My First Gusher

[GilesTH]

So I got my first gusher batch after 16 clean brews. I'm pretty sure it's an infection because it still bubbled ever minute or so after two weeks in a temp-controlled fridge, and the target FG was 1.023, but when I bottled, it actually came down to 1.012. I bottled with enough sugar to get it to about 2.4 volumes, but if the bottles aren't chilled to 44 degrees (so refrigerated), I lose about half the bottle to foam the instant I crack it open. Would probably lose the entire bottle if I didn't try to pour it into a glass right away. Has GREAT head retention in the glass and stops foaming once I pour it. But, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's an infected batch.

My big question is this: should I replace EVERYTHING it's touched post-boil (besides my glass carboy), or just go one item at a time? The hoses and bottling wand are cheap, so I'm definitely going to replace those. And my auto-syphon because it's over a year old, and I've used it for over 13 batches. But do I need to replace my stopper and funnel, too? Should I worry about those?

And since I'm pretty sure it was an infection, should I worry about my bottling bucket, too?

[Bad Goat Brewing]

If i can use heat, then I don't replace it. When I brew sour beers I toss my my stoppers in pot of 200+ water and let sit until cold. Air locks I keep separate, they crack when heated.

[edit - admin deleted Bad Goat's multiple duplicate posts]

[brewinhard]

Okay, Bad Goat...I think you got enough replies in there...

If your plastic equipment is over a year old then I would most definitely replace siphon hoses, tubing, auto-siphon, wine theif, and definitely your plastic bottling buckets or plastic fermenters. Simply b/c it could be any one of those items introducing the infection. A batch of beer and the time it takes to brew one is not worth risking the loss of it for the low price of new plastic equipment, which you probably need anyway. It is a good assurance and peace of mind for your next brew.

Are you using star-san properly mixed to sanitize your equipment?

[GilesTH]

I use IO Star, and I haven't had trouble with it. I'm OCD about sanitation, and I go out of my way to get measurements on the IO Star EXACT. To the point where I've figured out how many 1/4 tspn. to add on a batch smaller than 5 gallons.

My guess is that I got the bug either from the siphon or the hoses. But I'm planning to get a new bottling wand and bucket as well as the siphon and hoses. Would it be a mistake to try boiling the stopper and my funnel, though? Should I just replace them? The stopper is silicon and the funnel is heavy-duty plastic, like a canning funnel.

[brewinhard]

If it were me, I would just spend the few extra bucks and start fresh with new equipment. Then you know you can rule that out as a source of infection.

[GilesTH]

If it were me, I would just spend the few extra bucks and start fresh with new equipment. Then you know you can rule that out as a source of infection.

That's kinda what I was thinking. Everything except my glass (which doesn't have any scratches, and sits with PBW in it between brews), and I won't bother replacing pre-boil stuff, either. But, yeah, if the beer touches it post-boil, it's time to replace it, I think.

Thanks!

[BDawg]

Did you taste it? Was it acidic or was it phenolic?
If its phenolic with no acidity, chances are its a wild yeast, which can come in really late - like at bottling time.
If its got acidity, then chances are it came in through transfer.

My point isn't to talk you out of changing your equipment but rather to get you to zero in on the type of infection so you know what you are battling.

Good luck-

[GilesTH]

Did you taste it? Was it acidic or was it phenolic?
If its phenolic with no acidity, chances are its a wild yeast, which can come in really late - like at bottling time.
If its got acidity, then chances are it came in through transfer.

My point isn't to talk you out of changing your equipment but rather to get you to zero in on the type of infection so you know what you are battling.

Good luck-

It's not acidic, but it does taste funny. I've heard phenolic described as plasticky, and it's kinda plasticky, so I'm going to say more phenolic than anything else. And thanks! I was trying to narrow down why it tasted "off" last night.

Now, when you say acidity comes in through transfer, are you talking about the period between kettle and fermentor? I don't secondary, and it's not acetic, so I don't know if it would've come in through there. It WAY over attenuated, too, and I had the fermentor closed throughout fermentation, which is why I think something got in there early on. (I mashed at 152 for an hour, had a target FG of 1.023, and it went eleven points lower than that, any chance it wasn't done fermenting and I just bottled too early? Though I used WLP 002, which isn't as highly alcohol tolerant as some of the other English yeasts.)