Another "Does This Look Infected?" Post

I have an Oatmeal Chocolate Stout that's been in the fermenter bucket for five weeks now. Last week, I decided to take a hydrometer reading and noticed a layer of sediment at the top. Figuring it was probably still fermenting, but having already sanitized the tools, I decided to take a reading anyway, which showed the gravity at 1.014. I covered the fermenter back up (which began bubbling again right away) and figured I'd wait another week.

Tonight, I uncovered it the fermenter to find the same layer of sediment at the top. I took another reading, again showing at 1.014. So, it seems like it has finished fermenting, but I have this layer of sediment float on top.

I've brewed a couple batches before, so I'm new to the hobby, but the other batches I've done have had the sediment sink after a while. And this stout didn't have much noticeable sediment going into the fermenter, since I didn't use a large amount of hops. I'm probably being paranoid, but I snapped a picture and attached it to get some other opinions. So, does it look infected?

I'm also a little cautious about bottling too early, since I made that mistake with my last brew. Luckily there were no explosions, but the flavor wasn't what I wanted it to be. So, maybe the yeast just needs a bit more time? Any opinions will help this newbie. Thanks!

looks like delicious beer

taste a hydro sample it will probably be obvious

nope

Yeast rafts. Good to go

You could always cold crash it to get the "rafts" to sink down. With a stout, clarity usually isn't much of an issue bc the black/opaque color. Just rack from underneath them.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Cool, I figured I didn't have much to rule about. So, considering that the gravity hasn't changed in a week, it's OK to start bottling if I try to avoid siphoning the rafts?

Also, I did end up tasting the hydro sample and it seemed just fine. Thanks again for the help guys!

I just kegged a porter that looked almost exactly like that. It's good to go. I just racked from the middle of the fermenter and most of that stuff stuck to the sides

Thanks again for all the advice. I racked the stout to my bottling bucket yesterday without much difficulty, and it looks great! There was a bunch of sludge left in the fermenter, so the yeast must have just been feasting away. It looks good, and is all bottled.

Nice! now the wait

Oatmeal can create an oily texture to beer it also contributes to the mouthfeel as well this beer looks completely normal.

In general, appearance is at best a poor indicator of infection. If it smells OK, taste a little; if it doesn't taste obviously "off" it is almost certainly fine. A sour, funky smell and taste is the most reliable evidence of a bacterial infection, and it's really not at all a common problem unless you're completely negligent about sanitation.

As others have state above, that beer looks perfectly fine. A yeast fermentation is basically a controlled infection in its own right; it's not going to look "pretty."

sanguine said:

In general, appearance is at best a poor indicator of infection. If it smells OK, taste a little; if it doesn't taste obviously "off" it is almost certainly fine. A sour, funky smell and taste is the most reliable evidence of a bacterial infection, and it's really not at all a common problem unless you're completely negligent about sanitation.

As others have state above, that beer looks perfectly fine. A yeast fermentation is basically a controlled infection in its own right; it's not going to look "pretty."

Click to expand...

Yes, the krausen can look pretty sick in some fermentations. I've seen some pictures of actual infection that look like art though.

I recently made a pumpkin gruit ale - looked like a fetid swamp, even when it was wrapping up.