White residue in Fermenting vessel

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White residue in Fermenting vessel

Postby Roof » Monday Mar 05, 2007 3:23 pm

Hi All,

Usually i don't have any problems but recently after i bottled my brew i have this white stuff sitting on the inside of my vessel, First is was only in one vessel but it has happened in 2 now. One of the brew's was a bit dodgy but didn't taste too bad.... All the other ones that i did was nothing wrong with yet.

Still i don't really like that white stuff in there....anybody any idea ??

I've been brewing beer for about 7 years now...Always the same nothing different......

Please help...

Ta

Roof
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Postby rwh » Monday Mar 05, 2007 3:39 pm

Er, which vessel? The fermenter? Is it floating on top? Down the bottom? What does it taste like? Vinegary?
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Postby Chris » Monday Mar 05, 2007 5:29 pm

Also, what do you wash said vessel with?
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Postby Roof » Wednesday Mar 07, 2007 7:26 pm

Hi guys,

It sits on the wall of the vessel/fermenter and no it doesn't taste off or anything. But i don't like the look of it. one brew is a bit dodgy and a few bottles went down the drain but that's about it and when i think about it it smelled like , I can't really discribe the smell, Not good....But some of the bottles taste o.k.

What do i do i clean it with hot water and use methabisulphate(right spelling ?) to sterilize my vessels. The are just your normal plastic drums that you buy at the brew shop.

Is it possible that direct daylight could be the cause ???

cheers
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Postby rwh » Thursday Mar 08, 2007 9:37 am

OK, so you have white residue on the walls after you drain the beer out (you're not being very clear with your description)? If that's the case, does it sit on top of the beer when it's in there? Because that would be an acetobacter infection. Not fatal in some cases if you can drain the beer from below without getting any of the surface floaties in the bottles. But if it proceeds too far it can destroy the body of your beer leaving it thin and bitter.

I get these from time to time and they're pretty hard to get rid of. I'd go for soaking with bleach, followed by a couple of batches of boiling water.
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Postby Chris » Thursday Mar 08, 2007 10:58 am

A guess might be that you have metabisulphate (absolutely terrible for use in brewing) residue on the sides of your fermenter. Try giving it a good rinse after 'saniation.'
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Postby Boonie » Thursday Mar 08, 2007 11:30 am

I have had this before.

Roof wrote "The are just your normal plastic drums that you buy at the brew shop"....yep, we call them Vessels, Fermenters, Drums and many other things.....

Your beer will be OK over time, as long as the beer you racked/bottled, you tried not to get the white scum in the racking vessel.

When I do get this one, which is not too often, I pour boiling hot tap water in with Napisan in the infected fermenter and let it sit for an hour.
Open the tap and let some of the hot water flow through too. If you use "Boiling" water you may melt your plastic fermenter.

I then give it a good rub with a sponge inside, open tap again and let it go through some more, and give the tap and threads, keg thread too, a good going over.

Rinse and store.....or even better, sterilise, rinse and brew another batch. :D

Hope this helps,

Cheers

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Postby Roof » Friday Mar 09, 2007 3:06 pm

Thanks guys , i'll have a go at everything.

And sorry for not being clear,

I've been thinking how to discribe it but hmmm.

I could say a white poudery sort of substance on the inside on the vessel so when i've bottled the batch i have this white substance hanging on the walls......is does not float on the beer it just sticks to the walls.

and not having clean vessels, possibility i've been brewing a few years now and i have never had any troubles...


Is there something better then methabisulphate, Mate of mine uses bleach

What do you guys use, Napisan i've heard, Any other idea's.

Maybe i should read back before i post this......

"I'm confused, Maybe i'm not"
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Postby rwh » Friday Mar 09, 2007 3:14 pm

For cleaning: Neo Pink, Napisan or alkaline salts.
For sanitising: Idophor, bleach, boiling water.

I'm sure there are other options too :)
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Postby Roof » Saturday Mar 10, 2007 7:46 am

Thanks rwh.

I asume that non of this stoff is toxic ??

I will try to clean these vessels. I've been thinking about it for a lot and i guess i have to do something....kinda running low.

I have a lot of bottles that are just sitting there and they are all empty, Shame.

The other thing that in wanted to know is, Racking the beer. Until recent i had never heard of this. Is that really important ?

And when would you do this? After first fermentation i guess. And then how long do i let this sit for...anything else i should do.

I'm kinda a lazy brewer.... I just like drinking beer...And have been doing this for a long long time.......

Anyway thanks for all the advise.....

"Did you guys know that napisan is made in Melbourne these days"
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Postby Roof » Saturday Mar 10, 2007 7:49 am

Rack: To transfer from one (usually the primary) fermenter into another (usually the secondary) fermenter before fermentation has completed.

Sorry Dumb question...Just looked it up.


"I'm Dutch not Dumb"
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Postby rwh » Tuesday Mar 13, 2007 11:57 am

Yeah, that's stuff's pretty benign. The Idophor is even a no-rinse sanitiser, meaning that if you make it up to the right concentration you don't even need to rinse the vessel out after using it.

As for racking, there's heaps of info in it on here, and the jury's still out on whether it's even beneficial. I tend to do it because you end up with less sediment in the bottle, and the conditioning process seems a little quicker in the fermenter than in the bottle. But lots of others beg to differ. ;)
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