First Contaminated batch...

http://s114.photobucket.com/albums/n259/Graeme22/Beer/?action=view&current=P5290100.jpg

Well, Went to bottle an amber ale the other day and opened the fermenter to this. This all happened in the last week as when I took a FG reading it looked fine, and I'm guessing something caused it when taking the reading, despite keeping to my normal sanitation methods. Can anybody from experience identify this type of contamination? Had to dump the batch, it smelled like varnish and tasted really bitter and medicinal, definitely undrinkable.

Thanks,
Graeme

That sucks dude, I feel your pain. I dont know whatkind of infection it is, Im sure someone will confirm it for you, good luck in the future.

Just had this happen to a wit, same kind of flakey white shiz floating around. The beer smelled so good as I was dumping it down the drain... blood oranges and ruby red grapefruit...

If you have the container, why not try racking from under it and saving for later?

orangehero said:

If you have the container, why not try racking from under it and saving for later?

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Is that for me or swankyswede? As I said, mine was rank, and totally undrinkable. I'm all about the idea of salvaging a batch of beer at all costs, but not in these circumstances.

Swankyswede - I feel your pain! It really sucked dumping mine, it was a small batch (2.5 gallons) fermented in a 5 gallon fermenter, the large headspace in the fermenter may have contributed to the nasties getting in, or as I said in my original post, perhaps my sanitation went awry. Either way, I wish someone was able to identify this what this could be!

Two years ago I had a contaminated batch. It didn't smell that bad, but the taste was vomit, literally. I had to run to the bathroom to spit it out. The problem was that I was fermenting in a bucket for primary (I don't use bucket anymore) and I was so busy that I had to leave it there for like 2 weeks before going to secondary. Also, the lid couldn't close completely since there was a lot of apples floating (it was an apple beer I had did successfully before). I was also very lazy on sanitation the time I made this beer...

Hey Undead. Always horrible to dump a batch, however, two weeks fermentation time in a bucket is not at all excessive, I ferment all of my beers in buckets and have never had a problem before. My ESB was in there for 4 weeks and it's the best beer I've brewed. A good seal is definitely a plus and thankfully mine seem to have a very tigh seal, as you said, sometimes sanitation can go awry, I've always been very conscious about sanitation and I will be very more so now.

At some stage I think I will start to use glass carboys but more or less for bigger beers that need allot of time. For now I'll be bumping that bucket down to grain storage!

Nothing wrong with buckets at all. MANY people prefer them to carboys because they are easy to carry and easy to clean. I've done many a batch in a bucket with NO problems. Some people don't even get a good seal on them. Doesn't matter.

That said, your infection could have come from the bucket, just like it could have come from ANY fermentation vessel. it has to be clean and sanitized, and should not have any scratches that can harbour bacteria.

2 weeks is nothing for a bucket. I've got a Saison that's been in there for like 5 weeks. As soon as I get my CO2 tank filled up (picking it up from the gas store tonight) it's going into the keg. I anticipate zero issues due to bucket.

Now if I were lagering or bulk aging, I'd use a glass carboy, but mostly because there is less risk of oxidation due to poor seal over the several months, and because I have a glass carboy and would like to use it for something once in a while.

Undead8 said:

Two years ago I had a contaminated batch. It didn't smell that bad, but the taste was vomit, literally. I had to run to the bathroom to spit it out. The problem was that I was fermenting in a bucket for primary (I don't use bucket anymore) and I was so busy that I had to leave it there for like 2 weeks before going to secondary. Also, the lid couldn't close completely since there was a lot of apples floating (it was an apple beer I had did successfully before). I was also very lazy on sanitation the time I made this beer...

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It's not the bucket's fault...

Well I could not identify the cause of the contamination. The bucket was just a possibility. Like I said, I couldn't even close the lid because of the floating apples. It was open on the sides. It could also be the apples themselves that caused it..

Edit: I could also add that my bucket was scratched a lot. Conclusion: A lot of thing could have caused the infection!!

Undead8 said:

Well I could not identify the cause of the contamination. The bucket was just a possibility. Like I said, I couldn't even close the lid because of the floating apples. It was open on the sides. It could also be the apples themselves that caused it..

Edit: I could also add that my bucket was scratched a lot. Conclusion: A lot of thing could have caused the infection!!

Click to expand...

I have quite a bit less sympathy for after saying that mate! You were pretty much asking for your beer to become contaminated. Plastick buckets are cheap, if they are scratched, replace them. Dumping that small batch was painful and I don't want to have to do it again, particularly with a larger batch

It probably did occur when you opened the bucket. One week is ample time for that amount of growth, especially when oxygen is introduced to the headspace. Things to consider as contamination sources: hair, breathing, air circulation...

The apples could definitely be a source, too. This would depend on how they were prepared prior to being added to the bucket.

I think the fact that it was a small batch with allot of headspace gave way to something when I opened the bucket.

Just to be clear though, the apple beer wasn't mine, that's Undead.