Newest Threads

Chromebrew · 10-23-2012, 03:29 PM

Hi guys,

Im sure i didnt handle the stress of my first pellicle properly, i kinda freaked out. I recently had an interesting pellicle show up in my Belgian Dubbel. Well, i siphoned off 3 gallons out from under the pellicle and left a couple gallons as a buffer to make sure i didnt pull anything from infected top. I primed and bottled immediately that day and a couple days later i found that my new dubbel bottles also had the pellicle showing, looking exactly like its larger parent. I saw some photos in the pellicle pics thread that led me to beleive that this particular microbe was desirable by some folks. I could be way off. Anyway, i guess my question is, do i need to dispose of these innoculated bottles? Or can i let it ride and have these be drinkable beers in some amount of time? i assume the pellicle will fall into the beer after a while. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

Edit: After some more forum research i guess the pellicle will eventually fall into the beer and all is well. Something i forgot to mention is that the beer tasted fine, the pellicle had just formed over the past 2 or 3 days before it was discovered so no change I couldnt detect any flavor changes. Basically id like to know if it is possible that a wild pellicle could be harmful to the imbiber...

monkeybox · 10-23-2012, 11:24 PM

My understanding is that there's very little that can grow in beer that would be harmful. That said, i you didn't plan for it, it's probably not going to taste very good once those bugs really contribute flavor. I'd recommend drinking it quickly if it tastes good.

spenghali · 10-24-2012, 03:31 PM

What was your final gravity? You probably have a few cases of bottle bombs on your hands

Cambone · 10-24-2012, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeybox

My understanding is that there's very little that can grow in beer that would be harmful.

Untrue. NOTHING harmful can grow in beer. Drink away

**edmanster** · 10-24-2012, 03:49 PM

The pellicle just means the presence of a little oxygen.. big concern is was the gravity stable enough after the infection..

**NochEineMassBitte** · 10-24-2012, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spenghali

What was your final gravity? You probably have a few cases of bottle bombs on your hands

This would be my biggest concern as well!

Chromebrew · 10-24-2012, 04:23 PM

Well it was steady a for about a week before i noticed the infection. I was bulk aging to develop some character and this little miracle happened. I guess what im hearing is this different microbe could drop the FG below what my White Labs bugs could do? i did bottle a few in PET cause i bring them to a guy at work. These have carbed up pretty hard already... I think these will be moved to an ice chest to mitigate the blast

So if i want to drink these, i can just pour through the fuzzy mat at the top of the bottle? i guess that sounds better than letting it melt into the beer. ill give one a try when i get home. Thanks for the input guys!

**edmanster** · 10-24-2012, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chromebrew

I guess what im hearing is this different microbe could drop the FG below what my White Labs bugs could do?

What bugs? What yeast did you pitch?

Chromebrew · 10-24-2012, 04:38 PM

WLP500, Primary for about 2 weeks then was in secondary about 3 weeks before pelliclization. I know what happened after examining my equipment. It looks like i had just used water in airlock and it got funky. Lesson learned, i normally use a heavy starsan solution but i slipped up this time.

**edmanster** · 10-24-2012, 04:55 PM

Yeah, no bugs in that but you definitely caught one.. wouldn't think it would be the airlock fluid unless you got a little suck back and infected it that way.. best of luck on not having bombs but if it turns a little sour you might like it more