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Misplaced_Canuck said:
That's CO2 being released. RDWHAHB.

M_C
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Good call...I'll grab one and the grill by the pool later lol. On a side note, I checked in again this morning on the brew and it looks a little better today. I can see a bunch of little yeasties floating around the edge of the carboy and less of the rafts up top, so I'm not as worried now.
 
First Batch in primary.....total wrong thread to read, but I just had to look at EVERY single photo!

However, now I'm getting paranoid--- before I read this I went an opened my Ale Pail for the first time to get a gravity reading. Looked okay, but I remember 2 things that happened that really are starting to worry me after seeing this thread:
1) When I sealed the lid back up, although I was careful, a drop of the water dripped down from the airlock when the lid jerked
2) When I reached in to get my sample, with only half of the lid unsealed and pried up (didn't want to spill the airlock water), The top of my hand brushed against the underside of the lid. I previously washed my hands, but we all know what germs lie on our hands even after washing.

Someone please tell me I am okay..? If I did infect it, how long would it take to show? I am transferring to secondary tomorrow, then bottling after about 1-2 weeks. Will I see it, if in fact it is in there lurking?
 
t_money662 said:
First Batch in primary.....total wrong thread to read, but I just had to look at EVERY single photo!

However, now I'm getting paranoid--- before I read this I went an opened my Ale Pail for the first time to get a gravity reading. Looked okay, but I remember 2 things that happened that really are starting to worry me after seeing this thread:
1) When I sealed the lid back up, although I was careful, a drop of the water dripped down from the airlock when the lid jerked
2) When I reached in to get my sample, with only half of the lid unsealed and pried up (didn't want to spill the airlock water), The top of my hand brushed against the underside of the lid. I previously washed my hands, but we all know what germs lie on our hands even after washing.

Someone please tell me I am okay..? If I did infect it, how long would it take to show? I am transferring to secondary tomorrow, then bottling after about 1-2 weeks. Will I see it, if in fact it is in there lurking?
Click to expand...

#1) The first time I pulled the lid on my first batch, it sucked about half the contents of the airlock (I had bleach water in it) into the brew. I now use vodka in the airlocks. Anyway, that batch is in bottles now and tastes fine.

#2) Have a spray bottle of Star San on hand and when it doubt spray it. Every time I pull the lid/airlock for a gravity reading I spray the underside of the lid and stem of the airlock before I put them back on.

It's all good man...RDWHAHB! :mug:
 
Here's mine
qqhDH.jpg

GGRAs.jpg

Its a mild with oak cubes in secondary for about a month.
 
I brewed nb a nut brown ale. put it in a glass carboy to 2ndary almost 2 weeks ago. Doesn't looks so good. I don't have photos right now. I'm pretty sure it's infected. There is stuff floated on the top, whitesh in color. It has shapes to it. The airlock has been putting out gas. There is white stuff sitting on the lines in the carboy. Looks like powder. I moved the carboy and it fell off to the bottom. I smelled the gas from the airlock, smells normal, but I know the stuff inside is not normal. I was pretty excited about the nutbrown. I am still considering bottling it. I am pretty disappointed.
 
ENS said:
I brewed nb a nut brown ale. put it in a glass carboy to 2ndary almost 2 weeks ago. Doesn't looks so good. I don't have photos right now. I'm pretty sure it's infected. There is stuff floated on the top, whitesh in color. It has shapes to it. The airlock has been putting out gas. There is white stuff sitting on the lines in the carboy. Looks like powder. I moved the carboy and it fell off to the bottom. I smelled the gas from the airlock, smells normal, but I know the stuff inside is not normal. I was pretty excited about the nutbrown. I am still considering bottling it. I am pretty disappointed.
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I think the point of this thread, which should be obvious, is that it is totally pointless to worry that you might be infected. If you are, age it out, siphon out from under the grossness on top, and give it as much time as you can stand. If it sucks all you've wasted is time, and you planned on not having that carboy for a while anyway, right?

Noobs might not be able to be so relaxed, the stress of wanting to know now that everything is fine is overwhelming. But try, try to relax. Remind yourself of the number of posts in this thread that ended with "it turned out good."

*I suppose if you do have to dump your beer you've also wasted your initial investment, but no matter how long you wait you've already Los that. Most of the time though a moderate infection will lose its ability to make your beer taste bad over time. Some of them won't. And in those cases, you will have wasted a lot of time. But IMO, it's got a good risk/reward ratio as a philosophy.
 
Dangit I got another infection! Anyone feel like taking a peek? it's Zack and Jack's African Amber clone. Been in primary for about a month and a half. Yeast is washed from previous batch.

Is it possible that a piece of equipment used in making my starter or washed yeast could continue through to my final product? The starter smelled fine.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae88/WakeMikey/Random/AGBrew4069.jpg
 
Suthrncomfrt1884 said:
Well, here's my latest batch of oktoberfest. This is a live and learn type situation. It was my first lager. I got rushed into make this beer and didn't have time to make a starter. I shouldn't have brewed, but I did. It took over 48 hours for the yeast to kick in, so I think I managed to pick up an infection during that time. I believe this is acetobacter, but I'm not throwing it out just in case.

infection.jpg


It's not a good picture because the krausen never fell back into the beer, but you can see on the right side that there's a white wax-like substance floating on top.
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If it is Aceto look at it like this, you have 5 gallons of some damn fine malt vinegar! Fish and chips anyone?
 
Threw some grain dust in 3 gallons scottish ale base, lacto I guess?
5919166562_05814a614f.jpg

Initial innoculation was the juniper yeast.
 
This is my American Light after three days in the primary. It was incredibly active. You could see stuff rising and falling for days. The airlock bubbled every 3 seconds. The white stuff on the side of the Carboy never settled out and there was never a significant amount of krausen. I was worried about infection since it was only my second batch and I rehydrated the yeast before pitching it.

image-2469248992.jpg
 
CaptKaos said:
This is my American Light after three days in the primary. It was incredibly active. You could see stuff rising and falling for days. The airlock bubbled every 3 seconds. The white stuff on the side of the Carboy never settled out and there was never a significant amount of krausen. I was worried about infection since it was only my second batch and I rehydrated the yeast before pitching it.
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Hard to tell with the small picture, but you wouldn't have a pellicle after 3 days.
 
Here is a better pic of it in the secondary. The first post was in the primary. There are only a few floaters in it now.

image-1251369438.jpg


image-751133905.jpg
 
Vance71975 said:
If it is Aceto look at it like this, you have 5 gallons of some damn fine malt vinegar! Fish and chips anyone?
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I recognize the white "islands" from my "infections" that stated with French Saison yeast. I've seen these islands several times and they are not an infection.
 
COLObrewer said:
Threw some grain dust in 3 gallons scottish ale base, lacto I guess?
5919166562_05814a614f.jpg

Initial innoculation was the juniper yeast.
Click to expand...

As infection / mutated yeast expert I've seen this several times. Always came out tasting like puke. My observation if you leave it alone at warm temperature that those bubbles grow like crazy and very quick. I was never able to salvage a beer from something like this.
 
My dead guy clone got sick. This is after 10 weeks. It goes from almost nothing to a massive pile of bubbles then back to something like this. Kind of interesting. I'm tempted to pull a taste of it.

image-1623730399.jpg


image-2449486499.jpg
 
paraordnance said:
Microbiology is fascinating at times, looking at these pictures. I monitor my first ever brew in secondary (now) every 6 hours looking out for a similar stuff, but so far so good, soon or later I most likely will contribute to this thread. :tank:
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Just curious...I hope your secondary isn't a plastic bucket...wouldn't the opening and looking at it every 6 hours increase the chances of infection?? I don't think I will ever secondary.
 
TacoBrew said:
My dead guy clone got sick. This is after 10 weeks. It goes from almost nothing to a massive pile of bubbles then back to something like this. Kind of interesting. I'm tempted to pull a taste of it.
Click to expand...

whacha waiting for? inquiring minds want to know.
 
I seem to have this same infection once every year... Pretty darn sure that this isn't co2 or yeast. Tends to make the beer very sour. As of now, the flavor isn't bad, just a hint of sourness. If I can pull from the center and leave the s#!t on top in the bucket, I could force carb quickly and maybe drink the majority of it quick.

Infection 7.6.11.jpg
 
By the way, I do secondary in plastic buckets, but I don't like it, opens me up to infections, maybe 5 gallons out of 200, and would love to switch to glass only or even better stainless, or even better pressure fermenting in kegs.
 
FWIW I always secondary in buckets, because if I am doing a secondary it's because I've added fruit or something like that which is a PITA to do in a carboy.
 
image-3861973973.jpg

Any thoughts on this? I'm thinking it is just CO2 releasing but the larger bubbles have me slightly concerned. It is a Kentucky Common brewed August 6th with US-05 yeast.
 
nspaldi0 said:
View attachment 31921

Any thoughts on this? I'm thinking it is just CO2 releasing but the larger bubbles have me slightly concerned. It is a Kentucky Common brewed August 6th with US-05 yeast.
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The belgian I did on the 7th looks identical to that. I think it's just CO2 trapped under larger bubbles reinforced by fermentation byproducts or yeast sludge. Mine hasn't changed in appearance in at least 4 days, so I highly doubt it's an infection or it would be spreading.
 
If it tastes good bottle it, keep your eye on it and segregate it, I think i had a lacto.So i paraniodidy cooled it after a few weeks, i have since took them back out and letting them age.Im not going to be afraid,i will bottle and drink it, lacto or not its great.Im not standing for a better aged beer for a greenish one.
 
ive had stuff floating on top of my primary. ive thought it was yeast, but i thought the yeast should settle on the bottom. its brown and can be clomped together in sometimes two inch clomps, but hasnt affected the taste of the beer. any ideas. I didnt take a pic but plan on a pumpkin ale soon. If it happens again ill post a pic.
 
I don't have a picture and I'm pretty sure it may not even be a contaminated batch but I'm just trying to put to rest the little doubt I have. I have a batch of wit that's been in the primary for 3 weeks(carboys where full) it finished out at a bone dry 1.004 and taste green as usually but not bad, but there was some floaters in it that kind of looked like small flecks of skin. Yeast? Contaminant? There was not a lot but enough and they were small. Anyone else see anything like this?
 
bchurch said:
I don't have a picture and I'm pretty sure it may not even be a contaminated batch but I'm just trying to put to rest the little doubt I have. I have a batch of wit that's been in the primary for 3 weeks(carboys where full) it finished out at a bone dry 1.004 and taste green as usually but not bad, but there was some floaters in it that kind of looked like small flecks of skin. Yeast? Contaminant? There was not a lot but enough and they were small. Anyone else see anything like this?
Click to expand...

You said it was a batch of Wit, Orange Peel maybe?
 
I used a very fine mesh bag for the spices so I don't think it's orange peel but anything is possible. I also used pellet hops so it's not from the hops. It's curious and I didn't add any sugar but it still went way down to 1.004.
 

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