Contamination or yeast reactivation?

I'm in the process of brewing my third batch. For this batch, I chose an Imperial Pale Ale from Austin Homebrew Supply. This is my first attempt at a beer with a higher alcohol content. In my previous brews, I had a fruity taste that I think was a result of the high temperatures of my Texas home. For this brew, I figured I'd try to beat the heat by letting the primary sit in a half-full tub of cold water. The airlock showed significant activity for the first 4 days. Yesterday, I moved the primary out of the tub and set it on a counter, with the intention of letting it settle for a few hours before transfering to the secondary. I didn't get around to making the transfer right away, and had to take care of that this evening. However, when I opened the lid, I saw that there seemed to be some white things floating on the top. I didn't have anything floating on the top on either of my previous batches. I went ahead and transferred to the secondary.

Could the fact that I removed the primary from the tub into a higher temperature have "reactivated" the yeast and caused the white buildup on the surface?

If the beer is contaminated, how will I know? Will this just be evidenced by bad tastes after I've bottled?

The normal temperature of my house is 80 at night and up to 84 during the day.

what did the stuff look like on top of your beer?

If you moved the fermenter, you can cause built up CO2 to come out of solution. It may have just brought up some yeast from the bottom. If it was just a few chunks, you're probably fine. If it was an entire layer across the top, you may have racked too soon. For bigger beers, try to leave the primary alone for at least a week just to make sure they're done. The extra time on the yeast is not a bad thing for flavors either.

Take Brewsmith's advice and let your next beer ferment out for a good 7-10 days. If what you saw was tiny,tiny bubbles that may have looked like white stuff then it was probably CO2 clinging to yeast bits. Taste it before bottling and you will likely know if it is bad.

Walker-san said:

what did the stuff look like on top of your beer?

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It looked a lot like the crud that normally clings to the edges of my primary after fermentation, but it was a much whiter color.

How much was there?

Blender said:

Take Brewsmith's advice and let your next beer ferment out for a good 7-10 days. If what you saw was tiny,tiny bubbles that may have looked like white stuff then it was probably CO2 clinging to yeast bits. Taste it before bottling and you will likely know if it is bad.

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It had actually been 8 days in the primary before I did this (well, 7 to pull it out of the water).

What I found disturbing was the color, which seemed so much different (whiter) than anything else I'd ever seen in my beer. The problem is, I'm not experienced enough to have seen much of anything in my beer, so personal experience doesn't count for much!

My guess is that you're fine, just some yeast that floated up to the top. The stuff on the sides has trub and hop particles in it that can give it a brown to green color. The yeast itself is more of an off-white color.

Brewsmith said:

How much was there?

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Actually, not too much. It was really just a few "chunks". If I had to guesstimate, I'd guess that it covered less than 5% of the surface of the beer, though there did seem to be something on the surface of the beer that looked "oily" for lack of a better word.

I'm kicking myself for not taking photos when I had the chance.

I'm really hoping this is just something related to the change in temperature. It's 80 in my house right now, which was probably a big jump from the water cooled primary. My wife is from south-east asia, and when I turn the AC below 80, she thinks I'm trying to freeze her out. Given that she's otherwise perfect, I'm willing to accept this minor flaw and try to find a way to brew at higher temperatures...

Brewsmith said:

My guess is that you're fine, just some yeast that floated up to the top. The stuff on the sides has trub and hop particles in it that can give it a brown to green color. [bold]The yeast itself is more of an off-white color.[/bold]

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Thanks! That's something of a relief. I'd invested a lot of effort in keeping this beer cool during primary fermentation, and I'd hate to have to toss this.

Well, my wife is Japanese and she is always saying it's too cold. Coincidence?

The beer has been in the secondary for more than a week, and there are white floaters on the surface of the beer.

I've taken photos if someone can tell me how to post them, but they aren't very clear. They basically show the size and distribution of the white spots, but not much else. I'd guess that most of the floaters are about 1mm or less, and i'd guess that there are about 60-80 of them on the surface of the beer.

I seem to have a problem similar to the one discussed here. I've tried taking a picture of it... Can someone tell me if I should flush it down the drain just from the look of it?

I dont see anything that would make me want to chuck it down the drain . . . Then again it's kinda hard to see past the reflection of the flash.

RDWHAHB

I've seen those exact same dots on some brews I've made. They're either CO2 bubbles or yeast pockets that have floated up to the surface.

If you start getting something like this then you're doomed.

What's with people wanting to dump wort that *might* be infected? NEVER DUMP IT UNLESS THERE'S MULTICOLORED FUZZ GROWING ON TOP!! Hell, I'll bet the poor schmo in the link above siphoned as much wort as he could and left the mold on top in the carboy and bottled it anyways

jack_strap said:

I seem to have a problem similar to the one discussed here. I've tried taking a picture of it... Can someone tell me if I should flush it down the drain just from the look of it?

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Your photo looks almost identical to the one I would post if I had a place to host it, though it looks like you have about twice as much white stuff on the top that I do. It doesn't smell bad, but I've never (in my vast experience of 2 previous brews!) seen the white floaters before...

eviltwinofjoni said:

I've seen those exact same dots on some brews I've made. They're either CO2 bubbles or yeast pockets that have floated up to the surface.

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Would this be any more prevelant in higher alcohol beers? This is my first try at an 8% beer...

I can't see well enough looking at that pic.

I have recently encountered yellowish seed looking things floating on a porter. I have never seen them before, but I did use an excessive amount of Gypsum/Burton Water Salts in the brew.

I think that the fermentation process and cooling has made some of the Calcium come out of suspension and form seed looking clumps. I could be wrong though...it is just a guess.

My first brew had the white bubble like floaters the entire time in the secondary.

My second has been in the secondary for 5 days now and nothing on top.

The differences were that the first was in the primary 5 days and the second in the primary 10 days. Plus I added Irish Moss to the second batch.

That sound about right?

I know the photo isn't clear, but I wasn't able to do better than that with my camera (I've tried all settings). If you want to email me your picture with the similar problem (if it's any clearer), I'll post it here ([email protected]).

If the "growth" of these things have stopped (it's been stable for the last week or so), should I assume it is not bacterial contamination? Wouldn't the bacteria stuff keep on growing (to look something like in the link above)?

My brew is a 5% one, so I don't think it's related to the high alcohol. It must have something to do with spending too much time in the fermentation bucket (a month) before going in the secondary.

My rule of thumb is... don't dump the beer unless it smells and tastes like vinegar, or if you see black or green mold spots in your wort, or if you see fuzzy balls of mold growing on the surface with stringy superhighway looking connectors growing back and forth.

Otherwise, I'd let the beer sit for a while. I have a Belgian tripel in the fermenter that is taking its time, and there's always a few bubbles or some specks of white yeast on the surface. Its no big deal.

Follow-up:

The "spots" at the top of the beer were bubbles. In the dim light of my brewing area, they looked like mold spots, but when brought out into substantial lighting it was pretty obvious that these were small collections of bubbles.

The beer sat in secondary for 3 weeks, and I've just cracked a bottle that's been sitting for 2 weeks.

It's excellent. Much ado about nothing!