Post your infection

Really good post for new brewers. I have learned a lot that most books won't show or explain.

Hannable1975 said:

SO I grabbed a carboy with tshirt out of the closet and carry to the table to prepare to bottle, and what do I find? My very first infection! Yippee!

Here is the photo - wish I had looked, I kinda broke it up....gonna let it settle/ float before I rack into bottle bucket. No off smell that I can detect.

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i had a very similar looking infection. bottled it at 1.001 or 2. Weird thing was, there were no off flavors/aromas. The hops were a bit too firm because the low fg, but overall it turned out not so bad. not something i'd try and duplicate, but it far surpased what i expected when i yanked the lid off.

Looking for some help with this. Is it that Brett? Th beer smells awefully sour. Its darker in color. Poured a cup off from the spigot at the bottom. - its not horrible but its different. Anny one with suggestions. Worth saving?

Bottle, condition, drink real quick...never had an infection, but that seems like the prevailing wisdom here...

Thank you to all contributors for adequately terrifying me. I am going to go take a bath in StarSan now.

kegtoe said:

Looking for some help with this. Is it that Brett? Th beer smells awefully sour. Its darker in color. Poured a cup off from the spigot at the bottom. - its not horrible but its different. Anny one with suggestions. Worth saving?

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I had something similar with some of my plastic batches during summer. The last one of them was a Dubbel that I kept in a keg at room temperature for 3+ months thinking it would get better. Tried it over the weekend on the kegerator and its the definition of "nail polish" taste. Dumping it this weekend ;(

I just finished reading this whole thread.....

and I'm feeling a little woozy.....

kegtoe said:

Looking for some help with this. Is it that Brett? Th beer smells awefully sour. Its darker in color. Poured a cup off from the spigot at the bottom. - its not horrible but its different. Anny one with suggestions. Worth saving?

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If not brett then lacto. Maybe both.

The nail polish remover flavor may be from fermenting too warm. What temperature did you ferment this?

If it tastes terrible now it is unlikely it is going to start tasting delicious over time. You could ride it out for a while or dump it...

dumped it, double bleached the bucket.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

If not brett then lacto. Maybe both.

The nail polish remover flavor may be from fermenting too warm. What temperature did you ferment this?

If it tastes terrible now it is unlikely it is going to start tasting delicious over time. You could ride it out for a while or dump it...

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I find it very hard to believe that this beer is infected with brett. Unless it's done intentionally, brett isn't usually something that most people will see...More likely lacto.

I second dumping this if it tastes terrible now. Otherwise drink it as fast as possible.

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

. . . . brett isn't usually something that most people will see...

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I'm curious about why you would say this, seems pretty broad to me. I believe in the wild brettanomyces lives on the skins of fruit and or wood? Why would it not be everywhere?

COLObrewer said:

I'm curious about why you would say this, seems pretty broad to me. I believe in the wild brettanomyces lives on the skins of fruit and or wood? Why would it not be everywhere?

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You're right, brett is on fruit. But...most of us are washing our fruit properly, or at least doing something to avoid contamination.

In my experience with brett, it takes at LEAST a few months for the pelicle to start to form. The above picture looked like a full blown infection to me... so unless it's been sitting around for 4 months in the secondary (which could be possible) then I highly doubt it's brett.

I could be wrong, I'm just going by personal experience with brewing wild beers.

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

You're right, brett is on fruit. But...most of us are washing our fruit properly, or at least doing something to avoid contamination.

In my experience with brett, it takes at LEAST a few months for the pelicle to start to form. The above picture looked like a full blown infection to me... so unless it's been sitting around for 4 months in the secondary (which could be possible) then I highly doubt it's brett.

I could be wrong, I'm just going by personal experience with brewing wild beers.

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Ah I see, hadn't even thought about the timing, Thanx.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49052497@N00/sets/72157624835029741/

Actually turned out pretty damned good! Just siphoned from underneath it. Glad I got that out of the way early in my brewing career.

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

You're right, brett is on fruit. But...most of us are washing our fruit properly, or at least doing something to avoid contamination.

In my experience with brett, it takes at LEAST a few months for the pelicle to start to form. The above picture looked like a full blown infection to me... so unless it's been sitting around for 4 months in the secondary (which could be possible) then I highly doubt it's brett.

I could be wrong, I'm just going by personal experience with brewing wild beers.

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Looks like lacto to me too.

hi guys, i brewed up a batch of chocolate milk stout about two weeks ago. the yeast i used was a nottingham dry yeast.
i looked into my fermenting container today and saw this:

is this an infection? i've only brewed twice before this and haven't seen anything like this in those past two brews...it has a very strong vinegar smell that almost burned my nose hairs off, but it tastes alright..
(not sure why the picture isn't loading, but here is the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/khrislee/5411575005/ )

That's just oils from the chocolate, no worries. Heck, bottle one up and ship it to me. If I don't email you back in a week then you can dump it.

PLEASE HELP! Is my porter infected? It was fine in 2ndry for a week and then I added about 12 oz of maple syrup and 5 days later, bam, this: http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z356/blackwarriorbrewing/IMG_0391.jpg

Is this infection and if so should I rack it out to bottles now (I don't have a keg yet)? I was planning on adding bourbon soaked oak chips for 3 weeks starting soon, but should I change my plan because of this growth? Maybe rack to a different carboy and then add the oak?

Black_Warrior_Brewing said:

PLEASE HELP! Is my porter infected? It was fine in 2ndry for a week and then I added about 12 oz of maple syrup and 5 days later, bam, this: http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z356/blackwarriorbrewing/IMG_0391.jpg

Is this infection and if so should I rack it out to bottles now

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Chill.

There's all sorts, shapes and colors of stuff that float around in fermenters.

If in fact you did have the "dreaded infection" how would bottling it be a solution ? Just curious as to what the thinking was here.

Caffeine + not much sleep + the first development of this kind I've had = likely overreaction. I had read that some people had racked underneath where growths had formed, with good results, so I didn't know if that would have any bearing here. Not a whole lot of thinking, just anxiety about losing what was a very tasty porter! I'll chill now...

Yep it had something...I let it sit until today on it. I sampled and it was not bad. I have 7.5 gallons on gas and 5.5 more with some toasted coconut flakes, now. I fear I have accidentially created a great beverage that I will never be able to replicate.

While not my personal favorite I am sure to give it a run at the Luau Party next Saturday night. I will have tons of free feedback...lol.

I am getting some crazy activity with a batch of Apfelwein I just put on... In previous batches with the same yeast, all I got was a very thin layer of bubbles. I pitched the dry 1118 about 24 hours ago, but I started seeing this crazy stuff within 12 hours or so. Is this an infection? I have not seen anything like this in any of my previous fermentations.

Active fermentation and high krausen. Doing FINE. Let her be.

M_C

moxie said:

I am getting some crazy activity with a batch of Apfelwein I just put on... In previous batches with the same yeast, all I got was a very thin layer of bubbles. I pitched the dry 1118 about 24 hours ago, but I started seeing this crazy stuff within 12 hours or so. Is this an infection? I have not seen anything like this in any of my previous fermentations.

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Misplaced_Canuck said:

Active fermentation and high krausen. Doing FINE. Let her be.

M_C

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Wow, that takes a load off my mind... I was under the impression that only grain had the enzymes to produce this sort of mess on the surface. I am used to seeing this sort of stuff with hops and such using grain and ale yeast, but I was very concerned with the Apple and champagne yeast! I also got a wee bit of suck back from my airlock after pitching, so I was ultra sensitive. Haha.

Yeah it does look like a regular fermentation, but I have never seen it like that with apflewein.

moxie said:

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Just read this whole thread and there's some really disturbing visuals. This one looks perfect, though.

Super newb question on my first batch of beer. Better safe than sorry. Racked to secondary and these appeared 18 hours later, are these just bubbles? Airlock has a release every 90 seconds or so. American yeast US-05 and 7 days in primary if that helps?

looks like bacteria/mold to me. id rack the beer from the bottom sooner rater than later.

kegtoe said:

looks like bacteria/mold to me. id rack the beer from the bottom sooner rater than later.

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Where do I rack it, keg, until drink? I was thinking of racking to keg and then back after I clean out the carboy again. Would that oxidize the beer too much? I auto-siphon carefully!

Here's a few more pics, thoughts welcome:

Why do so many of you keep beer in your pails or carboys for 2+ months? It doesn't make any sense to me when the majority of beers are ready to bottle in a months time. One of these post was an Irish Red that was in a bucket for 2 months. I'm starting an Irish Red this week and I plan to go 3 weeks tops before I bottle depending on FG readings.

So far I have brewed a Pale Ale, sat for 7 weeks in primary due to it not being my just my beer and not wanting to intrude on my friends brew. Finally I just bottled it when he wasn't home. There are tastes in it that are off, yet still drinkable for the most part.

Next batch was a Hefe, in carboy for 3 weeks hit, FG bottled for 1 1/2 weeks TASTED GREAT. Now at 3 weeks tastes a bit off.

Next batch was Irish Stout. In carboy for 2 weeks, hit just below FG at just 1 week in, but let it sit. Bottled it 15 days ago and tried two of them tonight. I think its the best beer I brewed so far. Still young to tell, but very smooth and tasty and not heavy.

So why 2 months in primary!!!!!!!!

God help me when I get an infection like the few posted (most looked like the normal process of fermenting) as I don't know if I will be able to taste it when I see that shyt in my carboy.

I also want to know how many kids under 21 are on here that the cursing filter needs to be enabled!?

Actually that looks like CO2 bubbles at the top. Give it a small shake and see if the bubbles dissolve. I've seen this in some of my beers, and it was just CO2 bubbles.

M_C

Rynolee said:

Where do I rack it, keg, until drink? I was thinking of racking to keg and then back after I clean out the carboy again. Would that oxidize the beer too much? I auto-siphon carefully!

Here's a few more pics, thoughts welcome:

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Misplaced_Canuck said:

Actually that looks like CO2 bubbles at the top. Give it a small shake and see if the bubbles dissolve. I've seen this in some of my beers, and it was just CO2 bubbles.

M_C

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I second this. My latest brew appeared to be showing small white islands that I mistakenly took for infection until I saw the CO2 bubbles rise from the yeast bed and stick in those islands.

-Aaron

Ugh this thread is disgusting! Here's hoping I never run into this stuff!

Is my beer infected? Never had an infection before. Stuff is yellow/cream colored. looks thick. Beer smells fine (but all I smell are hops). see Pics below..

Story - Attempt to make a beer similar to Lagunitas A Little Sumpin Sumpin. using
WLP550 I went from 1.07 to 1.015 in 2 weeks in primary. then transferred to secondary. Beer tasted great at this point. 1 week later I added 2 ounces of hops and the zest of 1 grapefruit (zest was boiled for 2 minutes prior to adding). Still no sign of infection, very clear. When dry hopping I dropped the rubber stopper, picked it up quickly, rinsed it off with vodka (in hindsight this probably wasn't the best move). Now, 2 weeks later (3 total weeks in secondary) I see this stuff floating on top.







If it's infected, what can I do? Can I drink it? I would hate to chuck this, it's over 8% ABV and has 7.5 ounces of hops! tasted great after primary!

That just looks like chunks of yeast to me. I could be wrong. If it tastes fine, just bottle/keg and see how it comes out.

edt: Sorry I just notice your first paragraph before the pictures. I couldn't tell you at this point if the primary was clear.

I wonder if someone might help me out by giving me their opinion on this one.

I brewed a barleywine in January, and racked to secondary in late Feb. (I know, probably a mistake -- next time I'll just leave it in primary...)

Took a gravity reading a couple weeks ago and it had it the proper FG. Didn't notice any problems at that point. But today I checked and there are now some very mysterious floating things in the secondary (Better Bottle).

They're white or off-white in color. Some are at/near the surface, but most are hanging out in the middle or bottom of the secondary. So I'm wondering if it's an infection. Can someone have a look at these pics and give me an opinion one way or another? Thanks in advance.

Just bottled my beer, still a little weirded out by the huge floating yeast-like clusters, but it tasted absolutely fine. I guess I'll find out in a couple weeks. Thanks for the reply!

Dinklefwat - as for your barley wine I think it looks OK. Those look like they could be yeast clumps to me. Give it a taste if you're worried.

does this look like an infection to anyone? light colored spots spreading across the surface of my primary. they haven't receded and have been there for a good while.

I love this thread. I just started brewing and this makes me relax about destroying my beer even more. Sounds like if you don't panic you can save most everything from being dumped!

Gross, but interesting stuff! Subscribing to this one.