invisible infection ?

can you have an infection in your primary and not see any evidence ? i have seen the pics of white nastiness....and thats kinda obvious you gotta problem. are they all that way ?

I know another way is if your FG is waaaayyy offf.

Here's a pretty decent thread with some pics of different infections:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/post-your-infection-71400/

Not all infections look the same as you can see from the pictures.

yeasty said:

can you have an infection in your primary and not see any evidence ? i have seen the pics of white nastiness....and thats kinda obvious you gotta problem. are they all that way ?

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What is making you worry? Why would you assume you have an infection?

all of those examples look as if something is wrong. i was wondering if it can be infected and have NO VISIBLE signs. i am questioning a batch i brewed that has funky flavor and i never saw anything out of the ordinary and ALL the bottles have it. (before i get the run down of other ways i can get infections i really just want to know about primaries and if you can be infected and not SEE anything)

yeasty said:

all of those examples look as if something is wrong. i was wondering if it can be infected and have NO VISIBLE signs. i am questioning a batch i brewed that has funky flavor and i never saw anything out of the ordinary and ALL the bottles have it. (before i get the run down of other ways i can get infections i really just want to know about primaries and if you can be infected and not SEE anything)

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Can you describe the funky flavor?

And it is possible that the infection wasn't present in your fermenter and showed up somewhere in your bottling/kegging process. That way you never would have seen it.

yeasty said:

can you have an infection in your primary and not see any evidence ?

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Sure - whether or not there an infection produces visible symptoms depends on what kind of critter is the cause.

carnevoodoo said:

Can you describe the funky flavor?

And it is possible that the infection wasn't present in your fermenter and showed up somewhere in your bottling/kegging process. That way you never would have seen it.

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yes i know this. i am wondering about scratches in the plastic fermenter or the spigot not being clean enough. is it possible to have an infection bad enuf to ruin flavor and it gets missed all the way trough bottling ?

so only lacto-infections LOOK gross ?

yeasty said:

so only lacto-infections LOOK gross ?

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A Brettanomyces pellicle is something to behold as well.

Can you describe the 'funky' flavor that you are experiencing?

i have tried in the past. its so subjective. its almost like rancid black licorice ... a very sharp aftertaste.

What did you brew exactly? Maybe the ingredients/what you brewed, will help us figure out what's going on.

the one in particular was a brewers best amber ale. it has never gotten better after months in the bottle. in fact even worse.

the funny thing is i noticed the same off flavor yesterday in a bottle of my robust porter. this particular bottle was one of the last three i bottled of that batch....the very last bottle was almost a bottle bomb because it got some "trub" in it. (the cap was bulged). i know these were the las few bottle because they were in a seperate case for aging. after popping the first one i was like here we go again with this flavor i hate....so i chilled another from early in the bottling order the next day and it tasted fine...no off flavor.

i am thinking either some sort of infection i did not visibly see or taste before bottling or maybe i bottled before it was ready ?

ALL of my brewers best kits tasted the same.

My English Pale Ale, Porter, Russian Imperial Stout, and Cream Ale all had the same weird taste.

I could barely drink them, and everyone else I knew drank them just like a Coors Light after mowing a 2acre lawn on an 85* day. Chugged them. I could barely choke them down. And I like ALL beers.

Advice, move to Partial Mash with Dry Malt Extract, no liquid. I'm convinced the liquid picks up the taste from the cans.

i think you are on to something (although some of them were mini mash but no DME). i have since switched to AHS mini mash kits...

I got an aceto infection once in a batch - there were no visible signs at all - the beer looked great but had a vinegar taste and smell. I bottled it anyway, and after a couple of months it was even worse, almost like drinking straight vinegar. Only batch I ever had to dump, luckily it was only 2 gallons.