Oaked IPA looks like it caught something

**sempf** · 08-12-2009, 12:35 AM

So I took the IPA recipe from that homebrew recipe book that AHA sent out with new memberships, and oaked it. OG was 1.060. 1 week in primary with the oak. 2 weeks in secondary (it's down to 1.010) and now there is a light white ring around the inside of the Better Bottle and little piles of white bubbles (maybe 1/4 around) floating on top of the beer. Smells fine.

Thoughts? I'm probably gonna bottle it no matter what, but I thought I'd ask.

S

shot0rum247 · 08-12-2009, 02:33 AM

how did you sanitize the oak?

**sempf** · 08-16-2009, 12:11 AM

Vodka. Didn't have any bourbon.

shot0rum247 · 08-16-2009, 01:00 AM

that should have done the trick, I always boil or steam them for 10 min but I don't see why vodka would have missed anything that could give you problems. However if the vodka did not soak in all the way into the wood it could be an infection from that.

**sempf** · 08-16-2009, 01:31 AM

Probably won't kill me or my guests though. Still tastes OK.

Phantastik · 08-16-2009, 03:31 AM

I've never done any oaking, but have had a similar white ring and bubbles in a beer before. It ended up turning out/taisting great in the end. My only real advice is when siphoning into your bottling bucket from your secondary that you siphon the beer from beneath the bubbles. Leave a half inch or so in the secondary so you know you didn't transfer any into your bottling bucket.

thelorax121 · 08-16-2009, 02:52 PM

I currently have this same white film with bubble on a batch of pale ale. I was gonna just scrap it, but it does taste fine at the moment, so I may just let it set for a few and keg it just for ****s and giggles

**Revvy** · 08-16-2009, 03:08 PM

Sometimes what that is is simply hop oils that form a slick on the surface and traps rising co2 bubbles..that usually happens when someone dry hops, other times it is a pellicule forming to protect the beer beneath from an infection. A lot of people who brew sour or wild beers with brett or lacto do that on purpose.

You should ever just "consider scrapping" a batch of beer without tasting it a seeing. If it taste badly sour, like vinegar or smells like a dirty diaper, THEN consider dumping it. Otherwise you could be dumping out a perfectly good, if not great batch of beer.

It may be slightly tart and complex, or it may be perfectly fine under that layer.

Since there is nothing beer that can harm you, no know pathogens can exist in beer...you should never fear tasting it.

It it tastes oaky enough for you, and gravity is table, you might want to bottle it or keg it...OR you could rack under it to another sanitized vessel and continue to age it....but if it's ready to go, then get it into bottles or kegs.

Those of you (usually new brewers) who have the words "dumping beer" in your vocabulary should consider reading the stories in here...Many times people dump out perfectly good beers, where if they simply waited may turn into great beers. Bottling or kegging (see the beer through ALL steps in the process, then leaving it alone, IS OFTEN the cure for a supposedly bad beer.)

[url]http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/never-dump-your-beer-patience-virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254//url]

**sempf** · 08-18-2009, 02:42 AM

Agree entirely. I have been brewing for about five years now, and have actually NEVER had a batch go bad, as much as I have screwed up. But, with the includiosn of the oak, I thought this one might be the one. Gotta say, though, it tastes file. It's bottled and resting. I'll try one in a few weeks and let you know.

I thought it might be the oil from the oak, actually, that caused the Ring Around The Bottle. With the other comment about hop oils, now I am even more sure - since I used pellets for this batch.

S

**sempf** · 08-24-2009, 03:59 PM

Just for the record, it turned out fine. I tasted it this weekend, and it was still raw but tastes great.

Another "oh knoes, my beer is sick" thread comes out OK!

S