Last night, when I walked into the brewhouse to bottle, I was met by a huge swarm of flying gnats and fruit flies. Not a few, but a giant cloud of them. Thousands. I left the door open to help dissipate them, but in the two hours I was there, they were still thick.
The source: garbage that hadn't been taken out and had food in it. Looking at the schedule, no one was scheduled to brew or bottle for a couple of days, so this may have developed over a few days. In addition to making the experience of being in the brewhouse really unpleasant, its also a huge sanitation issue for everyone. Fruit flies can get everywhere - I'm sure some of them made their way into the fermentation chamber. They put everyone's beer at risk.
Mistakes happen, we've all left the brewhouse forgetting to do something. This is just a reminder to take out the garbage and do not leave food around.
