Infections

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buggslife

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What do you guys reckon?

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I have a few batches of IPA's fermenting. They are all clearly infected to varying extents, but have you guys got experience with this type?

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It seems to be just top surface layer, so I'm probably going to rack the bulk off and keg or bottle.

Smells great still and this just appeared in the past few days having been in the secondary for couple weeks.

Guessing my sanitation was slack in the secondary stage.

Any advice for this time or future us appreciated (I have been brewing AG and country wines for a few years, don't remember getting this before).
 
RDWHAHB :)

If it is infected with something it's probably not going to kill you, so I say give it a chance. Don't dump it.
 
Uh, yeah, they are most certainly infected. Could be lacto or something like wild yeasts.

I wouldn't dump them yet, though start drinking them sooner than later.
 
Ever think about making a still? Haha kidding. Has anyone ever distilled their actual craft homebrew? I always wondered what would come out of doing that if you happened to use your 'spoiled' beer.
 
bugslife - have you actually tried the beer? I don't see anything that would scream "infection", but does it taste bad? Remember that nothing harmful can grow in beer, so it is always safe to try, no matter what you think is growing in there.
 
Dont dump it. Let ur tastbuds judge it. I just bottled a high gravity holiday ale that had a layer of what Looked liked skummy yeast with bubles even on top. I sampled after racking off into bottling bucket and its the best damn beer I have made so far. Never dump it without tasting it first. You will know if its infected. Doesnt look it to me.
 
Thanks for your input everyone. I've started looking through that thread and it helps to see such variety.

I'll taste mine tonight and, if it is ok, I'll bottle and keg it. If it tastes like it smells then should be ok.
 
That beer is DEFINITELY infected, but it looks like you caught it early. You CAN keg it if it tastes good, and drink it quickly, but DO NOT BOTTLE IT. If there's something in there that can continue to chew on sugars S. Cerevisiae can't, you can end up with bottle bombs.
 
Daksin, you are right. When I originally posted I had caught it early, but last night I went to keg and here is how the infection had developed in bucket 1:


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Whilst bucket 2 was more advanced:


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So, tasted it and it was good. Pretty much what I had aimed for.

Then kegged the lot, leaving behind a lot to minimise the amount of that top layer that got in.

To help reduce the growth of the infection I then purged the head space if the keg with CO2. I know that baddies will still grow back over time, but worth a gamble.

I'll report back when I come around to drinking it, in case it helps anyone else.
 
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