what is this?!?!?!

Ok guys. So I'm wondering if any of u know what this is. I'm thinking it might be some kind of infection but I'm not sure. Nothing out of the ordinary with this one really. Its sierra nevada rye ipa. I dry hopped it in the primary (I don't usually do that but this time I thought I'd try) I've now racked to secondary and this film developed. If anyone knows what it is let me know

I'm going with infection. Someone will be by shortly to correct me on this but: pedio?

It's definitely infected! That's a pellicle for sure.

It could be an oxygen-loving bacteria or yeast due to the large amount of headspace in that vessel. I don't know my pellicles, but it doesn't look like brettanomyces or lactobacillus, but it could be pediococcus.

There are lots of other sour beer experts that could better tips than me, though!

Infection!!! Don't dump it though. Let it go for 6-12 months and rack from underneath and bottle. It very well could turn into the best beer you've ever made. In the short term, it's a bummer. In the long term it's probably going to be pretty excellent and unique. It definitely looks like a pellicle from some wild yeast. I say let it go.

If you just don't have the patience and want to dump it, soak in PBW for a few days followed by a healthy dose of StarSan.

Rugrad02 said:

If you just don't have the patience and want to dump it, soak in PBW for a few days followed by a healthy dose of StarSan.

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Your empty carboy that is.

That sucks. It wasn't a cheap beer to make. I'm more than willing to let it sit. If I let it sit for 6 -12 months does that reduce the off flavours of the infection. This is my first one after probably 30 batches so I'm not to bummed but still sucks.

Fireguy94 said:

That sucks. It wasn't a cheap beer to make. I'm more than willing to let it sit. If I let it sit for 6 -12 months does that reduce the off flavours of the infection. This is my first one after probably 30 batches so I'm not to bummed but still sucks.

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No.

Some people love sours, but generally you don't get a great sour randomly. You can innoculate with your chosen agent, like roselare or brettanomyces, and get a good sour. But a random infection usually tastes like feet or something.

Still, if you have the space and don't mind tying up a carboy, there is no downside to aging it.

Fireguy94 said:

I'm more than willing to let it sit. If I let it sit for 6 -12 months does that reduce the off flavours of the infection.

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No. It will increase the "off" flavors of the infection... "Off" being subjective. Depending what it is, it might make a nice sour.

What you might want to do is, as Yooper points out, deliberately get a souring blend and pitch it... If it's pedio, pedio can cause a lot of diacetyl, which brett is known to clean up*. At least if you add in the bugs you want, you might get the right sour character.

(* Note --- I'm not expert on sours, so I might be wrong on the pedio/diacetyl/brett thing...)

might just be white film mold. taste it, if it is, its harmless but ugly.

Don't waste any more of your time, or fermenter space, on this batch. Sure, it *might* turn out to be drinkable, but in all likelihood, it'll be a sub-par sour, and you might not even like GOOD sours.

Dump it, clean the heck out of the fermenter, airlock, and everything else, then brew something you actually KNOW you'll like.

I'd be inclined to go somewhere down the middle. Taste it now to see how it is. If it's tolerable then bottle or keg and blast the carboy with chemicals.

When you transfer, just draw from underneath the layer white stuff.

I had a thin layer of fuzz once and the beer tasted fine so I just moved it asap rather than let it sit.

I'm so used to these posts being overreaction to yeast rafts that the pic really surprised me. I agree that the chances of getting a good tasting sour by accident are probably not great. Definitely give it a taste and see how it is now and decide from there.

I'm not an expert, but I'm reasonably sure that pellicle is caused by some kind of Brett. The images of brettanomyces fermentations at http://beherebrewing.blogspot.com/2013/01/brettanomyces-fermentation-images.html look similar to the OP's picture.

I had a similar pellicle once when I dumped a handful of oak chips into a carboy full of 7% stout. It tasted kind of flat and uninteresting after about six months, with an undefinable 'off' taste. I always figured that was brett because the various brett strains often live in wood and are probably more tolerant of alcohol and low pH than some of the other likely contaminants.

If you can keg the beer and it still TASTES good, I say keg it now, get it cold fast, and drink it quickly. The cold will slow the infection way down to the point you should be able to drink it before it goes real funky. If it tastes awful, it's probably not going to get a lot better. Either way, you need to bleach-bomb everything plastic you own.