Killing an infection

I have 3 gallons of Belgian Golden Strong Ale that has developed a pellicle. I've seen it before, and have successfully racked under it. I tried that this time, and it's in secondary now. The white film is returning.

Can I kill this infection by freezing my beer? I'd intended to bottle this, but can keg it just as easily.

What do you think?

I wouldn't suggest bottling anything that has an infection unless you're positive you've killed it.

Add some Potassium Metabisulfite (Campden) and hope it helps.

Yeah, I won't bottle if it's infected. I've had a hefeweizen with this particular white powdery layer on top before, and it didn't create any off-flavours. Hopefully the same with this.

Anyone else?

White and powdery doesn't always mean it's infected. Chances are, you were seeing yeast and krausen.

I don't think so... The beer is now in a secondary vessel and is growing the same white powdery film again. I don't think it's yeast, but bacterial.

I've seen something like that in a friend's brew. We skimmed it off and bottled. From the 50 or so resulting bottle, only one had an off taste.

The fact that this one turned out OK could mean nothing, but I would skim it and go ahead and bottle it.

I'd really like to see a picture if you could get one. It may just be a mold. In that case, it probably wouldn't effect the taste or smell of the beer as long as you scoop it off fairly soon.

Take a big swig and see what it tastes like...

Kidding of course. Infections suck man, hope it turns out okay for you.

I'll post a photo tonight.

Amity said:

I'll post a photo tonight.

Click to expand...

You forgot to post the photo

Freezing does not kill most bacteria and would be detrimental to your yeast as they are more temperature sensitive than bacteria.

Campden tablets (sodium or potassium metabisulfite) are a better bet, but may not kill all bacteria unless dosed fairly high, which could lead to sulfur off-flavors now that your fermentation has slowed and there is less CO2 offgassing. You might have to let your beer sit for a while longer if you used Campden. Look into winemaking documents on campden use for finished products.

Sterile filtration (<0.2 micron) is a more extreme option, but could strip out some flavor and might require a lot of filters.

Pasteurization is another option, but might also remove flavors.

DaBills said:

You forgot to post the photo

Click to expand...

dont rush him! Ha!