possible contamination in secondary!

Hey Guys,
I've had my very black stout in secondary since last Wed and it has been completely still since I racked (no airlock activity, smooth clear surface on the beer). But just now I notice several little white circles of tiny tiny bubbles on the surface. I fear that I've got a mold or bacterial infection or something going there. Anybody got any insight?

I was going to bottle in a couple days but wonder if its a lost cause in progress.

Help!!

Sounds like a good excuse to draw a sample. Taste it and see if it's alright. Wouldn't hurt to take a gravity reading if you started with one. Appearances don't count for much in the fermenter. Better than a 90% chance everything is okay.:cross:

ian said:

But just now I notice several little white circles of tiny tiny bubbles on the surface. I fear that I've got a mold or bacterial infection or something going there. Anybody got any insight?

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Sounds like you've got bubbles...fill up one of those fancy glasses so you can relax and have a brew.

I agree with EP... you've got a bad case of little bubbles there... only remedy is to add priming sugar and bottle.

There's a number of threads waaay back in the archives talking about this bubble business. They usually have something to do with someone using a secondary for the first time, and seeing the same type of activity. From what I have read, after seeing bubbles in my stout and searching here, I would say yours are no biggie...

in the past i've had some kind of white (bacteria?) film form in the secondary, definitely more noticable with the stouts and ports - scared me into thinking the batch was a waste, but not to fear, just dont siphon the junk over when you keg/btl it and it should be fine
take a lil sample just before you do tranfer it to make sure its not trash (why waste the time moving it if its no good) but my guess is itll be fine and plenty drinkable
dan w

welcome to using a secondary

I guess that is a common scare. I had it myself and couldn't even cure it (meaning releax) with home-brew since it was still in the seconday. Store bought beer worked just as well

Even if it woule be mold, you can siphon around it.

Kai

Sounds like the final activity of the yeasties to me....all finished munching on the sugars. If it was an infection, you'd see white flakes and patches over the surface and possibly on the walls of the carboy.

yep, she's fine. i'd let it sit at least 7 days before kegging/bottling, but that's just me.

Thanks guys, a little panic attack there. I gave it a little nudge and it seemed to just be bubbles dissipating.

Kai said:

welcome to using a secondary

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I've used a secondary for every batch, even done a stout once before but didn't see any of this. But, to be fair this was the clearest batch yet from a surface point of view.

I think it'll be fine.

I agree, the last gasp of the yeasts before they focculate & die. Don't forget, yeast are a fungus and sometimes look like their brethern - mold.