Is it possible to have a "small" infection

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pattycakes888

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So it finally happened, 2 years into homebrewing and I'm pretty sure my beer got a Lactobacillus infection. However, after searching this absolutely amazing discussion forum for information, I've notice that all infections seem to be full-blown infections. I made a pumpkin milk stout, and this was the beer that I notice a small white film island floating on top of the primary after about 3.5 weeks. I stress the word small, maybe an inch in diameter. My question is, can I save this beer? Should I put it in the keg? and is it even a big deal? The beer still tastes ok, I can detect some off flavors, but I certainly don't want it to develop more in the keg. Do all infections turn into catastrophic nightmares like the pictures in the "post your infection thread"?

Thanks for all your help guys!
 
Chances are it's fine, but if it is infected you can toss it in the keg as long as it tastes good and drink it quickly. Any bacteria or wild yeast will reproduce much slower and you should be able to still enjoy the beer. No bottles, though, in case you get something super-attenuative in there that could blow them up.
 
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