Maine Homebrewer
Grandmaster Brewer
I recently lost several batches in a row to mold. In fact all batches I started over the winter met a moldy death. I was attempting to make lagers, taking advantage of my 50-55 degree basement. What I didn't take into account was the cat boxes and dog kennel.
My ales live on the ground floor under normal room temperature conditions. But more importantly when I rack them they are not exposed to the same air as what is in the basement.
At least that's all I can think of that went wrong, because I had over thirty mold free batches in a row before this string of bad luck, and all ales since have been fine. Same equipment.
I just wanted to share because I was all excited about making lager for the first time, made five batches to have a nice supply for the summer, and lost it all because I shared the air with my pets.
Stupid people don't learn, smart people learn from their own mistakes, wise people learn from others.
I hope to give people the chance to be wise with this post.
My ales live on the ground floor under normal room temperature conditions. But more importantly when I rack them they are not exposed to the same air as what is in the basement.
At least that's all I can think of that went wrong, because I had over thirty mold free batches in a row before this string of bad luck, and all ales since have been fine. Same equipment.
I just wanted to share because I was all excited about making lager for the first time, made five batches to have a nice supply for the summer, and lost it all because I shared the air with my pets.
Stupid people don't learn, smart people learn from their own mistakes, wise people learn from others.
I hope to give people the chance to be wise with this post.