Anyone having issues with Fruit Flies?

[FedoraDave]

Ahhh, it's the peaches! I do love my peaches in the summer.

Could be any fruit that you don't refrigerate. Peaches, pears, bananas. Doesn't matter; they'll be attracted to them, and you could be bringing them into the house on them. I just used peaches because it was the first thing that popped into my head.

It's not the fruit flies here, it's just plain ol' flies!

Since I brew outdoors, every time I have to guard my wort until it boils, I can't leave any utensils uncovered or any empty bottles or open beer outside.
Don't remember this problem last year.
The only explanation I have is the extremely wet summer we've had here.

Could be. Houseflies breed in filth and rot, and wet conditions cause mildew and funk and whatnot, so excessive rain during a certain season could cause more favorable conditions for them. I've noticed that the conditions of the previous season tend to affect what pests are most active, e.g. having a wet spring suppresses the yellowjacket activity during the summer. No scientific data on this, just what I've observed during 18 years in the business.

[philm00x]

We don't have any other fruit laying out on the counter. Just peaches in a basket. They're at their lowest price of the year so we got a bunch. All the other produce is in the fridge.

[FedoraDave]

Then in your case, Phil, yes, I blame the peaches.

[haerbob3]

I shower daily and don't have that problem.

HMMMM.................... Though ya was the reason for that cloud over A^2 Then again it could be all that spilled beer from the last school year or all the great unwashed old hippies

[ScrewyBrewer]

About 2 years ago I took a page right out of FedoraDave's cookbook and got rid of thousands of them little buggers!

Take a small cereal bowl and pour in about an inch of Balsamic vinegar, don't ask me why but the friggin' fruity flies are drawn to it like steel to a magnet.

Cover said bowl with tight fitting Saran or plastic wrap, put a couple of elastic bands around it to keep the surface taught...hahaha I remembered how to spell that, I think.

The fun part starts now, take a toothpick and punch a series of holes about an eight of an inch apart all over the top of the plastic wrap and then wait.

Those dumbass little buggers will squish their way in through the little holes in the wrap to get to the vinegar in the bottom of the bowl, but they'll have no way of knowing how to escape.

I don't like to think of myself as being cruel, although I do hate flying little buggers in my brew room.

The morale of the story is this, never, never, never, absolutely never leave wet hops in your garbage can for a week! For whatever reason fruit flies love the stuff and reproduce like crazy in it too. But seriously keeping all surfaces in the brew area dry and disposing of all wet hops quickly led me to a fruit fly less brewing season for the past 2 years.

Thank you Dave for posting one of the most helpful and beneficial posts I've had the pleasure off reading ever. 'Hats off to you my friend' for having made such a positive influence on this lowly brewers life!

[philm00x]

To add to Screwy's post, if you have to throw spent grain out instead of repurposing it (as I usually have to), take it out to the dumpster immediately because I learned that they stink something fierce!

[mtsoxfan]

I've always dumped mine in the leaf/grass pile. Never notice flies, fruit or otherwise... but I don't spend much time out there either...

[haerbob3]

At work we cut the tops off plastic water bottles. Add the bait of choice to the bottom. Put the top half back on with the bottle opening facing the bait. Works like a charm. Toss the whole thing when needed.

[FedoraDave]

At work we cut the tops off plastic water bottles. Add the bait of choice to the bottom. Put the top half back on with the bottle opening facing the bait. Works like a charm. Toss the whole thing when needed.

Same concept, slightly different technique. But yeah, no reason why it wouldn't work. For a commercial kitchen, it may be better to use a larger system like this, but for a domestic kitchen, or the basement brewery, a shallow bowl with plastic wrap should suffice. Again, the trapping method concept is sound through-and-through.