Infection - Gonna bottle anyway

Looks like I have my first infection. I popped the lid of my double chocolate oatmeal stout and it smelled fruity. I tasted the beer and, quite honestly, it doesn't taste bad at all. Its a touch sour, which maybe isn't a bad characteristic for a stout. Maybe this is some kind of lactic infection? I'm gonna bottle anyhow. Is this a mistake?

That's probably not infection. Bottle it and sample in a couple weeks. I'll bet the sourness you are tasting is from the roasted barley.

Good to hear. I actually used some pretty old yeast in this one that was resurrected from a bottle of a similar recipe I brewed a year ago. See thread here. So there was a few extra infection opportunities in this one.

I was checking out the infection thread and mine isn't "bubbly" like those infections, but there is definitely a skin and some white floaters. Maybe just remnant of the cocoa...

Added recipe for reference:

Fermentables
================================================================================
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Pale Malt (2 Row) US Grain 7.000 lb Yes No 79% 2 L
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L Grain 16.000 oz Yes No 74% 80 L
Chocolate Malt (US) Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 60% 350 L
Roasted Barley Grain 10.000 oz Yes No 55% 300 L
Barley, Flaked Grain 16.000 oz Yes No 70% 2 L
Oats, Flaked Grain 16.000 oz Yes No 80% 1 L
Total grain: 11.125 lb

Hops
================================================================================
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Cascade 5.0% 1.500 oz Boil 1.000 hr Pellet 23.8
Cascade 5.0% 0.500 oz Aroma 5.000 min Pellet 0.0

Misc
================================================================================
Name Type Use Amount Time
Whirlfloc Fining Boil 1.000 tsp 5.000 min
Cocoa Flavor Boil 5.000 oz 10.000 min

Yeast
================================================================================
Name Type Form Amount Stage
White Labs - WLP004 Ale Liquid 1.000 qt Primary

Yep. Infection. You can bottle it though be sure the FG is low enough so you don't get bottle bombs. Drink it fast too.

i bet 400 years ago they kegged it anyway too!

I had a tripel beer I bottled and it obviously some where it got infected 25 bottles in Belgium bottles w/ corks after a month it tasted like a mushroom grown on a dirty sock!
forgot about the beer left it in a closet 6+ months chilled one and sampled it and it was fantastic! had my wife try a sip and i couldn't get the glass back from her. point being if it isn't good let it age sometimes magic happens!

I've had yeast rafts from certain strains of yeast that leave the surface of the beer looking like that. I don't think it is infected either. I think the sourness is co2 and the roasted barley and that you will be fine.

rugman said:

i bet 400 years ago they kegged it anyway too!

Click to expand...

HELL YEAH!
Infection or not, this has been bottled.

I wanted to try some different things with this beer. As a Double Chocolate Oatmeal
Stout, this sucker has a lot going already. Not being satisfied with this I have:

put about 1.5 gals over cherries in a secondary to be bottled later
added lactose to 8 bottles for a Double Chocolate Oatmeal Milk Stout
added malto-dextrine to 8 bottles to see how it will affect mouth feel
added both lactose and malto-dextrine to another 8 bottles to see how they do together
bottled 13 straight up

I should have some fun taste testing these combinations in the near future.

Thanks everybody

Doesn't look like an infection to me either. I say bottle up and enjoy.

resurrecting an old thread I've got a picture that's similar to yours. did it turn out as an infection? were you able to mask it with your additions?