Uhhhhhhh...WTF is in my cider bucket?!

What the hell is that stuff...this is my first batch, but I'm guessin this ain't normal!

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Upload the pic again!

Yeah thats not good. There is a thread in here somewhere to look up different infections. I think you caught one!

<cannedResponse>

Oh, those are probably just yeast floaties, CO2 pockets, or weather balloons.

It's so hard for anything to actually get infected, I'm sure it's fine.

Let it go, then taste it, if it tastes fine, then there's nothing wrong with it.

RDWHAH.

</cannedResponse>

In seriousness, that looks pretty bad. There should be a thread with infected batch pictures, possibly look for a similar pic in there.

Ah, you've got yourself a "pellicle". I guess the primary (active) fermentation slowed, and the cider didn't get moved to a carboy once that happened, allowing infection to take hold.

I'm terrible at identifying via a picture, but it looks like brettanomyces to my untrained eye. But pediococcus and lactobacillus are more common.

m_stodd said:

<cannedResponse>

Oh, those are probably just yeast floaties, CO2 pockets, or weather balloons.

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Love it!

Yooper said:

Ah, you've got yourself a "pellicle". I guess the primary (active) fermentation slowed, and the cider didn't get moved to a carboy once that happened, allowing infection to take hold.

I'm terrible at identifying via a picture, but it looks like brettanomyces to my untrained eye. But pediococcus and lactobacillus are more common.

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Running home to check my cider!

I make lacto fermented pickles, carrots, turnips and sour crout, this doesn't look too far off from some batches I've seen

Fossey said:

Upload the pic again!

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Well that made me look stupid, pic did not appear on mobile...

It does appear on mobile, you just need to tap on the post

Bluespark said:

It does appear on mobile, you just need to tap on the post

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Stoopider and stoopider!!!

well let it ride, you could be making a sour cider. How long in the bucket? Did you get a normal fermentation or did this start first?

looks like something I saw in a health book once!

I'll just throw in my two cents...

DON'T dump this out. I had a similar spontaneous infection that a microbiologist friend confirmed was brettanomyces (looked very similar to yours.)

I siphoned off from underneath being careful not to get any of the skin on top and let that secondary for a while to make sure it didn't return

It was one of my BEST CIDERS, slightly sour with a crisp acid bite that balanced very well with the apple flavor.

So do a taste test first is all I am saying. Oh and clean all of your equipment very well, cause if it is brett it can be hard to get rid of. I used bleach and lots of it.

People, if you keep uploading pictures of your infected pellicles onto the thread, the mods are going to lock it...

jerrodm said:

People, if you keep uploading pictures of your infected pellicles onto the thread, the mods are going to lock it...

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Huh?

Nuthin', please disregard.

Yeah..I never transferred it to a secondary once the fermentation was complete...probably should have added some camden tablets at that point? I believe it's a lacto infection. I tasted some, and has that familiar sour taste you find in a lot of sour beers. Very interesting tanginess to it. I'll probably run it through a filter, add some camden tablets, and then backsweeten to see what happens.

MarkKF said:

Huh?

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An attempt at a joke, I assume. I have experienced blue pellicles but never infected ones.

maddad said:

An attempt at a joke, I assume. I have experienced blue pellicles but never infected ones.

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Excellent. Thanks for the bailout on that one.

jdlev said:

Yeah..I never transferred it to a secondary once the fermentation was complete...probably should have added some camden tablets at that point? I believe it's a lacto infection. I tasted some, and has that familiar sour taste you find in a lot of sour beers. Very interesting tanginess to it. I'll probably run it through a filter, add some camden tablets, and then backsweeten to see what happens.

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It's probably not the lack of campden- it's the wide headspace of the bucket. Campden would help a little, especially with oxidation, but it won't prevent infections like that with that much headspace.

maddad said:

An attempt at a joke, I assume. I have experienced blue pellicles but never infected ones.

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That's what she said

Fossey said:

Upload the pic again!

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You should totally upload that picture again so we can look at it....