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Kevin Kowalczyk
Advanced Member
Username: Itsfunbrewingbeer
Post Number: 794
Registered: 10-2007
Posted From: 209.252.39.59
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 08:20 pm: | 
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OK, I know that's a dirty word around here concerning homebrews, but here is why I'm thinking about doing it to my latest batch. It's got acetobacter. As Bill Pierce will tell you, one of the most common vectors of acetobacter is fruit flies. I didn't use an airlock, just the magic aluminum foil, and sure enough, some of them critters worked their way under it. Since there was little or no exposure to oxygen, there is only a slight vinegar twang to the beer. (It's a cream ale, so it's noticeable).
Now this is obviously not a beer I'll enter in a contest or even bring to a party, but it is still drinkable, so I'll be having it for my own personal consumption. My concern is that I may have inadvertantly introduced a small amount of oxygen when I kegged it, and the 'bacters are going to jump on that and slowly turn the beer more and more vinegary.
I have turned the kegerator down to the mid thirties to slow the buggers down, but since I'm the only one drinking this beer, I think it will turn undrinkable before I am through it all.
My idea is to bottle the beer and pasteurize it by letting the bottles sit in 200F water for about 12 minutes. I'm hoping this will kill the 'bacters, and I'll be able to enjoy my twangy cream ale at a leisurely pace. What do you guys think? Will that be sufficient time and temperature to kill them? Will the process add other off flavors that will render my beer undrinkable anyway? Will the bottles explode? Will the Cubs ever win a World Series? |
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 6833
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 74.83.191.159
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 08:28 pm: |
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Is it already bottled? |
Kevin Kowalczyk
Advanced Member
Username: Itsfunbrewingbeer
Post Number: 795
Registered: 10-2007
Posted From: 209.252.39.59
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 08:31 pm: |
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No, it's in a keg at about 35F. |
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 6835
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 74.83.191.159
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 08:36 pm: |
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Pasturize it in a pot. It is far safer and you will not lose much alcohol. Bring it up to 160F for a little while and chill like a batch of wort.
You will obviously need to pitch fresh yeast to condition it. |
Kevin Kowalczyk
Advanced Member
Username: Itsfunbrewingbeer
Post Number: 796
Registered: 10-2007
Posted From: 209.252.39.59
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 08:43 pm: |
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So you're saying to drain the keg into a pot, and heat it up? What if I just heat the whole keg up? It doesn't have the rubber pieces on it--it's a 2.5 gallon keg, so I could easily heat it in my boil kettle and not lose any alcohol. |
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 6836
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 74.83.191.159
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 08:51 pm: |
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Sure, but be sure to vent it so that it does not explode.
How are you going to monitor the temperature? |
Kevin Kowalczyk
Advanced Member
Username: Itsfunbrewingbeer
Post Number: 797
Registered: 10-2007
Posted From: 209.252.39.59
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:01 pm: |
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Don't know, that's why I posted here. How long do I need it at what temperature to kill the bacteria? |
Kevin Kowalczyk
Advanced Member
Username: Itsfunbrewingbeer
Post Number: 798
Registered: 10-2007
Posted From: 209.252.39.59
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:02 pm: |
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And if I vent it--won't that defeat the purpose of heating it in a closed container to not lose alcohol? |
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 6837
Registered: 03-2004
Posted From: 74.83.191.159
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:06 pm: |
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You would be surprised at how difficult it is to drive alcohol off. I would not worry about it.
Leave it at 160 for 10 minutes. |
Kevin Kowalczyk
Advanced Member
Username: Itsfunbrewingbeer
Post Number: 799
Registered: 10-2007
Posted From: 209.252.39.59
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:21 pm: |
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OK, so since I don't have an easy way to monitor the temperature in the keg, what do you think of dropping the 2.5gal keg of beer at 35F into 10 gallons of 200F water for 20 minutes? The average temperature of the liquids will be about 165F--I'm going a little higher to account for the keg itself. The extra 10 minutes is time for the temperatures to equalize. I can spin the keg in the hot water to facilitate this. |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 10832
Registered: 01-2002
Posted From: 24.141.103.148
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 - 09:43 pm: |
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If you want to pasteurize the beer in the keg, your water bath method will work. However, I would open the keg, stir it periodically with a sanitized paddle and monitor the temperature with a thermometer. Pasteurization will have some effect on flavor, and especially hop aroma, but it will be minor compared to what further action by acetobacter will do.
(Message edited by BillPierce on October 21, 2009) |
TappedOut
Junior Member
Username: Tappedout
Post Number: 48
Registered: 03-2005
Posted From: 205.175.225.22
| | Posted on Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 03:44 pm: |
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FYI, a rubber band over the foil makes it harder for the little buggers to get into your beer. |
Kevin Kowalczyk
Advanced Member
Username: Itsfunbrewingbeer
Post Number: 800
Registered: 10-2007
Posted From: 209.252.39.59
| | Posted on Thursday, October 22, 2009 - 04:35 pm: |
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After this experience, I'm going back to airlocks. |
Bierview
Advanced Member
Username: Bierview
Post Number: 606
Registered: 03-2003
Posted From: 67.85.0.212
| | Posted on Friday, October 23, 2009 - 10:09 pm: |
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Why would you not use an airlock in the first place? |
David Star
New Member
Username: David_star
Post Number: 11
Registered: 01-2008
Posted From: 66.245.66.201
| | Posted on Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 02:52 am: |
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If you have a counter flow chiller then pump hot 190F water in the cooling side and the beer in the other part from one keg to another at a flow rate that will give 165F to 175F for 10 min then you can reverse the process and cool into a new keg
Dave |
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