Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Next time you brew, as soon as you put the lid on for the first time, don't take it off again until you are bottling/kegging
Up your sanitising regime, wash using unscented napisan from Aldi (the cheapest one), it's main ingredient is sodium perchloride which is what most good brew cleaners use as their main ingredient
Sanitise WELL, get yourself some Starsan or Keg King's version (phosphoric acid blend sanitiser), they're magic
Don't fear the foam on no rinse sanitisers like the above 2, let it cover everything and don't rinse it off, just drip dry and possibly give it a wave around to get the excess off (it's odourless and tasteless, won't harm your brew)
Try using gladwrap as your lid, it's sterile from factory (the covered side) hold it down using the o-ring from the lid
Pull your tap apart every few brews as they can get full of crud and induce more sources of infection, you can stick the end of a wooden spoon up the inside and push down to pop the front twisty bit out and give it a good clean (or just buy a new one from bunnings for like $4)
Chuck some sanitiser into a spray bottle and cover everything in it, I usually spray it around the threads of the fermenter before I put the gladwrap on just to give a little barrier of safety
That looks sorta dusty like Brett infections get, you can bottle it, just leave a couple of litres behind so you don't get the white junk into a bottle
However if you do bottle, you risk the infection coming across and fermenting the beer out further than it usually would have, and a high likelihood of bottle bombs
Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation is my best tip. you really do have to be a lot more vigilant than with spirit washes since the yeast won't take off as fast and the lower alcohol levels won't help keep down the fungus-oids either

Dezza wrote:

Sinerjee wrote:That looks like an infection to me...
How well did you sanitise everything?
Also have you tasted the actual beer? Just pull a little bit out through the tap and sample it. If it tastes alright just bottle without getting any of the gunk into the bottles.

Missed your post.
I was thinking of that as well.
Sanitise pretty well I thought but a couple of time I check it with the hydrometer and only washed with hot water before
Testing.
Do I have to sterilise this before each test?

Go and do a quick taste now.
If you never hear from me again you will know not to suggest that again. Lol

Don't put your hydrometer into the beer, take a sample from the tap into a testing tube
These work perfectly
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100ml-Glass- ... 817&_uhb=1
Your LHBS may have them a bit cheaper

sp0rk wrote:

Dezza wrote:

Sinerjee wrote:That looks like an infection to me...
How well did you sanitise everything?
Also have you tasted the actual beer? Just pull a little bit out through the tap and sample it. If it tastes alright just bottle without getting any of the gunk into the bottles.

Missed your post.
I was thinking of that as well.
Sanitise pretty well I thought but a couple of time I check it with the hydrometer and only washed with hot water before
Testing.
Do I have to sterilise this before each test?

Go and do a quick taste now.
If you never hear from me again you will know not to suggest that again. Lol

Don't put your hydrometer into the beer, take a sample from the tap into a testing tube
These work perfectly
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100ml-Glass- ... 817&_uhb=1
Your LHBS may have them a bit cheaper

That is so simple, why didn't I think of that.

sp0rk wrote:Next time you brew, as soon as you put the lid on for the first time, don't take it off again until you are bottling/kegging
Up your sanitising regime, wash using unscented napisan from Aldi (the cheapest one), it's main ingredient is sodium perchloride which is what most good brew cleaners use as their main ingredient
Sanitise WELL, get yourself some Starsan or Keg King's version (phosphoric acid blend sanitiser), they're magic
Don't fear the foam on no rinse sanitisers like the above 2, let it cover everything and don't rinse it off, just drip dry and possibly give it a wave around to get the excess off (it's odourless and tasteless, won't harm your brew)
Try using gladwrap as your lid, it's sterile from factory (the covered side) hold it down using the o-ring from the lid
Pull your tap apart every few brews as they can get full of crud and induce more sources of infection, you can stick the end of a wooden spoon up the inside and push down to pop the front twisty bit out and give it a good clean (or just buy a new one from bunnings for like $4)
Chuck some sanitiser into a spray bottle and cover everything in it, I usually spray it around the threads of the fermenter before I put the gladwrap on just to give a little barrier of safety
That looks sorta dusty like Brett infections get, you can bottle it, just leave a couple of litres behind so you don't get the white junk into a bottle
However if you do bottle, you risk the infection coming across and fermenting the beer out further than it usually would have, and a high likelihood of bottle bombs
Sanitation, sanitation, sanitation is my best tip. you really do have to be a lot more vigilant than with spirit washes since the yeast won't take off as fast and the lower alcohol levels won't help keep down the fungus-oids either

Lesson learnt!
I will bottle as I have nothing to loose.
Will let you all now how it comes out in a few weeks.
Dishearten brewer, but won't give up!

It also lets you have a sneaky taste of the beer to see how it's getting along :D

Dezza wrote:Lesson learnt!
I will bottle as I have nothing to loose.
Will let you all now how it comes out in a few weeks.
Dishearten brewer, but won't give up!

Just be super careful with them, put the bottles in something sturdy and if I were you I'd wear leather gloves and goggles when picking them up/opening
I've seen photos of blokes who've picked up a bottle and had it go kaboom in their hand, sending a big chunk of glass right through their hand

If all that sanitizing isn't enough to turn you to distilling nothing will :teasing-tease:
Sounds like a pain in the arse to me.
:scared-eek: and exploding bottles.......i think Ill stick to a nice safe hobby.

Yet another reason I went to kegs after my second brew
It's nice having a chest freezer that fits 7 kegs :D

Dezza wrote:

sp0rk wrote:

Dezza wrote:

Sinerjee wrote:That looks like an infection to me...
How well did you sanitise everything?
Also have you tasted the actual beer? Just pull a little bit out through the tap and sample it. If it tastes alright just bottle without getting any of the gunk into the bottles.

Missed your post.
I was thinking of that as well.
Sanitise pretty well I thought but a couple of time I check it with the hydrometer and only washed with hot water before
Testing.
Do I have to sterilise this before each test?

Go and do a quick taste now.
If you never hear from me again you will know not to suggest that again. Lol

Don't put your hydrometer into the beer, take a sample from the tap into a testing tube
These work perfectly
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100ml-Glass- ... 817&_uhb=1
Your LHBS may have them a bit cheaper

That is so simple, why didn't I think of that.

Definitely don't lift the lid once everything has started. Any time you need a sample take it from the tap or you risk wild yeasts and bacteria getting in. Try not to sample too much though or you start to lose end product haha.

SBB wrote:If all that sanitizing isn't enough to turn you to distilling nothing will :teasing-tease:
Sounds like a pain in the arse to me.
:scared-eek: and exploding bottles.......i think Ill stick to a nice safe hobby.

I have just built a reflux still and just learning.
But still love my beer!

Sinerjee wrote:

Dezza wrote:

sp0rk wrote:

Dezza wrote:

Sinerjee wrote:That looks like an infection to me...
How well did you sanitise everything?
Also have you tasted the actual beer? Just pull a little bit out through the tap and sample it. If it tastes alright just bottle without getting any of the gunk into the bottles.

Missed your post.
I was thinking of that as well.
Sanitise pretty well I thought but a couple of time I check it with the hydrometer and only washed with hot water before
Testing.
Do I have to sterilise this before each test?

Go and do a quick taste now.
If you never hear from me again you will know not to suggest that again. Lol

Don't put your hydrometer into the beer, take a sample from the tap into a testing tube
These work perfectly
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100ml-Glass- ... 817&_uhb=1
Your LHBS may have them a bit cheaper

That is so simple, why didn't I think of that.

Definitely don't lift the lid once everything has started. Any time you need a sample take it from the tap or you risk wild yeasts and bacteria getting in. Try not to sample too much though or you start to lose end product haha.

Will take take on board, never again.
Thanks

Ok have bottled as much as I can without getting to close to the shitty part.
Manage to get 25 stubbies and 10 long necks.
Tasted as I when as well and confident I didn't get any of the bad stuff.
Not bad considering I was looking at throwing the whole lot out.
Glad I decided to bottle tonight and not wait to the weekend if that formed in just two days.
I think it started from the hops bag and maybe should of removed towards the end.
Better still don't open until ready to bottled as suggested.

Really appreciate everyone's advice and would of had 0 if not talking to you all.
Big thumbs up to the site as well.

As mention will let you know how things turn out in a couple of weeks.

Chuck the hops bag in a schooner full of boiling water next time, that'll kill anything on the surface and extract some of the tasty tasty oils that you want

For what its worth, I havent done many beers, (4 or5), the only one that got an infection was a Beez Neez too....go figure :-B