Reoccurring gusher bug?

[David R]

In the three years I've been brewing in our new house I've had several (5-6 of 16) beers infected with gusher bugs. I've switched from plastic to glass fermenters, started using starsan instead of that BS "no-rinse" stuff most rookies get conned into using as it comes with the kit, and even gone back to using carbonation drops to reduce the chance of infecting it while batch priming. Even so, my latest brew (Stone Levetation amber ale remix) is already tasting "gusher-y" (despite being dry-hopped twice with 6g/L Amarillo/Cascade mix, and the first bottle tasting bloody good, it has almost no maltyness and no hop flavour/aroma, just that thin, bitter, fizzy taste) and has way more fizz than it should. It's only had 15 days in the bottle, and already I have to be super-careful when opening and pouring to avoid it foaming everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if in another week or three they'll be erupting as soon as the cap comes off.

I think I'm pretty careful with sanitation during the brewing/fermenting stage going by what I've seen others do when I've brewed with them, and in this recent case I even ran the bottles through a commercial steriliser at a friends cafe and sanitised with starsan before bottling. I soak the carboys in napisan between brews, then rinse and sanitise with starsan. Having just bought a grainfather and kegging gear to step up production, I really want to get to the root of this problem as it is starting to piss me off having lost so many good brews!

Firstly, what are the chances that it could be caused by some sort of airborne yeast/bacteria? I never had a problem in our old house, but our new place is set into the bush and I do all the brewing/bottling downstairs in the garage and spare room, which can be quite damp and musty at times, if not kept well ventilated and/or heatpump running. I'm pretty liberal with my applications of starsan, most things are soaked in it as well as being misted with a solution from a spray bottle if they've come into contact with anything or been out of the soaking bucket too long. Which leads me to the second question;

Once something like this has come into contact with plastic brew gear (siphons, spoons, wine thief, racking cane etc) how hard is it to completely remove it? Any suggestions for what to use for a real thorough soak/clean?

Losing this latest brew is a real kick in the guts, especially as it comes just after spending a fair bit of cash on gear for a hobby that I otherwise thoroughly enjoy!

[Peter Smith]

Once it settles down do they have any infection type tastes ?  I have had gushers from 5th gen us05, didnt finish low, bottled anyway and definite infections from an autosyphon, now use stainless racking cane and replace tube every 2-3 weeks....    I hot soak carboys in oxy... then wash, after initial water clean its amazing what sticks to the sides.   what yeast are you using and where is it finishing before bottling?

 

[Hamish Jones]

You haven't just got a cat have you or were the previous owners cat people, my ex wife had cats and they sneakily pissed in the garage and I got five or six infections in a row, threw out gear that didn't fix it and could only put it down to the cats,

I sanitised and scrubbed the hell out of the garage and never opened a fermenter in the garage ever again and haven't had a single issue since,

[David R]

Previous owner had a cat, we don't but we do have two dogs. Don't think either of them have pissed in the spare room or garage though.

[David R]

It has no normal "beer" taste, just thin, bitter, and booze.
Forgot to say I wasn't reusing the yeast from any of the beers, pitched new stuff every time.
"oxy" is some sort of cleaner like napisan? How hot is the hot water you use? I considered it but was a bit worried about what it may do to the glass.

[Peter Smith]

yeah napisan I use water from chillor when its really hot,   haven't cracked one yet but dont do this in deepist winter.....      I normally mix napisan in hot tap water then add 1L of this to carboy and then use wort chillor output , leave this overnight then scrub scrub while hot as well,   so i am basically washing for the next brewday.

If it doesn't look perfectly clean once dry it goes through cycle again......

my infection gushers def different from just massive overcarb once it settles down its drinkable

[Peter Smith]

how does it taste as it leaves the fermenter?  whats your bottling process? pets or glass?

could it be a bottling bucket...   I went to stainless racking cane with tube abandoned bucket unless bulk priming   for me All my infections have always been post ferment

[Hamish Jones]

Is there a thin white skin on top of your wort at the end of fermentation or can you see a skin on top in the bottles at all?

Is it AG your doing as one thing I would be having a quick look at would be mash temp and whether your thermometer is correct, as if your mashing way low you'll likely get a thin bitter beer with no malt backbone,

It almost sounds like it hasn't finished fermenting when you've bottled it, what was the FG prior to bottling and just to be safe let a bottle go flat and test that gravity to make sure it had finished prior to bottling 

[Peter Smith]

maybe see if a friendly local with kegging system can keg a batch and see how that goes....

[Barry]

Are you positive the beer is at terminal gravity when you bottle? Most common cause of gushers isn't a bug, it's under attenuation.

[Crusader-Rob]

Confirm your reaching a good gravity reading. i had a couple of these, and it turned out to be poor yeast health (at least thats what I put it down to.)
Is it one particular strain of yeast causing issues? Are you re-hydrating at pitching etc.?

the other thing is, your not rinsing after sterilising are you? I made that mistake once, and surprise surprise gushers and infection. key here is don't fear the foam.

check all plastic gear for scratches and nicks, which can harbour bacteria, shake and dont use anything too rigid to clean fermenters. I use pure percarbonate and it works a treat.

[Peter Smith]

I moved from us05 to 1272 for this reason....  it restarts at racking or bottling and you get gushers, as another benefit 1272 seems to carb up in only a few days, so at day 14 you can fridge the beers.

[Barry]

If your beer is under-attenuated at bottling, there is still plenty of malt sugars left for yeast to consume. The injection of simple sugar (priming) kickstarts the yeast and it proceeds to chew all the remaining malt dextrins. Which in the captive environment of a bottle creates more CO2 than you bargained for.

Be very interested to see whether your gushers are over-carbonation or actually infected. The tastes you mention – "thin, bitter, booze" could easily describe way over-carbonated beer – carbonic acid will do that to a beer.

Infected beer will taste funky and off, noticeably different.