contaminated? You be the judge. :confused:

Hey everyone,
So, I am producing an Imperial Brown Ale (8% ABV, 62 IBU), and I noticed that slightly sour smell never seemed to dissipate until after I opened the fermenting bucket and this is what I found.


and



I have never really worked with a lot of hops before, this is also my first all-grain. So I don't know if such a thing is normal...It could be hop debris if I didn't get it out well enough, etc. Also, I transferred into secondary into a carboy to keep an eye on it, and that slightly layer is appearing yet again. Now, there shouldn't be any contamination left alive at 8% ABV, but I would like everyone's opinion on the matter.

(FYI, the room I am taking these pics in is exceptionally bright yellow, so everything is actually more brown than it appears)

Thanks
Kyle

How's it taste? Let that be the real judge. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I'm guessing it is just a residue from the hops.

The reflection of the lights makes it look a little like a dark egg drop soup!

True, I haven't tasted it as of yet. The actual residue resembled something akin to old oil on water, or soda that has spent days in a glass... On the bright side, now in the carboy it smells like a brown ale and not sour

Looks like hop residue and the second picture is just a reflection of the lights.

I say sniff and taste when you do your gravity reading. Even if it has a slight off taste, in my experience it usually mellows with time in the keg under C02 so don't pitch it out unless it is truly sour or funky smelling.

maybe I will pull some out when i get home. I wont pitch it unless it is absolutely rancid. (what can I say, its like my child, even if it has a face only a parent could love )

It's hops. Seen it a dozen times.

Just compare the stuff floating on top of the beer to the stuff caked to the side of your bucket. It's basically the same.

Right, I had hoped that, the only problem with the pic is that it makes everything look green, it is in fact multi-colored, like a small oil slick on the surface. (the krausen is actually a very dark brown, it just looks green due to the very yellow room lol).

but the more I hear it is hop the more I feel better about the situation lol.

Thanks

KyleWolf said:

Right, I had hoped that, the only problem with the pic is that it makes everything look green, it is in fact multi-colored, like a small oil slick on the surface. (the krausen is actually a very dark brown, it just looks green due to the very yellow room lol).

but the more I hear it is hop the more I feel better about the situation lol.

Thanks

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Whenever I dry hop I get the oil slick look on top of the beer. Hops have a lot of oils, so the more you use later or after the boil the more likely it is you'll get the oil puddle.

cool. Thank you mohotele, that really makes me feel a lot better...I wonder what my Maharajah clone will end up looking like (6oz of hops at 5min boil or flameout)

So I am home and pulled a bit out for a taste. No contamination to taste, it is as master mojotele said, it was the hops...and there is quite a bit in here too...more than I expected actually, maybe too much for a brown, but that will fade. So I am cracking open a beer to celebrate

Thanks everyone!

Ahh. Yes. You have a bad case of chandelier-itis.

chase said:

Ahh. Yes. You have a bad case of chandelier-itis.

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? not me sound out of the out of the loop, but chandelier-itis?