One question though for anybody who knows their stuff: what are those bigger cells that the rods seem to be surrounding/attached to? Is it just a water cell?
I've spent plenty of time using microscopes, these are just tiny air bubbles.
I've spent the better part of a year battling this "house strain" of mold, so I've decided I'm going to stop brewing until I figure this one out.
I'm pretty sure this is the same infection as one in the inaugural post of this thread, which talks about the flavor being "bitter but not hop bitter." When I've posted previous occurrences, folks have said it *looks* like lacto, but it has a shi**y bitterness and no sour taste.
I soak my carboys (Better bottles) in bleach solution, along with my auto-syphon, racking hose, aeration hoses, and thief. I rinse them out with hot water, and then sanitize them with Star-San. I boil my diffusion stone and then soak it in Star-San.
My solution for a long time was just to not open the damn thing for 10 days, then bottle whatever was there (it was usually all fermented by then). This meant no gravity tests, no racking to secondary, no dry-hopping. If the seal came off any time before bottling, that crud started growing and the batch was ready to feed to the fish. Whenever I bottled anything that did have crud growth, there was always a film at the top of the bottles and a very nasty bitterness. This last batch sat for three weeks without being opened and still went off, but I think the bung was a bit loose.
My theory has been that this stuff can't compete with yeast during active fermentation, because it doesn't show up until secondary or if there's been some sort of oxygen leak. All of my beers have had a faint mustiness that only I notice, which suggests to me that this thing has been there all along but can't grow if I keep the oxygen out. I have no idea if this is actually correct. I have never seen this infection take root after bottling if it wasn't already there when I bottled.
I plan to replace the carboys and use a new racking hose, auto-siphon, thief, diffusion stone, and aeration hose. It has also occurred to me that this could be coming from the wort chiller - I tend to do small batches and the coil does not get entirely immersed. Perhaps something is surviving in there despite me boiling the bottom half of the coil for 5 or 10 mins.
My only other thought is that this could somehow be airborne in the kitchen where I brew and the bathroom where I leave the carboys. This is perhaps a self-indulgent theory, as it would blame pesky floating spores rather than my own sanitation incompetence. If anyone's heard of the latter please let me know, as I'll probably have to settle for don't-open-the-damn-thing-and-put-up-with-the-musty-flavor approach, which I think I'd actually be OK with.
Thanks, Brian
Hoping for good news here, I brewed two batches pretty close to back to back and a few days ago I posted a Picture of the Smoked porter and was told it was infected. Hoping this stout looks normal to you more experienced eyes.
Not sure if this is info you would like to know, But during the boil I added Unsweetened bakers chocolate and some bitter orange peel at the end which is what i think is floating up top in one of the pictures.
Looks like some yeasty krausen bubbles. I'd say you're fine. I don't see any pellicle or spots that look like the start of an infection
Now close that f'ing fermenter!
Hi guys,
My beer has a strange film on the top. The picture helps, but doesn't show the film very well. I have a hop bag in it, and when I shift the hop bag, the film "bunches up" along the surface. Any idea what it could be? This is about my 30th batch over 3 years and haven't had any infections before, but I'm definitely not as sanitary as some brewers.
oh, and the details: This is an IPA. the film started in the 2nd week of fermentation. Today marks 2 weeks since brewing. Not sure if smell is often effected by infections, but seems to smell normal. Anything else I can tell you?
thanks!
PS
Looks infected, however it is impossible to identify the infection by the look of the pellicle.
thanks specharka.Definitely infected. Looks like lactobacillis if I'm not mistaken.
Just curious, but did you sanitize your hop bag before you tossed it into the fermenter?
Hahahaha, how many times do you think you've repeated this statement? Do you just have it always ready to copy and paste?
No I don't have it copied. But it is impossible to determine what bacteria is causing the infection without a microscope and a degree in microbiology.Just parroting the "It is a lacto infection" is just giving incorrect information. There are a lot of other bacteria that can make a pellicle like that.
Also it was an IPA and it has only been two weeks. Hops inhibit lacto growth. Could it be a lacto infection? Yes, possibly. But there are a lot of other infections it could be.
No photos, but had to dump an entire batch. Whole cone hop made it through the strainer into primary, had a little patch of growth 4 weeks later at bottling, and then every bottle had a white film and floaties.
Farewell sweet prince.
No photos, but had to dump an entire batch. Whole cone hop made it through the strainer into primary, had a little patch of growth 4 weeks later at bottling, and then every bottle had a white film and floaties.
Farewell sweet prince.
No photos, but had to dump an entire batch. Whole cone hop made it through the strainer into primary, had a little patch of growth 4 weeks later at bottling, and then every bottle had a white film and floaties.
Farewell sweet prince.
How would a hop cone (that has been boiled!) contaminate a batch? Many people dump whole hop cones (unboiled) directly into the fermenter to dry-hop. Hops are added as a preservative - they have the opposite effect of contaminating the batch.
Either your beer was not actually infected, or it picked it up somewhere else, but I guarantee it did not get infected by leaving a boiled hop cone in it.
I do not know what caused the contamination, but there was some growth on a hop cone that had found its way into the bucket.
I'm 99 percent sure it was infected. It tasted slightly sour, was overcarbed, had a fairly thick white film in the bottles, and floaties in every single bottle (there were not visible floaties at bottling).
This picture is an update on one that I posted over the wknd. The "film" that I had before has grown vertically and the smell has gotten a bit funky. Most ppl would pour these batches out, right?
This picture is an update on one that I posted over the wknd. The "film" that I had before has grown vertically and the smell has gotten a bit funky. Most ppl would pour these batches out, right?
Take a sample from under the film and taste it.
I was very skeptical, but did try it, and was surprised that it tasted completely normal. That makes me want to try bottling it. Any advice on how to handle the s*** on the top? just scoop it off?
This picture is an update on one that I posted over the wknd. The "film" that I had before has grown vertically and the smell has gotten a bit funky. Most ppl would pour these batches out, right?
Make sure the gravity is the same a week to a month apart first. Then just rack from under the film.
This is a snapshot of a Mosaic IPA in about week 7. I've left it alone for the past few weeks in the dark, and it looked fine then. But I took the cover off of it today to dry hop and noticed "patches" on the surface and potentially something floating, along with what looks like hop residue along the sides.
Is this an infection? What do the experts think? Appreciate it!
This is a snapshot of a Mosaic IPA in about week 7. I've left it alone for the past few weeks in the dark, and it looked fine then. But I took the cover off of it today to dry hop and noticed "patches" on the surface and potentially something floating, along with what looks like hop residue along the sides.
Is this an infection? What do the experts think? Appreciate it!
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