fermenter, but each to their own I guess. NapiSan might be a better alternative.

Edit: Beaten by RfQ.

 

[Weizguy]

Fermenter tap. Use the handle of a wooden spoon to bash the tap "cock" out of the tap, then clean with whatever you use. Personally, I wouldn't be using dishwashing liquid on my fermenter, but each to their own I guess. NapiSan might be a better alternative.

Edit: Beaten by RfQ.

A good idea to use Silicone lube spray on the tap when sanitised for reassembly.
or maybe some keg seal lube.

 

[S.E]

Umm, fermentor taps or kegerator taps?

Fermenter taps, you need to pull them apart then clean and sanitise them.

The best and easiest way is pop it in a cup of boiling water for about a minute, fish out with a spoon or something and pull it apart quickly while it is still hot. You may need a pliers or something to grip the top and pull the first time or so.



Edit: yes I forgot to say a bit of lube when you reassemble.

 

[mxd]

After draining to keg, rinse fermentor with warm water, add splash of dish washing liquid, clean with kitchen sponge, empty, fill with warm water and add Sodium Percarbonate, let sit 5 mins, empty, rinse, then add starsan mixture and let sit for 5 mins, empty and wait to dry sitting upside down on dry towel.

Not sure what else to do.. :huh:

do the above again before you use

 

[Feldon]

Got my fermentor in 2009 and still using it.

Got on to my second tap last year. The original tap was cleaned after pulling apart (see above) every third or fourth brew. Only changed it because I was getting worried the repeated disassembling had loosened it to the point it might spit the shaft out when full and dump beer everywhere.

Never had anything harder than a soft cloth inside it (and a plastic spoon for stirring).

Never used dishwashing liquid to clean the fermentor. It can leave residual phosphates on the inner surface which is a food source for bacteria etc. I use the Coopers 'Sanitiser' - 380grams for, what, $7 ? Its pure sodium percabonate. Bit of a more expensive way to buy it but I don't use much. Put fermentor in the bath tub, fill with a few inches of hot water, add four capfuls of Coopers sod. percarb., swirl to dissolve, top up with cold water, screw on lid until solution seeps out the airlock hole, and leave overnight. When empting, drain half out through the tap, then unscrew the tap and let the rest run out over the threads in the outlet port.

This time of year I might occaisionally leave the clean and empty fermentor out on the deck in the bright sun for a while. Nothing kills most microorganisms better than heat and strong UV light. And it tends to reduce that old hop odour that sometimes permeates the plastic.

 

[Spiesy]

10-years is a good innings, mate.

Plastic fermenters are cheap enough to replace - and it's not worth ruining beer over.

FWIW: I prefer to soak in sodium percarbonate with very hot water for around 24-hours and then rinse with boiling water, but still my plastic fermenters would harbour aroma compounds that I couldn't seem to shake - I couldn't detect it in the finished beer, but you wonder. Part of the reason I went stainless.

 

[S.E]

clean with kitchen sponge,

Also if you mean a soft new kitchen sponge that’s ok, if you’re using the same sponge you use for the washing up its not as it probably has more bacteria on it than your toilet seat.

If the fermenter is 10 years old best get a new one. I really should replace my 7 year old one.

I use hot caustic to clean mine in about 5 minutes so no sponge or anything that can scratch the surface.

 

[Flash_DG]

How about the ferment space i.e. fridge? does it get a clean after each use?
I tip my wort in to the fermenter right at the fridge door and with the lid off something in the air could be falling in.

 

[Danwood]

Going on a slight tangent here, but past-their-best fvs are the perfect size for a 9L corny as part of a party setup.

That's all I got...

 

[rude]

What about leaving the napisan in the fermentor and the no chill cube
Sometimes up to a month or even longer for the cubes, any ill effects from doing this.
I then tip rinse with pipping hot water I lot of bloody times cant help myself then Huwa-san it before filling
Have wondered what the effects were storing fermentor cube with napisan for long periods hope its not bad ?

 

[eungaibitter1]

Do you have a couple/few fermentors? I ditched one recently after a couple of tip outs and the others were going fine given the same saniisation routine. It was a couple years old and a bit of scratching on the bottom of it. Made it an easy scapegoat for the problem.