Motherf*@er!: Or, I got my first infection yo

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MeatyPortion

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I must have just gotten sloppy or something.

1. The yeast smack pack that I pitched never got started with the fermentation process. I actually was going to chalk that up to the fact that I've had it since August and when I smacked the pack it didn't expand. However, auditory inspection of the pack yielded the finding that the yeasts were doing something.

2. The fermentation vessel that I used had something growing in the bottom. Now, I realize that I should have just bleached it to be safe but I used some OxyClean (sans perfume and whatnot) prior to the sanitizing phase. I'm guessing that's where the problem is.


I might post a picture later but it's really not that interesting, just some vaguely mold-like blobs about the size of a BB pellet floating at the top near the sides of the carboy.

It sucks because I brewed it on Veterans' Day but what are you going to do? At any rate I just thought I'd post this and see what others think.

Recipe:

Warbler Pale Ale kit, London 1028 Yeast

Could have been the water too, I suppose. I used some store bought bottled water that I had sitting in the garage for a month. I've never let it sit there before.

All goes to show how many factors are at play when making beer.
 
London Ale yeast is a very highly flocculating yeast, it gathers into snot balls rather than sinking to the bottom. You may be ok

+1 I agree with Joe on this. More than likely, the beer is not infected and what you are seeing is clusters of active yeast which will often appear just as you described. Don't dump it! Wait for it to finish out and give it a taste and smell test.
 
I might post a picture later but it's really not that interesting, just some vaguely mold-like blobs about the size of a BB pellet floating at the top near the sides of the carboy.

This doesn't sound like any infection I have seen or heard about. You should post a picture. What color are the blobs? Not that much difference between mold and yeast...

+1 to the other dudes.
 
Here come the photos:

IMG_4932.jpg


IMG_4933.jpg
 
Isaac

I loved you on "The Love Boat"

that looks like healthy beer--that's CO2 and yeast rafts and stuff right there

Give my love to Capt Spalding or whatever his name is
 
Isaac

I loved you on "The Love Boat"

that looks like healthy beer--that's CO2 and yeast rafts and stuff right there

Give my love to Capt Spalding or whatever his name is

Thanks for the quick reply. My first thought would have been yeast rafts as well except I popped this one on Friday and this has never happened before. The carboy is sitting at 64F at the moment which is well within the 60-70F range that is written in the instructions. I still think there's a problem with the yeast and in 2 more days I might just re-pitch with another smack pack and see how that goes. Unless you guys convince me otherwise.
 
Looks like infection to me, but you really need to taste it to know if it's going to be ok to process further. Even if it's infected, it might be fine to drink. And those photos are not definitive.
 
I actually didn't take a gravity reading this time so I'm not sure where I'm at there. It's been 4 days since the yeast was pitched. I definitely think there's an infection since the blobs are getting bigger and there's a sour, cidery smell coming from the carboy. I'll take a gravity reading today and see where I'm at. FG should be 1.010
 
My money's on infection. Clinging to the sides like that, and if they are growing that is a really bad sign. I don't remember seeing yeast islands grow.
Yeah, I've brewed this beer about 7 times now and it's never done this. I'm bleaching the hell out of my equipment as we speak.
 
im not following your logic.

you pitched 4 days ago.. what was OG "supposed to be?" Unless it was 1025, Im thinking 4 days isnt enough time to start worrying about the gravity reading.

:confused:

That's low for this beer. The fact that the yeast hasn't done anything yet makes me wonder how the gravity got that low so quickly.

It all adds to something wrong.

1. No yeast activity
2. Odd shaped bubbles and floaties
3. Off odors
4. Strange gravity reading

Yep, this is not good.
 
That's low for this beer. The fact that the yeast hasn't done anything yet makes me wonder how the gravity got that low so quickly.

It all adds to something wrong.

1. No yeast activity
2. Odd shaped bubbles and floaties
3. Off odors
4. Strange gravity reading

Yep, this is not good.

ohhhh.. youre saying its TOO low.

edit: can bacteria lower gravity? What else would lower it besides the yeast?
 
That's low for this beer. The fact that the yeast hasn't done anything yet makes me wonder how the gravity got that low so quickly.

It all adds to something wrong.

1. No yeast activity
2. Odd shaped bubbles and floaties
3. Off odors
4. Strange gravity reading

Yep, this is not good.

What makes you think there is no yeast activity? What was the OG and why hasn't that question been answered yet? The gravity reading doesn't necessarily seem strange to me. The off odors are a concern, but I would not dump it just yet. Grab a sample and taste it. You'll know pretty quick if it's sour and that definitely would not be good. Did you taste the hydrometer sample?
 
What makes you think there is no yeast activity? What was the OG and why hasn't that question been answered yet? The gravity reading doesn't necessarily seem strange to me. The off odors are a concern, but I would not dump it just yet. Grab a sample and taste it. You'll know pretty quick if it's sour and that definitely would not be good. Did you taste the hydrometer sample?

he said a few posts up that he didnt take a OG reading.
 
he said a few posts up that he didnt take a OG reading.

Sorry, I missed that. Maybe an estimated OG then? Probably 1.040 based on the 1.010 predicted FG. So it's progressing normally if it got down to 1.020 in 4 days.
 
I agree that it would be progressing normally IF there was an indication of healthy yeast activity, which there hasn't been. Normally, this beer has an OG of 1.040. My fault for neglecting the reading, I know, but this beer usually vomits foam after about 6-7 hours after pitching the yeast. So far: nada. Add in what looks like spit all over the top of the batch, plus a nasty odor, and I have no choice but to declare infection.

No, I'm not dumping it yet. I'm going to wait a bit and tomorrow I'm going into my HBS and ask them what they think. Hell, I'll even take a sample plus photos. I'll report back on what the verdict is.
 
Yeah, by all indications it doesn't look good. The taste test will reveal a lot. Call it a Belgian maybe?
 
Those 'filmy' bubbles scream pedio infection to me. However when I have suffered from pedio, it never has affected the taste or smell, just appearance. If it smells cidery you have some sort of bacterial growth goin' on there...

Rack it from under the funk and give it a try. I would keg it if possible. Bottling could result in bombs. I drank all of my infected batches FWIW. Good luck!
 
The yeast not propogating, IMO, is the weird part. I had a lactobacillus infection that spread through to 2 batches (well, 3, if you count the one as a split batch) and although it was definitely apparent, it didn't show up until AFTER the primary was already over. It sounds to me like you may have had dead yeast, or the numbers are so low that it's still building up cell counts and hasn't started fermentation but the infection has.

If you've got an old smack pack, make a starter :). I've been making them for all of my liquid yeast batches, maybe because I want an excuse to use my stirplate. In any case, making sure your yeast is viable prior to pitching saves you some headaches for sure :)

If you haven't already dumped it....ride it out! I drank the Oatmeal Stout that was infected through pretty quickly and it turned out great. The body was definitely too thin because of the infection but otherwise the off-flavors didn't have too much time to develop.
 
I've still got the batch in the carboy, I'm not dumping it yet. However, I'm debating whether or not to buy another smack pack and pitch it just to see what happens.
 
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