How do I get rid of a Brettanomyces infection? It turns up in my English pale ales, stouts and Saisons. It is not consistent. Some kegs get it, and some don’t. I cask conditioned a party pig, and it had it. I do 10 gallon batches. The beers always come out clean from the fermenter, but my keg will taste clean and my friend’s keg will have a brett infection. This is his keg and not mine. I thought it may be my racking cane and hose, but I have an American pale ale that has brett in the keg, but the bottles that were filled after the keg are fine.
I have started trying to clean all the beer stone out of my kegs, but I sanitize my kegs with boiling water so I would think the heat would kill the Brett. This has not worked. Does anyone have a good way to get rid of beer stone?
I do have new seals and gaskets on the way, but I am not convinced this is the problem. Thanks.
I have used vinegar and a green scrubby to clean the areas I can reach, but I need something to get the spots I cannot reach and inside the dip tube. Thanks for the link. I will read more later.
Use a carboy brush to get to the bottom of the keg and a dip tube brush for the dip tube. There should be no areas you can’t get to. Letting it soak for 24+ hours in a hot PBW / Oxy Clean solution first should remove or soften just about anything that would be in there.
I am just starting to take the kegs apart as I finish or dump a beer. I have given most of my kegs with Brett infected beers to friends that like it. When I get the kegs back, I want to thoroughly clean them and get rid of the Brett. A friend has bought a dip tube brush for me, but I don’t see him very often so I don’t have it yet.
After a lot of research, I learned that PBW will not clean beer stone. I need to use an acidic solution. I bought some 5 Star Liquid Line Cleaner and will give that a try after I get some of these kegs back. I also purchased new seals for the kegs that were really bad. I have had some of these kegs for 15-20 years so the build up is significant on some of my kegs.
