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My Initial Encounter with Infection
I did not get to run all of my HBB last season. I racked it into 3 carboys that have been sitting in my living room since March. One of them smells like cheese (infected). I did some reading and found a lot of people run it and love the results. I also read that some people thought it turned to vinegar, but there was alcohol and they were glad they didn’t chuck it.My question is- Will I know right off that it either has alcohol or doesn’t? It seems pretty basic, but I don’t know. If it doesn’t have alcohol, then there is no need to finish the run, right? And then I should chuck it?thanksAlso- I feel like I should know this after all this time, but I wasn’t sure what it was called after racking it. Is it still a mash or is now a wort? Beer?
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24 Replies
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Wert, or distiller’s beer.You can pull a clear sample and float your alcometer in it. It should float at the ABV you reached after fermentation. If it lost all the alcohol to the infection, I’d think your alcometer would indicate 0 ABV. I’m going to guess that its fine, and if you lost anything it would be just a couple percent. If it were mine, I’d just dump it in the still and run it to find out. You’ll know if there is alcohol in it once you start getting the familiar smell of foreshots.Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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I was thinking of just doin’ it. It’s only my second season with the new still and I’m still a little nervous. I was thinking it would be good for my first run. Though I have really good notes I feel like I’m gonna forget something. Or do something wrong. I guess it couldn’t be that bad though, I did okay with that little Vevor and it all worked out.So excited for my first run of the season. I’m curious about the infected one too, see what I get.Thanks Deplorable.
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I almost always get a lacto infection, and to be honest I kind of look for it to happen since I hear it makes some interesting flavors. I’ve had a couple batches that I was afraid had turned to vinegar, but I ran them anyway and was glad I did. My feeling is that even if you do have some vinegar, run it. It’ll probably make some tasty booze. Mine always has.Learn from the past, live in the present, change the future.
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Thanks Broady. I wanted to run it tonight, but somehow ended up doing some deep cleaning in my kitchen. I did get all my stuff together, it was scattered around my loft. I am hoping to run it tomorrow. Can’t wait to find out how it comes out…
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I’d run and see what happens, it may be fine and, if not, all you’ve lost is time. If you dump it now, you lose everything.Double, Double, toil and trouble. Fire Burn and pot still bubble.
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I found a 5 gallon carboy of 4-5 year old intentionally soured beer. Was going to be something like a flanders red. Airlock had dried, there were dead fruit flies in the air lock. Figured it would not be a great beer so ran it through the still. Plenty of alcohol was left in there. Low wines were a bit tart but used them in a spirit run that came out greast.
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I’m running this now…it still smelled like stinky cheese. I do have alcohol, but not much. When it first came off the spout it was at 55%. I have not quite collected 2 cups and it’s already down 30% in my collection vessel. It has an interesting flavor. Kinda like banana, but something else too. It has a nice smell and it’s sweet (both smell and taste). Not sure how far I’m going to run this, I usually stop at 30% in the vessel, but I’m already there!! I almost added some of my feints to up the alcohol, but they were a mix of UJSSM and HBB, but mostly UJSSM.
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So it’s likely not acetobacter (vinegar mother), grain is rife with a with a type of heterofermentitive lactobacillus that produces lactic acid and aceditc acid. It moves a bit faster than the acetobacter, so you will loose alcohol to aceditc acid pretty quickly.In the future only let it go about 3-5 days after primary fermentation is complete OR if you know you’re not going to have time to run it, intentionally crash your ph to just under 3 so the lactobacillus can’t keep working. You can do this with tartaric, citric, or sulfuric acid. When your ready to make your run bring the ph up to 3.5-4. (The lower the ph the more aroma it will have.)Last edited by Bolverk on Mon Oct 28, 2024 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.There are two types of people in this world.1. Those that can extrapolate from incomplete information.
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This is what I ended up with:I’ll toss 150 ml foresJar #1 is 28%Jar #2 is 17%Jar #3 is 10%
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Ooof, id add it all to a feints jug and just add it to your next whiskey spirit run… call it a lesson learnedThere are two types of people in this world.1. Those that can extrapolate from incomplete information.
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Ooof, id add it all to a feints jug and just add it to your next whiskey spirit run… call it a lesson learnedNot trying to be fresh, but what would the difference be if I just added it to my low wines for my spirit run? That was my plan.
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We’re saying the same thingThere are two types of people in this world.1. Those that can extrapolate from incomplete information.
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ah, okay. thanks, I get confused easily so when you said that, I got confused.
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if you’re reusing plastic fermenters then infections are just going to become the norm eventually. It is impossible to get them out of plastic once they get in there. No amount of sanitation can get rid of them. Even tubing used to transport mash can get infected.
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wow, in all my reading I never saw this. That’s amazing. I kinda wanted to get an infection at least once, not sure I want it every time though. I read how so many people actually like it and some even make it happen by adding a starter. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out, but I’m thinking this ONE infection in with 4 other NOT infected won’t make a difference. We shall see.I am running another HBB tonight. (NOT infected). I’m wondering if my low alcohol was due to the infection or the fact it sat around for so many months.Usually I don’t let them sit that long, a week at the most. I’ll mark this carboy and see if it causes any more infections. thanks for the info
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if the carboy is glass it’s not an issue
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The fact that it sat all summer with the infection is likely the cause of the low alcohol. Once I notice the presence of a lacto infection, I make a plan to get the beer into the still within a couple of weeks. Oddly enough, the lacto never presents itself until the finished beer is clearing.Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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if the carboy is glass it’s not an issueI use plastic carboys to rack my distillers beer into and a glass carboy for the low wines. When I get 5 gal of low wines, I do my spirit run.
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Its likely that you can clean that out with some Star-San and be fine. If the inside hasn’t been scratched, you can probably get it sanitary. FWIW, 5 gallon buckets from the local TSC or Home Improvement store are all food grade and are a lot easier to clean trub out of than a plastic carboy. If they get scratched up on the inside or otherwise become suspect, you can always use it for something else around the farm.Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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well I just got first drips and they are as high as normal, so the low alcohol is not from sitting since March, that’s good to know.
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So far I haven’t had a hard time cleaning them. I like them better because they blend in with my living room Not as obvious as a bunch of 5 gal white buckets sitting around. I also find them easier to lift with that side handle. And MANY of my TSC buckets have made it into my barn, I don’t know how that happens.
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Its pretty simple really. you, or him, put things in them to carry said things out to the barn. the bucket gets set down just inside the door, while other chores get done. The bucket never makes it back into the house because by the time you get to go back to the house at the end of the chores, you’ve forgot all about the bucket. I’ll add, that we have a standing rule here that TSC buckets are not for general purpose and you leave them alone. All other buckets are fair game for whatever use.Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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I’ll add, that we have a standing rule here that TSC buckets are not for general purpose and you leave them alone. All other buckets are fair game for whatever use.[/quote]THAT is a VERY good rule!! I have that with my orange handled sewing scissors. They are NOT to be used on paper!! Punishable by death in my house, well, maybe not death, but…
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hahaha. Kinda liker her hair scissors. “THESE ARE NOT FOR CUTTING THE TAGS OFF YOUR LEVI’S!!!” Fear and ridicule are the tactics of weak-minded cowards and tyrants who have no other leadership talent from which to draw in order to persuade.
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