Post your infection

Hi, new to the forum and home brewing. This is my first brew, it’s an AG Pale Ale. It’s been in the primary for a week now since pitching the yeast. There’s this weird build up on the sides of the fermenter, any ideas what it could be? It doesn’t seem to be in suspension, just on the sides. Picture doesn’t show it that well.



Regards

James

James_32 said:

any ideas what it could be?

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Yeast stuck to the sides. No worries!

Welcome to HBT

RPh_Guy said:

Yeast stuck to the sides. No worries!

Welcome to HBT

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Thanks! Read this thread on infections and you start thinking the worst. Will it settle off the sides eventually? If not will it affect bottling?

Thanks again, seems like a great forum here.

James_32 said:

Will it settle off the sides eventually? If not will it affect bottling?

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Probably not, to both questions.

Cheers

Hey, posted elsewhere but then saw this thread. Here's one for you all:

Sorry, I’m an idiot and posted twice. Post with pics below:

First time poster, here.
This is my 27th batch, and maybe I’m paranoid but does this look suspicious to any of you?
It’s a 1.082 OG doppelbock I brewed 2 days ago and pitched with a pint slurry of s-23. The ferm chamber is set to keep it around 53 degrees. Yesterday there was a pretty good krausen, but it’s disappeared this morning and I’m getting these giant bubbles that are forming and popping from the obviously active yeasties flying around below the surface.
Could this be the start of an infection? I’ll probably just leave it for 2+ weeks anyway, but it would be good if I could have reason not to despair about this batch! It’s just not comforting to see such massive bubbles.

Wuggly Ump said:

does this look suspicious to any of you?

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Yes, it does look suspicious in my opinion.

Don't despair! I recommend to continue as normal.
If it tastes & smells fine, go ahead and package.
If you bottle, monitor for the possibility of over-carbonation.

Repitching yeast greatly increases risk of contamination. Obviously you might want to reconsider your pitching and sanitation processes.

Welcome to HBT!

Wuggly Ump said:

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Could this be the start of an infection? I’ll probably just leave it for 2+ weeks anyway, but it would be good if I could have reason not to despair about this batch! It’s just not comforting to see such massive bubbles.

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Big slimy bubbles are never a good sign. What was your method for repitching? Did you wash the slurry, or just dump it in a jar? Sanitized? Did the batch the yeast come out of turn out okay? I repitch slurry all the time and have never had an infection from it. Could be something wild got in there as well. Like Rphguy said, let it go and see what happens. Not all infections will ruin your beer, but you will want to be careful to watch your gravity to prevent bottle bombs.

seatazzz said:

Big slimy bubbles are never a good sign. What was your method for repitching? Did you wash the slurry, or just dump it in a jar? Sanitized? Did the batch the yeast come out of turn out okay? I repitch slurry all the time and have never had an infection from it. Could be something wild got in there as well. Like Rphguy said, let it go and see what happens. Not all infections will ruin your beer, but you will want to be careful to watch your gravity to prevent bottle bombs.

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The previous batch seems fine to me, normal krausen (in my limited lager experience), no off flavors detected at bottling or 1 week after.

My method was to re-suspend all the trub/yeast cake in the last inch of beer and pour into sanitized jars. A few days later, I let the slurry jar come to room temp before I pitched the whole jar. I’ve repitched washed yeast from ales and a couple lagers before. But I’ve only seen this weird bubbling once before, in a batch that was probably infected - but that was a refrigerated starter of saved US-05. It’s probably something with my process for saving yeast. Strange, because my MO has been to boil-sanitize the jars.

Wuggly Ump said:

The previous batch seems fine to me, normal krausen (in my limited lager experience), no off flavors detected at bottling or 1 week after.

My method was to re-suspend all the trub/yeast cake in the last inch of beer and pour into sanitized jars. A few days later, I let the slurry jar come to room temp before I pitched the whole jar. I’ve repitched washed yeast from ales and a couple lagers before. But I’ve only seen this weird bubbling once before, in a batch that was probably infected - but that was a refrigerated starter of saved US-05. It’s probably something with my process for saving yeast. Strange, because my MO has been to boil-sanitize the jars.

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That sounds fine; more than likely something wild got into your fermenter, or you may have missed something when cleaning. When this batch is finished, make sure you completely dismantle the spigot and clean it, then give it a good soak in starsan; spigots are notorious for harboring nasties. Also give the bucket itself a good soak in hot water (some use bleach, I don't care for it because of potential off-flavor issues) and clean thoroughly with a soft sponge; don't use anything that can scratch the plastic, as bugs can harbor in those scratches as well. Anything that touches your beer post-boil needs a good cleaning as well. Good luck.

I just dry hopped my neipa which has been in the Brewbucket for 9 days. Yeast us US-5. The surface of the beer looks good but I have this black edge/border all around. What do you think?

maninthehighcastle said:

I have this black edge/border all around.

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That's from the stainless or oils on it.
Definitely not a contamination and nothing to worry about.

Cheers

Hmm. Does that mean that the stainless steel has not been cleaned enough? I was scrubbing and sanatising alot before filling the Brewbucket. Thx

maninthehighcastle said:

Hmm. Does that mean that the stainless steel has not been cleaned enough? I was scrubbing and sanatising alot before filling the Brewbucket. Thx

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Possibly.
I've only had that with new stainless, but others have said they get it sometimes even with previously used stainless.

The next time you use it I bet it'll be fine.

But it's not harmful or has a lot of impact in taste?

Probably won't kill you.

Thats not the answer i was looking for...

maninthehighcastle said:

But it's not harmful or has a lot of impact in taste?

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Ss Brewtech does recommend cleaning their brew buckets with TSP before use. Probably for this reason. If it were my brew, I would shoot them an e-mail and ask what the dark residue is, then decide if it’s something you are willing to drink.

maninthehighcastle said:

I just dry hopped my neipa which has been in the Brewbucket for 9 days. Yeast us US-5. The surface of the beer looks good but I have this black edge/border all around. What do you think?

View attachment 633131 View attachment 633132

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How did you clean you equipment prior to using it?

The black residue that's ringed around the beer is a product of fermentation at times. Did you use TSP or cleaned your fermenter w/ warm water and soap?

If you didn't do either, and just rinse it w/ water, I'd be worries that residual oils from the manufacturing process has something to do w/ it?

Also, how does the beer smell? Have you taken a final gravity sample yet? If so, did you taste a small amount of the beer? How's it taste? Also, be sure to purge w/ CO2 when you close that up, you don't want oxidation to kill your hard brewed beer as well.

I cleaned it with soapy water and a sponge and after that with Chemipro OXI. It smells good and tatstes good aswell. A little sour but thats normal i guess for a beer that young. I can't purge with co2. I don't have that equiptment. It must be possible to open the lid without ruining it instantly. Never had problem with that before.

Then if it tastes and smells good, you're good to go! More than likely due to fermentation. It is okay to open, but there is always a risk of oxidation. If you've had success in the past, keep it rolling

Hi all- I brewed a brown ale last night and pitched a pack of Notty into it as soon as it cooled. 18 hrs later it’s got a nice krausen on it. The krausen is a nice even cream color, but it has a darker 2” brown spot as a part of it. It might be normal, but just looks strange. Thoughts?

medic4070 said:

Hi all- I brewed a brown ale last night and pitched a pack of Notty into it as soon as it cooled. 18 hrs later it’s got a nice krausen on it. The krausen is a nice even cream color, but it has a darker 2” brown spot as a part of it. It might be normal, but just looks strange. Thoughts?

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Post a pic. Sounds normal, but post a pic just to be sure.

medic4070 said:

Hi all- I brewed a brown ale last night and pitched a pack of Notty into it as soon as it cooled. 18 hrs later it’s got a nice krausen on it. The krausen is a nice even cream color, but it has a darker 2” brown spot as a part of it. It might be normal, but just looks strange. Thoughts?

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The chance of any visual signs of contamination at this point is next to impossible.

Darlynius said:

Post a pic. Sounds normal, but post a pic just to be sure.

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Here’s what I’ve got. It’s rocking away through the blowoff tube.

Normal kräusen. No worries!

I don't think it's infected but just some co2 coming up through a thick, cocoa infused crausen.

Thoughts?

Looks ok to me. I presume the blobs are oil (cocoa butter).

Looks fine to me

I got what I think is just a brett infection as I used a bucket that I previously used for a 100% brett ipa. but i’m not totally sure that’s what it is. It’s got a strong acetone smell.

Beeru said:

I got what I think is just a brett infection as I used a bucket that I previously used for a 100% brett ipa. but i’m not totally sure that’s what it is. It’s got a strong acetone smell.

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It's obviously a pellicle. They're no way to identify the contaminating organism(s) by looking.
However, acetone (ethyl acetate actually) generally points toward other organism(s), not Brett. Pichia yeast for example is widespread and notorious for that off-flavor.

FYI that "acetone" won't age out and blending won't be helpful. You should dump it unless you can somehow tolerate drinking it (eww).

Too much oxygen exposure! Perhaps the bucket had a bad seal?

This is actually a rye wash for a rye whisky. Im not sure if the flavour will transfer through in the d****ling (not allowed to talk about this here I think?) process, but I know that some people go through the process regardless and actually like the final product. But it’s harder to find info on that.

Beeru said:

This is actually a rye wash for a rye whisky. Im not sure if the flavour will transfer

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No idea about that, sorry.
Ethyl acetate boils at 171°F though for what that's worth, so it'll be in the "heads"?

I gave it a little taste, and its mostly just super sour, but doesn't have those awful rotten flavours that can accompany bad infections. The infection happened early on so it only went down to 1.02 or so, but I think I'll continue on and see what happens. If this were a beer, though, it would definitely go down the drain.

Edit: And yes, I just read the same thing about the distilling temp. Fingers crossed. Some people swear that if the mash is soured but doesn't taste like baby diapers it will create a much better product.

I believe I have two batches of beer infected. When I checked their gravity at the beginning of the week they looked fine, some yeast rafts, and around the final gravity I expected. When I went to take another gravity reading to confirm fermentation was complete I was surprised that both batches appeared infected now. I did notice one smelled a little vinegary.

Triticale Ale (50/50 triticale/Pilsner) last reading 1.017


Wheat Ale (50/50 Wheat/Pilsner) last reading 1.009

Maverick986 said:

I believe I have two batches of beer infected.

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Yeah, without any doubt.

Did you have questions?

RPh_Guy said:

Yeah, without any doubt.

Did you have questions?

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Thank you, I was mainly looking to confirm what I assumed.

Questions I have:
1. Being plastic fermenter, can I just clean, sanitize, and reuse? Or are the fermenters done for?
2. Are both infections the same, or different?

1. Buckets are cheap. They're a lot less than the cost of dumping another infected batch.

2. Can't help you.

All the Best,
D. White

Maverick986 said:

Being plastic fermenter, can I just clean, sanitize, and reuse? Or are the fermenters done for?

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A good cleaning should be sufficient.
I suggest a warm PBW soak and a warm acid rinse, rinsing with warm water before and after each. Make sure everything gets disassembled for cleaning so nothing hides in the cracks. Never use anything abrasive on plastic; scratches are bad.
Sanitize before use as normal.
Evaluate your entire cold-side process for possible sources of contamination.

Maverick986 said:

Are both infections the same, or different?

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There's no way to know without extensive microbiological testing.

dwhite60 said:

1. Buckets are cheap.

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Not all plastic fermenters are buckets. Some are rather expensive actually.

For what it's worth I routinely use the same plastic gear for wild fermentations and clean fermentations.