Is this an infection? I can't tell

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

KJoseph

Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Location
Somerville
Hey,

So I'm brewing an Imperial IPA. I was wicked strict about sanitation (I'm a microbiologist), using StarSan religiously on EVERYTHING. The recipe:

19.6 lbs of Malt Extract, + DME, and 1 extra lb of dextrose

2 oz Warrior hops at the beginning of boil (90 minute)
1 oz Warrior hops at 60 minutes
1 oz Simcoe hops at 45 minutes
1 oz Falconer's Flight at 30 minutes
3/4 tsp Irish moss at the 15 minute mark
1 lb of Dextrose at the 10 minute mark
1 oz of Falconer's Flight & 1 oz of Simcoe hops at the remaining 5 minutes.

pitched 2 packets of US-05 ale yeast, and hopefully ferment between 67F and 74F. First two days were at 80F, I simply couldn't control the ferocious fermentation released energy that was going on.

Now I check it around 13 days later, and this is what I see. It smells good though, and no weird film, just these orange circles floating on the top. Is this bacteria? I can't tell if its hops or not.

I have a pretty good nose for bacteria and mold, I've worked with a ton of it. These patterns of small colonies strike me as potential contamination though, however the orange definitely would scream mold to me if it was between bacteria or mold.

Picture 78.jpg


Picture 77.jpg
 
Looks like yeast rafts! I use US-05 all the time and I usually get that a little on the top layer of beer but more frequently it gets built up on the top edges of the carboy from when it was producing a large krausen and then settled down and dried.

I wouldn't worry.
 
Phew. Thank you. I wasn't too worried because it smells GREAT. It is still fermenting quite a bit, so I will rest easy and let it do what its going to do.
 
Back
Top