Post your infection

hey guys. I hope this is the right thread. here are a couple of pics of an infection that i have going on in one of my carboys. I tasted it and it still tasted ok. I put it in the keg this morning. not sure what the next step is.

Could someone please inform me of what this infection is, please? I have no idea.

Johnnyhitch1 said:

Craziest Infection ive ever seen!!

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ive got the same one in mine. did anyone ever figure out what this is? i posted 2 new pics on this thread a few minutes ago.

JessGrogan said:

hey guys. I hope this is the right thread. here are a couple of pics of an infection that i have going on in one of my carboys. I tasted it and it still tasted ok. I put it in the keg this morning. not sure what the next step is.

Could someone please inform me of what this infection is, please? I have no idea.

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I'm not sure either, but it's exactly what I had in my bucket the other day.

JessGrogan said:

hey guys. I hope this is the right thread. here are a couple of pics of an infection that i have going on in one of my carboys. I tasted it and it still tasted ok. I put it in the keg this morning. not sure what the next step is.

Could someone please inform me of what this infection is, please? I have no idea.

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That's a nice lacto infection from the look of it

Browningjr said:

are these normal with all the foam bubbles at the top. its a pumpkin ale i started on this past friday

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Mine looks the exact same. Its been in the primary for just under 3 weeks now. I plan on transferring it to a secondary for a week and bottle next weekend. I hope it is normal to have that because of the pumpkin or the spices...

Info: 1 week after Fermentation started, I dry hopped for 2 weeks. Now after 2 weeks there is some formations of white/grayish moldy looking things on the top of my beer clinging on to the hops bag (actually a biab).

The bag was boiled before I added it to the fermenter.
Does it look infected? More pictures can be taken.

It doesn't smell anything (maybe a bit moldy and nail polish remover (aceton)) and it didn't look like this 1 week ago.

http://i.imgur.com/2BZLxyu.jpg
http://imgur.com/jR1DOCB

Btw, these are pictures from 2 different batches, brewed 1 day apart. I did not sanitize my biab, only boiled it for 10 minutes. I guess that was my mistake. Next time I dry hop I will just dump the pellets in.
I will certainly bleach all my equipment thoroughly for next brew day!

Hello, this is a cocunut porter extract recipe I made, the cocunut was toasted and added in three small muslin bags. Safale 04 was used, 2 weeks in the pimary and transferred to the secondary on saturday evening, checked it this morning (monday) and think I see signs of a infection starting. I couldn't really get a good picture, but there's some hazy stuff on inside of the carboy above the water line (picture 1) and a cloudly bubble next to one of the bags (picture 2). Other stuff floating on the surface in the other pics. Sorry about the quality couldnt get my phone camera to focus.

I was thinking this could be starsan bubble residue cause there was a lot of starsan foam in there when I racked the beer in. or it might be some thing from the oils in the coconut. otherwise I think i have lacto infection from the muslin bags. one of the bags I had used for steeping grains. I put it through the wash and gave it a soak in starsan before I used it, but I probably should have boiled it and the other two aswell.

I was wondering should I just rack it off now to my bottling bucket and bottle up before it gets worse? It tasted GREAT before I put the coconut in.

[EDIT] cant seem to attach the pics, here's the links:

http://imgur.com/sin179E
http://imgur.com/KREaSw8
http://imgur.com/2KUL6Dq
http://imgur.com/SZmPFK6
http://imgur.com/fj5lsd8

frug said:

Hello, this is a cocunut porter extract recipe I made...I couldn't really get a good picture...Sorry about the quality couldnt get my phone camera to focus....

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Are you sure these weren't taken with the Hubble Telescope before they fixed it?

Ha!! yeah they're pretty dodgy photos alright. I'll try get some better ones this evening when I get home.

haagiboy said:

Info: 1 week after Fermentation started, I dry hopped for 2 weeks. Now after 2 weeks there is some formations of white/grayish moldy looking things on the top of my beer clinging on to the hops bag (actually a biab).

The bag was boiled before I added it to the fermenter.
Does it look infected? More pictures can be taken.

It doesn't smell anything (maybe a bit moldy and nail polish remover (aceton)) and it didn't look like this 1 week ago.

http://i.imgur.com/2BZLxyu.jpg
http://imgur.com/jR1DOCB

Btw, these are pictures from 2 different batches, brewed 1 day apart. I did not sanitize my biab, only boiled it for 10 minutes. I guess that was my mistake. Next time I dry hop I will just dump the pellets in.
I will certainly bleach all my equipment thoroughly for next brew day!

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You got a huge amount of fabric in that bucket!
Plenty of surface for bugs to cling on and hide. Your BIAB bag is covered with lacto and other bugs from the grain. Boiling it will sanitize it to some extend, but won't sterilize it. Molds are known to be tenacious, or something could have stuck to your bag after boiling.

The acetone smell may be the indication something is wrong. If the white spots look furry, it is mold. And that is never good in a beer, AFAIK.

Other bugs like lacto, pedio, or aceto will turn your beer sour. Bret and wild yeasts also change your beer. With those you may or may not end up with yummy beer. Some people have been successful carefully scooping off the mold rafts and save the beer. If the infestation is deeper, most likely not. You can taste some of the beer, and take it from there.

Use a roomy but much smaller "hop bag" next time and make sure it was boiled and then soaked in Starsan and agitated periodically for at least an hour. Or just drop 'em in without a bag. And filter out when racking.

frug said:

Ha!! yeah they're pretty dodgy photos alright. I'll try get some better ones this evening when I get home.

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It could be just coconut fat floating there. It's hard to tell. If it is an infection it will spread and you'll know it in a few days.

The cloudy bubbles are the real warning sign for me though... Could it be the starsan that the bags were soaked in catching co2 and foaming up? I've never used SS before.

There was another thread recently where the brewer added coconut and it turned into an infection. I'm not sure if coconut flakes are safe to be added without some form of pasteurization. Toasting alone may not do enough.

The muslin (cloth) bags can trap all sorts of things. I prefer nylon bags, and even then...

Starsan foam would have dissipated by now.

okay... i definately think it's the bags.. I had used one before for steeping, and I read today that is quite bad for lacto infections since they live on the raw grains. I might bottle tomorrow so before it gets any worse.

here's some marginally better pics

http://i.imgur.com/OhmErql.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EefRJ4O.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/CDLVov7.jpg

haagiboy said:

Info: 1 week after Fermentation started, I dry hopped for 2 weeks. Now after 2 weeks there is some formations of white/grayish moldy looking things on the top of my beer clinging on to the hops bag (actually a biab).

The bag was boiled before I added it to the fermenter.
Does it look infected? More pictures can be taken.

It doesn't smell anything (maybe a bit moldy and nail polish remover (aceton)) and it didn't look like this 1 week ago.

http://i.imgur.com/2BZLxyu.jpg
http://imgur.com/jR1DOCB

Btw, these are pictures from 2 different batches, brewed 1 day apart. I did not sanitize my biab, only boiled it for 10 minutes. I guess that was my mistake. Next time I dry hop I will just dump the pellets in.
I will certainly bleach all my equipment thoroughly for next brew day!

Click to expand...

Dude...save yourself time and effort and just drop those pellets (or cones/leaves) right in to the bucket. I would wait more than 1wk too, typical is 3rd week drop em in and bottle 4th week if FG reached. Don't ever let anything touch your beer unless it has been treated with star san first no matter how clean it may be...

does dry hopping with cones without a bag result in less hop dust and hazy gunk when it comes time to syphon for bottling?

I guess I should to see if it definitely is an infection or just the fat from the coconut rather than bottle in a panic. there has been little growth in the "infection".. I would have expected it to be exponential. it still smells good.

frug said:

I guess I should to see if it definitely is an infection or just the fat from the coconut rather than bottle in a panic. there has been little growth in the "infection".. I would have expected it to be exponential. it still smells good.

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That sounds better
You really scared me when I read your intent to bottle. Bottling won't stop an infection, but will create bottle bombs instead. That's why you have to make sure all fermentation has stopped before bottling.

I was at the National Homebrewers Conference this year and we were given cans of some craft beer. They were hard as a rock. Well, during those few days they started to explode left and right. The beer was gushing when opened, tasted slightly sour, but was actually very drinkable, and refreshing, partly due to the super-carbonation. Some bug must have gotten in during transfer to the canning truck, unless it happened earlier on. Some cans were worse than others, which is strange. If they had been bottles, the story would not be as funny.

See the yeasts we normally use run out of simpler sugars they can ferment and go dormant. Some wild yeasts and most bacteria aren't hampered by the larger sugar molecules and gobble most everything, down to 0.

brewnewb1 said:

Not sure if this is an infection or not. Was really hard to get a picture of it through the krausen up top. Its a pale ale. Been in the carboy for 5 days. Hoping it clears up.

View attachment 148129

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So this has cleared up a bit, but there are still some bubbles on top. Maybe air bubbles or something? It hasn't finished fermenting but it doesn't seem like there's anything too crazy going on...

I've had a Belgian Tripel in secondary for 2 months. I only noticed this yesterday, but something has developed along one edge of the surface that has me worried it might be an infection. Attached are images. Feedback would be appreciated.

↑ meep meep ↑

Sorry to bump, but really eager for some feedback on these shots.

I get that all the time. Not sure why so long in secondary for an ale though?

rode_orm said:

↑ meep meep ↑

Sorry to bump, but really eager for some feedback on these shots.

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I guess no-one really knows the answer How does it look today? Any different? Infections like lacto can spread quickly. Brett takes its time. Is there anything in that beer that could cause that?

daggers_nz said:

I get that all the time. Not sure why so long in secondary for an ale though?

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Not that it should make a difference but yeah, why the long time in the fermentor? Are you long time conditioning/aging?

When I harvest yeast and let the slurry settle in a large jar, after 2 weeks I sometimes see some small whitish deposits along the side. Not as much as yours, though. Maybe it's from the yeast.

Just an observation, that beer looks very dark for a tripel.

The two months time in secondary was per the instructions of the kit. Bulk conditioning. It does look quite dark there -- lightens up in a smaller vessel though.

I don't think it has grown in the three days I've been aware of it so hopefully that's a good sign..

When I use a blow off I get a white sticky residue on the outside of the tube where it enters the Starsan filled container. Maybe they are coagulated proteins coming out of the beer?

casesensative said:

Is this an infection? Never had this little 'white film on top' look before, this is the closest thing I've ever had to something looking like it might be an infection. Thanks in advance for the input.

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Just an update on this one, I bottled it anyways, and kept it cool. It only got worse and was completely undrinkable. I won't bother wasting my time with infected batches anymore, I'll dump them outright.

Friday was a sad day for me. I took the lid off my conical and saw the following. It had a bitter taste to it but I kegged it anyway leaving the top gallon behind. Hopefully it settles down and is drinkable.. Its a pumpkin porter and I think it caught something when my immersion chiller sprung a leak and dripped nasty hose water into my kettle.

kevy_kev said:

Friday was a sad day for me. I took the lid off my conical and saw the following. It had a bitter taste to it but I kegged it anyway leaving the top gallon behind. Hopefully it settles down and is drinkable.. Its a pumpkin porter and I think it caught something when my immersion chiller sprung a leak and dripped nasty hose water into my kettle.

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Ewwwww....no bueno. The dreaded "broken ice pack..." look. Tough luck, sucks had to be the seasonal beer.

I'm not sure if I have an infection or not. This is an Arrogant Bastard Clone. It was in primary for two weeks, secondary for two weeks. My final gravity was supposed to come in at 1.018, but I'm at 1.010. I may have mashed a little on the cool side for a little longer than I was supposed to. I don't recall exactly through. The stuff on the top on the low FG has me concerned.

Do I have an infection, or am I just paranoid? (Smell and taste seem ok)

Paranoid. All good man enjoy your beer in a couple more weeks. And put that cover back on!!

TPD2245 said:

I'm not sure if I have an infection or not. This is an Arrogant Bastard Clone. It was in primary for two weeks, secondary for two weeks. My final gravity was supposed to come in at 1.018, but I'm at 1.010. I may have mashed a little on the cool side for a little longer than I was supposed to. I don't recall exactly through. The stuff on the top on the low FG has me concerned.

Do I have an infection, or am I just paranoid? (Smell and taste seem ok)

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Those are just CO2 bubbles.

Why is there a krausen ring in your secondary? Why do you secondary in a bucket with so much headspace?

Actually, now that I think about it, I may have forgotten to move it to a secondary. I sometimes secondary in a bucket if I am going to bulk condition it for a while or if I just want to have a cleaner product going into my bottling bucket. So why did my FG come in so low??

Not infected, although if you keep taking the lid off like that with so much head space, you'll risk oxidizing it.

TPD2245 said:

So why did my FG come in so low??

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Could be a number of things. As you mentioned, you may have mashed too low, producing a more fermentable wort than intended. Maybe you fermented too warm, causing your yeast to be a little too enthusiastic. Maybe you used a particularly high-attenuating yeast strain. I wouldn't worry about infection unless a) there were obvious visual cues, or b) the gravity gets down below 1.005 and keeps dropping.

Looks good to me!

Figured I'd add one. It's a red ale. been in fermenter for 12 days and went for a gravity reading. It looks normal to me except for a slight whitish layer on it. Smells totally normal and took a taste and it tastes like beer but seemed to dry my mouth out but that may have just been in my head :cross:

JessGrogan said:

hey guys. I hope this is the right thread. here are a couple of pics of an infection that i have going on in one of my carboys. I tasted it and it still tasted ok. I put it in the keg this morning. not sure what the next step is.

Could someone please inform me of what this infection is, please? I have no idea.

Click to expand...

Yep. Looks like lacto. Toss that badboy in a glass carboy and let it ride. You may end up with a nice sour in a year or so.

Buhay - looks fine to me. If you used Star San, you can sometimes get some white-ish spots or covering. Happy brewing!

RedShirt said:

Buhay - looks fine to me. If you used Star San, you can sometimes get some white-ish spots or covering. Happy brewing!

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I used iodophor but Im gonna bottle this weekend anyway and I'm sure it will be good to go.

Third day of fermentation for this stout with whitbread 1099....beautiful krausen for a day and a half then dropped, then these little islands startd showing. Haven't seen this in any of my brews. What does this look like to all of you? Thanks!