It Happened Again

[Lindsay Dive]

I'll say it again as I've said it before, clean your fermenters with caustic soda.

 

[Borret]

I'm the opposite. As soon as I've kegged and harvested any yeast, the fermenter gets a good clean out with just warm water and an enjo cloth.

Dare I say I use the 'enjo' kitchen cloth and hot water as well. Have found nothing to work better on a cheesy krausen ring without scratching. I do add some PSR to the equation after all the scum is off so I'm happy it's clean for storage.

Brent.

 

[pint of lager]

Agraham, all the suggetsions posted so far are great. I suspect, considering that you usually don't have problems with off chlorine flavours, except for the Kolsch, that it is just lager fermentation aromas that will vanish with proper lagering.

The suggestion for tasting a doctored sample is a great way to acustom yourself to the chlorine flavour.

Am in the middle of my lager season here and did 5 sg samples on Saturday, some of them were manky, nothing like what the end result will be. Fruity, sulphury and yeasty were descriptors that I used.

The other very common source of bandaid yuk is infection, but this usually only shows after a few weeks in the bottle and gets worse.

Oversparging usually shows as an astringency, rather than bandaid.

Homebrand Napisan (rinsed well with hot water) and iodine for sanitiser are my main cleaner and sanitiser with bleach, PSR, hydrogen peroxide, phosphoric acid and ethanol (70%) are other cleaners and sanitisers in the cupboard with the pressure cooker used for yeast farming.

 

[Ross]

The other very common source of bandaid yuk is infection, but this usually only shows after a few weeks in the bottle and gets worse.

POL,

I've had this infection problem a few times (always when the wind is blowing off the scrub behind our property). I now don't brew when there's a NE wind or I may consider using the no chill method to avoid contamination. - This manifests itself in the brew within a few days of fermentation starting. No mistaking it at all.

Cheers Ross

 

[colinw]

Early in my brewing days, I used to have trouble with low level pellicle forming infections in bottles in summer.

Ever since we cut our Custard Apple tree down and no longer have rotting fruit in the back yard, it has ceased being a problem.

Of course my sanitisation procedures are very much improved since then as well.

 

[JSB]

Yep Ross, Its a funny one.....very stinky & tastes medicinal...but I found the stink gets worse and the taste subsides.....it finds the back lawn very fast....I have pulled everything to bits and cleaned thoroughly.......I suspect the CFWC.....NO Chill Yeah Yeah!!

Cheers
JSB

 

[PistolPatch]

I've never used the wife's socks PP, her knickers well that's another matter especially the lacey ones (great filters, Ooopps thats another thread). LOL

I can't believe you dobbed yourself in Aussie - lol! Especially after I went to great lengths to preserve your anonymity whilst forumming rather heavily under the influence!

After I met your gorgeous wife I quickly changed my opinion to the bleach being the culprit. Definitely couldn't be her socks!


PP

P.S. I was sure it was your wife's sock you used to dry hop. If it was yours you used, then I'd say don't blame the bleach!

 

[agraham]

Gentlemen,

Latest update is:

I went and purcahsed some napisan and iodophor.

I am fairly sure the issue is either with my yeast harvesting sanitation or with the cleanliness of my fermentor.

I am doing a kit brew with malt extract to see if the issue is with my existing all grain setup.

I am firing up a starter from the same batch that i used from the 'infected' brew just to be sure.

Thanks for all the help guys,

Regards,

Andrew

 

[agraham]

I have a question, can I use IODOPHOR on my boilers tap?

I think this is where the infection may be coming from, as I never got this type of infection when i was using the two cheapo bigw pot system.

Thanks!
Andrew

 

[tangent]

I use napisan to clean my fermenters and cubes and I can't recommend it enough.

same here!

we got this big plastic drum from paramounts once. we were going to ferment some wine in it but it had been used for pickled onions at one stage. bleach, detergents, you name it, nothing got that smell out.

i think if it's a strong enough thing like bleach or pickled onions, it never really dissipates from fermenter plastic (polyethelyne?) so i'd never use bleach on plastic

when i did the bar course at Regency we had to cut the lemons and stuff for the garnishes on these plastic chopping boards that are stored in a bleach solution overnight.
every drink with a garnish smelled like bleach. no matter how many times we rinsed the boards.

 

[Hopsta]

I'll say it again as I've said it before, clean your fermenters with caustic soda.

Just a quick question to anyone who knows..... How long should i soak my fermenters in caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) to be sure that it has killed all the bacteria?

- Hopsta

 

[mikem108]

I usually leave it for at least 24 hrs which seems to scrub all the remaining yeast from the pores of the plastic, followed by a very good rinse and a shot of orthophosphoric acid, smells like new again!

 

[Hopsta]

Too easy thanks Mike! Im so paranoid of infections after that bad run i had a while back.