1st Batch Infection Thread (Obligatory?)

First batch. Everything went well cooking and primary fermentor looked a little gross but mostly just like beer. Put it in secondary fermentor after about 5 days. Shoulda waited a little longer as there is still stuff accumulating at the bottom. regardless that shouldnt be a problem just a little less clear, anyways thats all background stuff. Problem: it stopped bubbling a couple of days ago and I know that is pretty normal but now there are just some bubbles chillin at the top. They arnt that white but I cant really tell if they are going any where. The thing that scares us the most is some white stuff not on the beer itself but kinda up on the sides of carboy from the top of the beer to the cork. we opened it up and smelled it and it smelled kinda sour but were not too sure, it coulda been our sensing just thinking the worst. here are some pics the first and last ones are decent:


http://yfrog.com/1simg3758j last one wouldnt embed, just click through

Dude looks fine to me...I'm sure other people will confirm.

If it tastes fine drink it

That buildup you're talking about is nothing more than the yeasties taking a break on the sides of your carboy. Had a similar thing happen on about two batches-they both turned out fine.

Also-5 days is a bit quick to be transferring to a secondary. Have you taken gravity readings to make sure fermentation was complete?

Looks fine dude. Next time, don't worry about using a secondary. Wait (at least) a couple weeks, take hydrometer readings for a couple consecutive days to make sure it's done, and you're good to bottle or keg.

Looks like first batch new brewer hypochondria to me,in other words perfectly normal!!!

drinkbeer said:

Shoulda waited a little longer as there is still stuff accumulating at the bottom. regardless that shouldnt be a problem just a little less clear,

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Won't be any less clear. It's still gonna settle out in the secondary. That's what the secondary is most commonly for anyways.

Problem: it stopped bubbling a couple of days ago and I know that is pretty normal

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Just to nip this in the bud - don't concern yourself with bubbling (assuming you're talking about the airlock).

but now there are just some bubbles chillin at the top. They arnt that white but I cant really tell if they are going any where.

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It's just CO2. This is normal.

The thing that scares us the most is some white stuff not on the beer itself but kinda up on the sides of carboy from the top of the beer to the cork.

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It's just yeast. Nothing to worry about. You probably transferred to the secondary a little bit too early so it was still fermenting and that threw yeast up the sides.

we opened it up and smelled it and it smelled kinda sour but were not too sure, it coulda been our sensing just thinking the worst.

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Yeah, it's not going to smell the best. You've got yeast chilling out in the open and there's a thick blanket of CO2. It's going to smell a little sour.

bonzombiekitty said:

Won't be any less clear. It's still gonna settle out in the secondary. That's what the secondary is most commonly for anyways.

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Actually that's debateable.....many of us who leave our beers a month in primary, think our beers are actually clearer and better tasting from letting the yeast clean them up rather that just using a secondary. I've gotten great judging comments about the clarity and taste of my beers that reflect it.

You will find that many of us leave our beers in primary for 3-4 weeks and only secondary if we are adding fruit or oak, or to dry hop (though many of us dry hop in primary now as well)....and we have found our beer vastly improved by letting the beer stay in contact with the yeast.

There's been a big shift in brewing consciousness in the last few years where many of us believe that yeast is a good thing, and besides just fermenting the beer, that they are fastidious creatures who go back and clean up any by products created by themselves during fermentation, which may lead to off flavors.

Rather than the yeast being the cause of off flavors, it is now looked at by many of us, that they will if left alone actually remove those off flavors, and make for clearer and cleaner tasting beers.

Even John Palmer talks about this in How To Bew;

How To Brew said:

Leaving an ale beer in the primary fermentor for a total of 2-3 weeks (instead of just the one week most canned kits recommend), will provide time for the conditioning reactions and improve the beer. This extra time will also let more sediment settle out before bottling, resulting in a clearer beer and easier pouring. And, three weeks in the primary fermentor is usually not enough time for off-flavors to occur.

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