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wy3278

Yeast & Fermentation
#1

I’m thinking of brewing the dawson’s kriek kit using WY3278. How much do I need to worry about contamination from the bugs? I use glass carboys, so they should be fine. Is the amount of time that a funnel, auto siphon, and bottling bucket touch the beer really a danger? What about blow off tubing? Even if it gets contaminated does it really matter? I would prefer not to have to buy a bunch of new equipment because I brew a sour beer. If contamination is a big danger, is there a way to mimic wy3278 with another yeast an maybe some lactic or something?

Thanks for the help

#2

You’ll need a new set of equipment. The glass carboy will be fine as it is not porous and so the bugs will not be able to hide in pores. As for all your plastic equipment - as soon as it touches the beer it is for ever and ever contaminated and you’ll be the luckiest man alive if you can sterilize it in any way short of autoclaving. The bacteria are tiny (fraction of the size of yeast) and can hide in pores and micro scratches small enough to not allow your sanitizer in. Brett is not any harder to kill than normal yeast, but can hide in pores and scratches better than Saccharomyces.
So in short - you’re gonna need a new set of equipment for anything that isn’t glass or stainless steel.
Cheers!

#3

Just wondering how it is that Brett is better able than Saccharomyces to hide in small scratches and pores.

#4

I couldn’t take the chance,
I just baked my racking cane and put new tubing on it,
Racked a brett beer and thought I could rinse it out reallly good and bleach/ starsan it.
After all that, one whiff of the tubing and you can still smell brett in it.
Even the airlock smells like brett. Crazy.
I’m going to get new bottling plastic after I bottle these 2 beers and a saison I’m planning.
I don’t think its worth the risk for 10$ worth of plastic.

#5

My dishwasher has a sterlize setting. Would that be good enough to kill the bugs in the funnel and beer thief, and the bucket if it fits? I don’t know how heat tolerant any of the plastic is.

#6

edit :it might be a santize setting, either way would it work/has anyone tried it?

#7

Clean off any gunk on your gear with hot soapy water, rinse, and put it in the sanitizer before you use it. No need to sterilize it in the dishwasher.

#8

No dude, if you use that blend just get a new set of gear. There is practically no way to get rid of the bacteria. They’ll always be there in the background. Brett will probably also survive. My guess that’s due to the fact that they lack defined cell morphology and that allows them to fit into cracks and scratches and stuff. You may try… let us know how that works out. I just got new gear when I embraced the funk :slight_smile:

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