New batch infected by old yeast

[gobsh]

Brewed an English Ale with Gervin yeast. All went smoothly, fermentation died down after 7 days. After ten days, the airlock started up again, and now on 20 It smells Belgian. Yep, that's the Mangrove Jacks Belgian I had in that bucket previously.

Never noticed this before, but it could have happened - all the yeasts I use are mild dry ones compared to the Belgian, such as S04 and S05, so I might not have noticed.

The problem is how do I make sure I don't get this Belgian yeast into everything I brew from now on?

I usually wipe, soak or rinse with Starsan and nothing else. Never had a bacterial infection etc. Will be a while before I can get my hands on PBW etc because I live in Asia and rely on care packages for supplies.

Boiling water in HDPE buckets, auto-siphon, etc? Bleach/vinegar solution?

 

[b-boy]

I do an extended soak with Oxy/TSP90, then a soak in Star San for several hours. If you can't get PBW, see if Oxyclean and Red Devil TSP/90 (or equivalent) are available. Do a 3:1 mix and it will eat anything organic in a few hours. It's great stuff.

Other than that, you might want to do a mild bleach soak followed by a lot, and I mean a lot, of rinsing.

 

[gobsh]

Yeah, none of that stuff is available where I am, except possibly Oxy, which I have found to be pretty useless at doing the job it claims to do (when used on its own at least)

PITA.

b-boy, ever used bleach in a similar situation, like killing off brett in your fermenter etc? Anyone else?

Used to use bleach/vinegar before I could get Starsan and had no major problems, barring stained clothes hehe. Maybe I will give my stuff a once-over at 1.5-2x Palmer's recommended dosage...?

 

[FiddlersGreen87]

Soaking in StarSan will only sanitize the surface of everything. If you have a mound of caked on residue for example, the surface will be sanitized, but that's just the outside layer, the inside will still be viable bacteria of any type. That's the reason for cleaners such as PBW, Oxyclean, etc. They actually break down the "gunk" and remove it, then you sanitize the surface.

You don't necessarily need to be able to see the "gunk" to sanitize the surface and have something dormant hanging out underneath as you've demonstrated with your residual Belgian.

 

[gobsh]

Do you think that with a warm, strong bleach solution and a lot of scrubbing (all easily accessible surfaces), I can remove the need for PBW or similar?

I still crave PBW because it would extend the life of my hoses, valves and other fiddly bits, but for buckets is it really necessary?

Thanks for the replies guys

 

[FiddlersGreen87]

Bleach will work too, but as previously mentioned you have to rinse excessively, and when you think it's rinsed out, rinse some more. Bleach will also corrode stainless steel if soaked for too long (soak >20 min).

I would be careful with the "extra" scrubbing. Especially if you're using buckets, you don't want to create micro scratches on the side of the buckets. Mold or other bacteria can grow in here and it'll pretty much never be able to remove it. I'd use a sponge or cloth and no scrubbing pad or any sort of thing like that.

Oxyclean will suit your needs, you can effectively let it soak in hot water overnight, then scrub them down, and then rinse.

 

[gobsh]

Yeah I never use anything rougher than a cloth.

OK I will try that and report whenever I use that bucket next.

 

[dobes]

+1 for the oxy or PBW soak. Some of my dirtiest fermenters still only needed an overnight soak. I rarely use anything to scrub my equipment with. And if I do I use a sponge or soft rag.
As far as getting rid of a yeast strain I would think either one would do the job. But if not if you could find out what the max temp for your bucket is maybe try using hot water and PBW to clean/kill the yeast off. The PBW says it can be used up to 160F which I would think would kill off any yeast left behind.
If all else fails maybe get a new bucket and use that one for grain storage or something else.

 

[1van]

I had this happen also, made a traditional Kolsch that ended up with belgian characteristics from the triple I had in the fementer the previous batch. that was after oxyclean treatment. now I do all of the buckets with oxy and hot water overnight. so far so good.

 

[Calder]

Do you think that with a warm, strong bleach solution and a lot of scrubbing (all easily accessible surfaces), I can remove the need for PBW or similar?

I still crave PBW because it would extend the life of my hoses, valves and other fiddly bits, but for buckets is it really necessary?

Thanks for the replies guys

Bleach is simple and easy to use. I keep my fermenters filled with it when not in use.

First off, you want cold water, not hot. The bleach evaporates in hot water. No need to use too much bleach; more is not necessarily better. About 1 to 2 tablespoons per gallon. I don't measure anymore, just guess. Fill, cover and leave for a few days, no scrubbing required. It will clean and sanitize.

As noted, you need to rinse well, but it is not that bad. Rinse with hot water, hot tap water is ok. Cold water will leave a bleach film. Rinse 3 times, each time you only need to use enough water to swirl around and contact all surfaces; maybe a couple of pints in a large bucket. Takes a couple if minutes. If you trust your water, it is ready to use.