Any ideas why

[Wirelessbutton]

So i made a mash the same as I have always done with the same grain, sugar, and yeast. Basically every thing was the same. Except, the water, i tried using Tap water and the mash now smells like Shit. The water was Clean and filtered, and I drink it on a daily basis, but the mash just stinks I refuse to run it Because of the smell. Anyone have a clue why it has done this?

[Jimbo]

Please stop in at the Welcome center and introduce yourself.

You have an infection, plain and simple. It happens. If you carefully think about everything you did and what touched the mash that was not sanitized properly, you may come up with some potential process steps where the bugs took over, but you may never figure it out. Just sterilize everything very thoroughly and go again.

[bearriver]

I see some bleach water and a spray bottle in your future...

[Wirelessbutton]

Well thats a possibility but I sanitize everything after each use. But I guess it is possible that I missed something. The only variable I can come up with is the Tap water. Just figured the tap water would be a cheaper alternative to Spring water.

[Jimbo]

Its possible youve got bugs in your water but not likely.

You sanitize everything 'after' each use? Buckets, spoons etc need to be sanitized before use. Starsan is easy and works good. Iodophor also. I use iodophor when I dont want to deal with foam, like in a carboy, and starsan for everything else. A quart jug will last you a long time. Bleach water always works too but I dont like the smell and slimyness.

[Ajax99]

+1 on the Starsan. Fill up a trigger spray bottle and mist all of your equipment including your hands prior to use.

[SoMo]

Soap n water all I've ever used, but it is a triclosan base.
I've had one lacto and it was cool added some depth.

[WhiteDevil504]

I have had really good success using hydrogen peroxide to sanitize my gear. It doesn't leave the nasty taste like bleach, and if there is still active peroxide when your mash hits it won't kill the yeast in the small amounts used (relative to the volume of mash/wash). I don't know if it's accepted with this community but I've had no issues since I switched over. I just use the peroxide spray bottles in the first aid area at Walmart, it's the 3% solution so if your really anal it's 150 minutes of contact time to kill everything but realistically 5 minutes has always worked for me. You could also try the 12% if you are constantly fighting infections (on top of cleaning your work area to kill the source).

[Truckinbutch]

Starsan woks well for me and the local bars . Wash it , dip it in Starsan , set it out to dry and forget it . It's good to go .

[BentJar]

Tap water is ok to use for making shine. It aint the water.
Do a real good clean up with Clorox and water in a spray bottle and hose it all down before starting a ferment.
Be pro-active about cleanliness around your ferment area. Clean hands before handeling things having to do with ferments . You should be fine.
We all had to learn this too.

[dakotasnake]

the one and only time i had an infection. i went ahead and ran it anyway. it turned out pretty good, maybe above average as far as taste. dump the grain , sanitize and start over.