Gotta replace all my LBKs

[FedoraDave]

I tried a couple of test bottles of the Groomsman's Pride Black IPA I'm developing. Only 2.5 weeks in the bottle, but I figured it would be enough time to get a sense of where the beer was going.

Well, guess what?

Gushers. With the same big floaty chunks that the other gushers had. Maybe all my LBKs are worthless now.

I'm not going to take any chances, in any case. I've got one more batch fermenting in an LBK right now, and regardless of how it turns out, I just don't trust the LBKs to NOT be infected anymore. Next trip to the LHBS, I'm getting another Better Bottle 3-gallon carboy, and that will be that.

I'm tired of this crap.

[Gymrat]

I think you would be better off with Brew Demon conicals or just go buy some food grade buckets. I always hated those LBKs for all the hidden areas and how dark they are. I always thought they were very difficult to clean for that reason. Too many places for little infections to hide where you may never see them.

[Foothiller]

Oh, no! I hope preparation for the upcoming wedding still comes together.

[MadBrewer]

What do you use for cleaner and sanitizer Dave...I'm just curious.

How many LBK's do you have? I agree, I know the LBK are cheaper and easy to use, but I would upgrade to either better bottles, buckets or the BD conical.

[mtsoxfan]

That sucks for sure Dave. How many batches did you lose? I know you have space isssues... I'm sure you'll end up with what works for you...

[Chuck N]

I had been fighting this very same problem all summer and into the fall. I replaced all my LBKs with plastic buckets and still was getting infections. Then I noticed that not all my beers were infected (over carbonated). Some were fine, some would work their way up out of the bottle if I let it sit a few moments and some would do a mini style gusher thing.

Then one day after pouring myself a beer that didn't want to stay in the bottle I noticed, even after thoroughly rinsing out the bottle there was a film inside the bottle. I couldn't see it unless I held the bottle up and let the sun-light shine through it. So I got a bottle brush and now all of my bottles get rinsed and brushed as soon as they're emptied. Some times that brush comes out a little darker shade of brown than it went in as.

Long-story-short: It could be your bottles.

[FedoraDave]

Madbrewer, I clean with OxyClean Free. Always have. I sanitize with Star-San.

Chuck, it could be the bottles, but consider this; I've never made a five-gallon batch that was a gusher. Only batches in the LBK. And the gushing is consistent throughout the batch, not from bottle to bottle. I'm pretty sure it's the fermenter.

These LBKs are all about four years old anyway. They've given me many good beers over the years, so I don't feel too bad about replacing them. I'm almost tempted to go with glass carboys, because the smaller size wouldn't weigh as much as a glass fiver. But I'm still leery about my basement's slab floor. One false move, and it's all over.

[Banjo-guy]

That sucks Dave.
I posted in a different thread asking how people like the Better Bottles and Speidel fermenters. I'm about to get rid of my LBKs for the same reason. I washed and scrubbed all of my bottles for the next few batches . I'm hoping that was the cause of my gushers.

There's nothing worse than spending all that time and discovering that there's a problem with the batch.

Do you like the Better Bottles?

[Brewbirds]

Sorry to hear you've got another gusher batch Dave. But I'm now wondering how/where the cross contamination from one LBK to another happened.
If I remember correctly you batch prime so could your bottling bucket, wand and auto siphon may be problematic or suspect as well?
Could the spigots have gotten switched between LBKs?
Another thing I'm wondering about is anything, place or methodology that differs between the fiver and LBK size batches.

Wishing you all the best in finding the culprit; that dirty, stinking, beer stealing little rat.

[jimjohson]

I had been fighting this very same problem all summer and into the fall. I replaced all my LBKs with plastic buckets and still was getting infections. Then I noticed that not all my beers were infected (over carbonated). Some were fine, some would work their way up out of the bottle if I let it sit a few moments and some would do a mini style gusher thing.

Then one day after pouring myself a beer that didn't want to stay in the bottle I noticed, even after thoroughly rinsing out the bottle there was a film inside the bottle. I couldn't see it unless I held the bottle up and let the sun-light shine through it. So I got a bottle brush and now all of my bottles get rinsed and brushed as soon as they're emptied. Some times that brush comes out a little darker shade of brown than it went in as.

Long-story-short: It could be your bottles.

I noticed the same thing after the 1 gusher batch I had. been cleaning with a bottle brush and a clear unscented anti bacterial soap every since, but I still just rinse several times and leave with about 1/4 bottle of water in 'em until I can get to it (usually the next AM). I see Dave says it only happens to the LBKs so that ain't it, but something for everybody else to think about if they start getting gushers.

[Gymrat]

I used a bottle brush for a long time but then got lazy again. I don't think I have ever had an issue due to a film in my bottles. But I sanitize them by baking them in the oven at 250 for an hour. If there is anything left in them it is a sure thing that it is dead.

[FedoraDave]

Banjo, I like the Better Bottles. I've got a fiver kit with the BB, both a primary and secondary carboy. When I ditched the one LBK that I was sure was causing the gushers, I replaced it with a 3 gallon BB. It's pretty new, but there's nothing not to like about it, as far as I can see. I would prefer glass, yeah, because of the reduced risk of scratching the interior, but there's a huge risk of one slip ruining everything, so I go with the Better Bottles. Believe me, I've dropped the empty fiver more than once, so that's a lot of beer that's already been saved.

Birdy, my process doesn't change from batch to batch. Everything I do with the 2.5 gallon batches, I do with the fivers, and as I've pointed out, I've never had a gusher in a five-gallon batch. I use the same bottling bucket, auto siphon, bottling wand, capper, etc., with all my batches (yes, I auto siphon from the LBK). The only thing different is the fermenting vessels themselves. Using the Sherlock Holmes method, I've been eliminating the impossible, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Ergo, it's the LBKs that must have gotten scratched somehow (and I can see it happening over the course of four years, can't you?) and picked up a bug. Just gotta clean house.

I was aerating the LBKs with a metal whisk, and I have no doubt it scratched the inside. With the fiver and the new 3-fer BB carboy, I can use a nylon wine degasser run through a bung and powered with my cordless drill. It never touches the sides of the carboy, and aerates wonderfully. Either that, or I wind up aerating quite thoroughly while I'm chilling the wort, so I don't feel any need to use the wine degasser for 2.5 gallon batches. That's what happened with today's batch. Very frothy already, so I just sanitized a big ol' funnel and poured it in, then pitched the yeast.

[Beerlabelman]

No more plastic for me. I have 2 glass big mouth bubblers. 1 - 6.5 gallon & 1 - 5 gallon. Still use my LBK's as bottling buckets. My BDC's got really smelly & always had an odor, so they were tossed.
This hobby is the best. There's always something new to try.

[RickBeer]

Scratches should be visible, no?

[haerbob3]

WOW that blows Dave. For me the solution has been to replace my buckets every year. This year I saved the old ones for doing sours in.