One Bottle Infected?

yeast will go to sleep or even die at very low temperatures, either way its a sure way to stop carbing, so test the carbonation of a bottle then when fully carbonated put them in a very cold place just above freezing, leave them for 4 days at least or until you drink
 
Thanks for the clarification. Unfortunately, I don't have space to keep all of my homebrew cold. I have about 200 bombers total.
 
What are your thoughts on my bottling wand or bucket being permanently infected? They are 20 years old. I have the brass zero displacement wand and the cheapo plastic bucket with plastic valve. I do wash them before every use. I use soapy bleach water to clean and sanitize. Of course I then rinse everything with tap water. In 20 years, that method has never been an issue.
 
in the blog way back there years ago theirs a write up on the bottling bucket having issues inside that valve but duno on your end, on that note I always coat everything with star-sans right before use, spray bottle dunk in a bucket on small parts, swish around and shake buckets and shoot trough hoses and especially the auto siphon and bottles
 
guessing you might not realize that the extra carbonation could be coming from a too sweet beer, mash at a lower temp if doing all grain or make sure it meets the final gravity, otherwise there should not be any extra sugar in your beer except the priming sugar and there very well could be since it seems to happen recently. Id check the yeast and the beer recipe and how long you ferment an taste it before you bottle, if the wart is sweeter than normal, you'll know if you taste it every time, I taste my final gravity measurement for off flavors, too bitter or sweet and hop utilization every time I brew
 
I thought that this was a mash temp issue at first, but the last extract kit that I made before I switched to BIAB also was eventually overcarbonated at the 3 month mark. But yes, I'm considering the possibility that for whatever reason, these beers all continue to ferment.
 
Maybe another clue for those interested is that all of my latest brews have a much lower FG than anticipated. OG is close to expected. I have a pale ale in a secondary now that started at 1.051 and finished at 1.001. Many of my brews finish under 1.01, 5-10 points under expected value. Am I getting something wild I'm just not tasting?
 
pretty close to water, something definitely wrong, bleach everything replace any sponges or wiping devices, use star-sans before you use anything
 
My next prospective culprit is my new counterflow chiller. I built it in January. I do have a batch I chilled with my old immersion chiller. I have a bottle of it in the fridge now. I'll try it later tonight.
 
Ok, that bottle didn't pour too bad. I don't remember how much priming sugar I used. Probably 3/4 C. It's a Kölsch that I fermented at 60° and cold stored for 2 weeks at 40°, so it may have already had some CO2 in it before priming. It's not bad, maybe just a tad overcarbonated. It's started at a gravity of 49 and ended at 5. I know I had a low mash temp.
 
I personally always start at 60 , the esters will be gone but it should be clean tasting
 
I'm so gun shy about brewing a new batch, only to have to throw it away at three months in the bottle. I'm going to brew a batch here soon, and use my old immersion chiller instead of my counterflow chiller. Just to eliminate that as the culprit. I know those things are tricky to clean. Maybe my method is not effective. Also,the guy at my homebrew store recommended laying a known bottle with the issue on its side for a couple days, to see if I find a pellicle.
 
I have a Kölsch in a secondary, cold storing at about 38° for 3 weeks after a 2 week primary fermentation at 55 or 60°, I forget. I swear I just saw a bubble tonight work its way through the airlock. I warmed it up to 45° to see if I see any more airlock activity. This brew should be completely fermented out by now. I don't think it is! I really hope my problem is a lack of diligence in cleaning my counterflow chiller. When I get around to brewing my next batch, I will use my immersion chiller. I just don't know where this problem is coming from.
 
Tomorrow is the day I get back on the horse and brew a batch. I haven't done anything homebrew related for a month, except for drink what I have. I bottled a batch of Kölsch tonight to make room in my freezentation chamber (I just made that up! :D) to make another batch of Kölsch tomorrow. Like I said earlier, I'll use my immersion chiller. In 4 short months, I'll know if I have the problem.
 
Has anybody ever managed to get a brush through a counterflow chiller? I used 3/8" air conditioning flexible copper tube. I'd love to scrub it, but I may have to settle on a PBW circulation.
 
jeffpn said:
Tomorrow is the day I get back on the horse and brew a batch. I haven't done anything homebrew related for a month, except for drink what I have. I bottled a batch of Kölsch tonight to make room in my freezentation chamber (I just made that up! :D) to make another batch of Kölsch tomorrow. Like I said earlier, I'll use my immersion chiller. In 4 short months, I'll know if I have the problem.
Ok 4 short months (in the bottle) is up. I bottled that batch of Kölsch on November 1st. I saved 3 bottles. I opened one today. It did not fizz all over the place like some of my bottles have been known to do at the 4 month mark. The carbonation was a little strong, but it was not bad. It poured ok, and tasted fine. I hope the culprit was my counterflow chiller, improperly cleaned. I'm now using a triple coil immersion chiller. I'm hoping this problem is over!
 
Congrats! That type of crap really pisses me off. :x

What's a triple-coil chiller like? Nevermind, I googled it. Yikes!

Is it a lot more effective? How hard is it to stir the wort to cool it down, or is that the whole reason for using a triple-coil? I didn't even know those were an option when I bought my stainless steel single-coil chiller. Love it, but things could be quicker, ya know? :)
 
This chiller gets my whole 6.5 gallon batch under 140°F in less than a minute. Takes about 5 minutes to get to 68°F for me. Stirring really isn't a problem, other than my arm getting a bit tired. You have to be vigorous. This is the best chiller I've ever used.

http://jadedbrewing.com/products/the-hydra
 
jeffpn said:
This chiller gets my whole 6.5 gallon batch under 140°F in less than a minute. Takes about 5 minutes to get to 68°F for me. Stirring really isn't a problem, other than my arm getting a bit tired. You have to be vigorous. This is the best chiller I've ever used.

http://jadedbrewing.com/products/the-hydra
That thing looks awesome!
How much volume do you have to have free in the pot to immerse it without spilling wort?
 

Back
Top