How To Ruin A Good Beer In One Step

[bonk]

well its really simple.

make an octoberfest beer, ferment at the right temp.

transfer to 2nd'ry fermenter that is all clean and sanatised.

leave in 2nd'ry for a few days, checking to make sure all is ok.

bottle beer.

and the ruin your beer bit.

leave to much bloody head space in the bottle and let an infection take hold and get that lovely white film in 90% of the bottles. the rest have bugger all head space and appear to be fine, however knowing my luck they to will go.

i let them sit a few minutes before i capped to get the co2 out of solution etc etc all sanatised.

so, bottling tips and solutions and head space issues (sounds rude )????

how much head space is good?

are oxygen absorbing caps worth it or are most caps this type anyway.

and time to buy a keg setup and wave good by to bottles

 

[Gout]

I am most likly wrong but almost sounds like it might have snuck in there forhand, eg dirty tap, or secondry?

as i said most likly wrong but i never had any problems at bottle stage, esp not such a high percentage. If it was only one or 2 bottles i would say bottles are the problem....
have you opened one to taste it? see if its a gusher etc?

i hope its better than it looks and you can still drink the buggers, but you might need to do it fast AHB member might be able to help hehe

 

[bonk]

gout, it is possible that the tap or something else (bottling wand, tubing) is the evil bastard in all this.

i opened one last night, and no bad effects as far as i can tell, tastes like a partialy flat, hasn't aged enough beer

 

[Snow]

Don't panic yet, Bonk - it could just be a film of protein that has come out of solution for one reason or another. I had this happen to an old ale once and it tasted fine, even 4 months later.

- Snow

 

[Justin]

Bonk, the head space hasn't done it. This "may" lead to oxidation but it won't be the cause of your contamination. How much head space do you have anyway, if your using a valved bottle filler then you should only have approx 1-2" of head space.

I'm tipping it was your tap, tubing or bottle filler or the sanitizer or method you used to sanitise the bottles. Also, when you let them sit on the bench to degas do you have lids on them (not crimped down yet, just sitting on) or do they just sit there open to the (contaminated) air? I never degas my bottles, I just fill then cap, not sure what your reasons are for degasing them as IMHO this step is not needed. CO2 disolved in solution comes out while bottling very quickly due to the agitation and creates your CO2 blanket so I don't believe you need to let them sit.

Also, did you prime with DME? Or sugar? The DME can produce a white protein ring around the top of the bottles, although it sounds like this isn't your problem. When you primed did you sterilise your priming sugar by boiling it or do you just chuck it in. This is another source of contamination. When I bottle I work out how much sugar I need to bottle the full batch, boil it in a cup or two of water for 10mins to sterilise then bulk prime the beer with that. I'm scared of adding just straight sugar from the bag.

Oxygen caps IMHO are a waste of money. And for what it's worth if you stuff up sanitising a keg your whole 18L goes instead of just a few bottles and if your contamination sneaked in on the way to the keg then your stuffed anyway.

Hope it helps. Bummer anyway on the batch.

Justin