Ugh, pretty sure this is bacteria. . .

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Auspice

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I just took a look at my Irish Red tonight and there's some not so lovely white splotches on the top of the brew. . .

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Sorry for the crap quality, I snapped them with my phone.
 
White splotches are fairly common. If there are tentacles hanging down, you've got a problem. If it's just a layer on the surface you're probably all right. Give it a whiff. If you're not sure, let it go. You'll eventually get an even layer across the whole top with bubbles in it. Just rack beneath it and enjoy.
 
Hard to see from that pic. Could be yeast.

Is it fuzzy or anything?
 
Well even though the picture is crappy it just looks like fizzy yeast colonies on the surface of the beer, which a lot of new brewers panic and think it is infected, and since it is really difficult to ruin your beer, 99% of the time turns out to be nothing, but yeast kicked up and buoyed to the surface by rising co2. It then sits on the surface in little clumps.
 
I just racked it to secondary on Sunday so 4 days ago and it showed up. It looks almost like grease when it cools down and floats on the top of a pan.
 
I just racked it to secondary on Sunday so 4 days ago and it showed up. It looks almost like grease when it cools down and floats on the top of a pan.

Yeah, then you're fine...it is yeast kicked up by co2 from the move. Sometimes if people rack BEFORE fermentation is complete (and not bothering to take to consecutive grav reading to make sure it is complete) Krauzens even form.

Did you dry hop in secondary? That ALSO can look pretty funky as the hop oils interact with the rising co2 bubbles, sometimes the bubbles get trapped under a layer of oils.

Since you racked it, it is alcohol at this stage, and it is even less likely that it is an infection.

Our beer is stronger than most new brewers give it credit.
 
Phew, I was freaking out that I screwed up. I took gravity readings 3 days in a row and it held steady so I racked it. *shrug*

Thanks for the reassurance!
 
I racked my Arrogant Bastard clone to secondary on sunday, and it looks EXACTLY like that right now. It's fine.
 
Ok, based on your excess worries, in BOTH threads, we're going to have a "come to jesus " meeting right now. :D

So pull up a chair, grab a beer...and listen to me my young friend.

If I can impart one bit of "wisdom" for you on your journey as a brewer it is this;

If you brew from fear, you won't make great beer!

You might make drinkable beer, or you might make crap...but until your realize that your beer is much hardier than you think it is, you won't do some basic things, (like using your hydrometer) to make your beer great.

You just have a typical new brewer fear that your beer is somehow weak, like a new born baby..and will be ruined or die of you look at it wrong...I want to put it into perspective for you, and save you a lot of new bewer nerves...

Beer has been made for over 5,000 years in some horrific conditions, and still it managed to survive and be popular....It was even made before Louis Pasteur understood germ theory....

If beer turned out bad back then more than it turned out good..then beer would have gone the way of the dodo bird, New Coke, or Pepsi Clear...:D

It is very very very hard to ruin your beer....it surprises us and manages to survive despite what we do to it...

And doing things like taking a hydro reading, or racking a beer (if you choose to) will not cause more harm to your beer..if you are careful.

I want you to read these threads and see..

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wh...where-your-beer-still-turned-out-great-96780/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/has-anyone-ever-messed-up-batch-96644/

And this thread to show you how often even a beer we think is ruined, ends up being the best beer you ever made, if you have patience....
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ne...virtue-time-heals-all-things-even-beer-73254/

There is a saying we have in the homebrewing community...RDWHAHB...make that your mantra and you will be a successful homebrewer...
Yodardwhahb.jpg


Oh this thread is really good too...if you adopt the mindset in here you will do well...https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/youre-no-longer-n00b-when-24540/

It's not brain surgery, it's a hobby...it's supposed to be something fun, not something we stress out on....and really most of the time we think a beer is ruined, it isn't!!!!

Got it? Good!!!!!!!!

Now it's past uncle revvy's bed time....goodnight!

:mug:
 
You just have a typical new brewer fear that your beer is somehow weak, like a new born baby..and will be ruined or die of you look at it wrong...I want to put it into perspective for you, and save you a lot of new bewer nerves...

Coming from a father of two, the new born baby analogy is spot on. I remember when I had my first child, I was so afraid I was going to break him or something. The doctor, my mother, mother in law, sister in law and everyone else that knew more about baby's than me assured me that newborns are very resilient and not so easy to "break". My little man seemed so fragile and delicate (which in some ways he was, obviously) but in reality he was quite capable of surviving all of the being shuffled from one relative to the next and the germs and all the other stuff I worried so much about.

Anyway, the point is that your beer, much like a newborn, isn't as fragile and vulnerable as you think. Otherwise, most newborns wouldn't survive and most brews would get poured down the drain.
 
If I wasn't laughing, I'd be embarrassed. I just posted a thread asking what to do with my supposedly infected beer. When I went back to the main page of the forum, here was this thread (don't know how I missed it earleir)>

I appreciate your come to Jesus sermon Revvy - I will be more confident and patient in the future.

A big THANKS to all you seasoned home brewers who share your wisdom with us noobs :mug:
 
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