Post your infection

jcarson83 said:

I did and it wasn't good. I don't really know how to describe it except bitter but not hop bitter. It mellowed with age and made a decent black and tan.

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If it was bitter, it doesn't sound like Lactobacillus. Lactobacillus is the "tangy" sour you get from buttermilk and sourdough bread. I personally don't find any of those bitter.

korndog said:

Ok, here's a pedio/Brett pellicle. Soooo cooool! I just checked it out.

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Keep me updated on how this turns out. I've heard that Pedio is supposed to kick off lots of diacetyl, but that the other organisms such as lactobacillus will clean it back up. I'm curious if the Brett does that as well. Did you just add commercial cultures?

Mine's in my avatar. Brett L. in a Dubbel. I added some more Brett L. to a Saison last Thursday. Pellicle is forming slowly, but no pics yet.

effigyoffaith said:

Beer can not be "infected." The proper term is "contaminated."

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INFECT: to taint or contaminate with something that affects quality, character, or condition unfavorably

PseudoChef said:

Keep me updated on how this turns out. I've heard that Pedio is supposed to kick off lots of diacetyl, but that the other organisms such as lactobacillus will clean it back up. I'm curious if the Brett does that as well. Did you just add commercial cultures?
Mine's in my avatar. Brett L. in a Dubbel. I added some more Brett L. to a Saison last Thursday. Pellicle is forming slowly, but no pics yet.

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Yes, it definitely creates diacetyl. Yes, Brett is needed to clean up the Pedio waste. I used a commercial pedio culture in one tank. This was allowed to work for a couple of months before I added Brett Lambicus. The other tanks were inoculated with Brett-Lambicus only. This was all after primary with a Belgian Sacch. strain.

jcarson83 said:

INFECT: to taint or contaminate with something that affects quality, character, or condition unfavorably

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he he...you said taint

Smells and tastes a little sour. This is at 10 days and I just put it into the Keezer to crash cool. It was finished fermenting but had really small bubbles slowly trickling to the surface.

planenut said:

Smells and tastes a little sour. This is at 10 days and I just put it into the Keezer to crash cool. It was finished fermenting but had really small bubbles slowly trickling to the surface.

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That looks like good old CO2 to me. Not an infection IMO.

effigyoffaith said:

Beer can not be "infected." The proper term is "contaminated."

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wrong...

"Infected" is a song written by Mr. Brett from the punk rock group Bad Religion.

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Infected by Mr. Brett! Ha!

I'm on my 2nd batch (IPA) and I just popped it open after 10 days in primary to take a reading and throw in an oz of cascades... and there's this thin light clearish film on the top. I'm sending myself a pic now and will post ASAP -- but is this normal? Obviously bad? Should I try to skim it off the top?

Here is my Winter warmer that I aged in an oak barrel for a week. Two days after racking to secondary I had this.


Brettanomyces picked up from the barrel

and under the microscope at 400x



I have another thread about it, but it seems to fit this thread too.

Just goes to show, not all infections (err contaminations?) are bad. I actual am excited about this one!

Deofol said:

Here is my Winter warmer that I aged in an oak barrel for a week. Two days after racking to secondary I had this.

I have another thread about it, but it seems to fit this thread too.

Just goes to show, not all infections (err contaminations?) are bad. I actual am excited about this one!

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Sweet! Nice buggage. Link please.

here's a picture of my secondary fermenter. What is this stuff?

http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr206/baummer/

Looks like yeast settled in the ridge of the glass.

Pellicle #2 - Saison w/ Brett L.





Dueling pellicles - (separated by Cherry Saison d'Hiver)

Okay, all this said -- for newbie benefit, what does a healthy brew look like?

These are all technically "healthy" - it is just using a different type of yeast than regular brewing (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae) yeast.

The one in the middle doesn't have any extra yeast or bugs in it.

So in other words, once a regular brew is finished fermenting, it shouldn't have anything floating on top?

Pelikan said:

So in other words, once a regular brew is finished fermenting, it shouldn't have anything floating on top?

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Not at all. Every fermentation is different. Sometimes I have gunk on the top, sometimes it is clear as day.

Yeah if I'm going to post a pic here, we need to move it to the NSFW forum.

I have something growing in my carboy that looks a bit weird; this stuff looks like the foam bean inside a beanbag. little, round and white. It is an english style brown ale. after a month in the secondary this stuff started to grow. should i dump or wait it out?

danrizzotte said:

I have something growing in my carboy that looks a bit weird; this stuff looks like the foam bean inside a beanbag. little, round and white. It is an english style brown ale. after a month in the secondary this stuff started to grow. should i dump or wait it out?

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Wait. skldfjdslkfjldsjf

Okay - heres another one for scrutiny - it is a sweet stout (1.052 og, currently 1.024) 3 weeks primary, two weeks in secondary. I've done 4 different beers so far, this is the first I've seen like this one (2nd all grain).



Any ideas? It smelled really sour for a few days but not as much now.

I got the Clap last brew day, dont think I am going to post a pic of that

i couldn't imagine having a bad batch with some of this nasty stuff growing on top (unintentionally), and actually bringing myself to drink it.

Okay - so far I have

1. Don't drink it.
2. No brewdays with hopsalot

Any other votes?

hopsalot said:

I got the Clap last brew day, dont think I am going to post a pic of that

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Oh DARN!!!! Thought we would all get lucky???

govgeek said:

Okay - heres another one for scrutiny - it is a sweet stout (1.052 og, currently 1.024) 3 weeks primary, two weeks in secondary. I've done 4 different beers so far, this is the first I've seen like this one (2nd all grain).

Any ideas? It smelled really sour for a few days but not as much now.

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Those big hairy bubbles are definitely not good.

Mold

FYI, this mold formed after 5 weeks in the primary. I didn't have time to bottle, so it sat there. I racked out from under the mold. It turned out to be the best beer I have made yet. If you get mold in a carboy, the beer is still usable if it tastes and smells fine. Just make sure you zap your carboy good. I guess I didn't clean it good enough because the mold came back in my next batch.

Haven't had an infected beer since before getting my first digital camera, but ropy is something you have to experience.

hopsalot said:

I got the Clap last brew day, dont think I am going to post a pic of that

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HA! I get it

So is it ok to try a beer with an infection??? I finally bought a secondary and left too much headroom in, now it looks like there's small pieces of mold, or maybe just hop residue from dry hopping? I tried it and it's not great, but it's ok. Should I bottle?

Worse yet, it's in a Better Bottle so if it is infected do I have to throw out the bottle? What a cryin' shame that would be.

No infection in beer will hurt you. It just may not taste as good as it should.Basically nothing deadly can live in beer cause of the ph level.

If you have an infection - do you have to be able to see it?
Can your beer get infected, and no visible signs - just bad taste?

All the above infections certainly look noticeable.

Yes, your beer can be infected and not have any visible signs.

+1.
I have had two bad batches, and both looked just like normal beer. I really think that they had the same bug. Don't even know what it was, but it tasted like ink. One batch was gushers one was not. I tried and tried to drink them, but I only go through a 12 pack of each before I pitched them. Even tried letting them sit for months, still no good.

What does ink taste like?

looking down the neck of a 3 gallon carboy ...



Brett infection with WLP 653 this was a porter when it started. Still going after 3 months

jcarson83 said:

What does ink taste like?

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Ever have a pen blow up in your mouth?
It tasted like an ink well smells, best way I can describe it.

my cider. dont know what it is, dont know if it will be good.

here's my most recent Infection...

Jamil's Evil Twin Clone... Apparently too evil to drink... almost threw up when this guy hit my tongue.

Looks like an oil slick.