Post your infection

45 day old oud bruin with roeselaire

Went to keg a Strawberry Wheat today, and found my first infected batch. We'll see how it works as a sour.

espresso vanilla stout 3 weeks into secondary

why so long in secondary for an ale?

Chocolate oatmeal stout, three weeks into primary. Appears to have reached FG at 1.015, but this popped up on me sometime in the last week! Sour smell =/ what do y'all think?

I see the problem, it's the toes in the photo's.

Truth is I have no advice. Sorry, I couldn't resist the cheeky comment. Another forum I am on for another hobby, regularly shows photo's of items on the ground with toes and shoes edging into the pic.

Lgaddy44 said:

Went to keg a Strawberry Wheat today, and found my first infected batch. We'll see how it works as a sour.

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Mmmmm, I bet it's for the better!

Alright here goes..had a very ambitious brewday on July 3rd, these are after a 18 day primary and a little over a week in the secondary., but obviously didn't work out the way I wanted. I brewed 3 batches, 5 buckets total (20ish gallons).

The first was a Gumballhead Clone (not shown) that has the thin whitish film shown on these other 3 images, but no other signs of what I think is Lacto on those two buckets (even though I am thinkin it is just a matter of time).

The top and bottom images are of a Red Rye (see recipe db) and the center image is of a Jamils Evil Twin kit my bro had sittn around for 6 months.

Hopefully I am just trippin..but I think not. I am bummed about the time and $$ I went with these. Definitely gonna give 'em a go in the bottle......we'll see though..

Would you folks concur that this is likely Lacto infection?? Should I bottle?? Coldcrash/bottle?? Let it ride?? Dump??

What should I do right now?? 20 + gallons of beer that smells good (albeit strong in some cases) but don't look good...

Signed....disappointed that I did something terrible wrong.

sparksanthony said:

Alright here goes..had a very ambitious brewday on July 3rd, these are after a 18 day primary and a little over a week in the secondary., but obviously didn't work out the way I wanted. I brewed 3 batches, 5 buckets total.

The first was a Gumballhead Clone (not shown) that is has the thin whitish film shown on these other 3 images, but no other signs of what I think is Lacto on those two buckets (even though I am thinkin it is just a matter of time).

The top and bottom images are of a Red Rye (see recipe db) and the center image is of a Jamils Evil Twin kit my bro had sittn around for 6 months.

Hopefully I am just trippin..but I think not. I am bummed about the time and $$ I went with these. Definitely gonna give 'em a go in the bottle......we'll see though..

Would you folks concur that this is likely Lacto infection?? Should I bottle?? Coldcrash/bottle?? Let it ride?? Dump??

What should I do right now?? 20 + gallons of beer that smells good (albeit strong in some cases) but don't look good...

Signed....disappointed that I did something terrible wrong.

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They show up horizontally on my phone but the first might be OK, the second a bit iffy, third definitely something. I'd bottle the first before the others in case it isn't Infected. Otherwise if you put it in a bottling bucket after one of those, might catch it. You use the same hose to siphon each? Likely the culprit if so.

Yeah looks like you should be throwing some plastic away soon. What are your sanitation procedures?

libeerty said:

They show up horizontally on my phone but the first might be OK, the second a bit iffy, third definitely something. I'd bottle the first before the others in case it isn't Infected. Otherwise if you put it in a bottling bucket after one of those, might catch it. You use the same hose to siphon each? Likely the culprit if so.

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Yes, I do use the same siphoning tube/wand/tubing so yes, there may have been something there. That would make sense.

I also had to do some creative secondary transferring from one bucket to another because I only have 6 total buckets. But I feel like the infection was likely there before any transferring.

My sanitation procedures are pretty good I think. The night before brew day, I usually soak everything (including filling the buckets) in the bath tub with a bleach/water mixture. On brew day, I rinse thoroughly and sanitize with a sanitizer, the latest being a powdered type of which I have not been overly impressed with. It doesn't really fully dissolve unless it is in very very hot water. Going back to Star-San after this debacle.

I plan to replace the silicone tubing..but the buckets and other equipment should be able to be cleaned/bleached and have no problems going forward..correct?

Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.

Cat_man_0 said:

Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.

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Whoah, are you sure you didn't drop tile spacers into your carboy?

Cat_man_0 said:

Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.

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Alphabet beer?

Also, for the people who accidentally infected their beer, maybe some of you should stop trying to secondary in plastic buckets, particularly with small volumes.

Cool huh? Gonna rack into a keg and see how it goes.

Shakybones said:

Alphabet beer?

Also, for the people who accidentally infected their beer, maybe some of you should stop trying to secondary in plastic buckets, particularly with small volumes.

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Yeah, I always secondary in glass, even for ales

Cat_man_0 said:

Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.

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You poured Alphabits cereal in there. But only the Y's.

TangoHotel said:

You poured Alphabits cereal in there. But only the Y's.

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I wish it was that simple. Nothing was intentionally added.

Cat_man_0 said:

Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.

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That's one of the coolest things I've seen.

Bottle a sample with a Y and send it my way I wanna look at it in the lab.

Channel66 said:

That's one of the coolest things I've seen.

Bottle a sample with a Y and send it my way I wanna look at it in the lab.

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Ha! I try to impress!

How much of a sample do you want?

Looks like someone poured the "bones" from the game Operation into it!

flash-shabby said:

espresso vanilla stout 3 weeks into secondary

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This looks like the surface of another planet....

Transferred tonight. Beer tasted fine (gonna be a good one) . The "Y"s are hollow and do mpt break up when disturbed. Kinda different.

That is awesome looking for sure.

I want to know what kind of infection that was for sure!

Just checked my buckets again (haven't looked at it in a week) and they all look about the same. Looks like everything is contaminated with the brett/lactic bacteria.

Everything smelled good and tasted fine (albeit the beer was pretty cloudy), so I think I am going to dry hop the one batch (2 buckets)of Gumballhead and bottle everything (5 buckets total) next weekend.

Maybe a question for another forum/thread but....

What is the best way to handle it in terms of clarity and carbonation? Will the bacteria hurt any of the residual yeast that will be used for carbonation in the bottles? Will a cold crash help anything? Cold condition in the bottles longer help with clarity? Should I just carry on with my normal routine??

sparksanthony said:

Just checked my buckets again (haven't looked at it in a week) and they all look about the same. Looks like everything is contaminated with the brett/lactic bacteria.

Everything smelled good and tasted fine (albeit the beer was pretty cloudy), so I think I am going to dry hop the one batch (2 buckets)of Gumballhead and bottle everything (5 buckets total) next weekend.

Maybe a question for another forum/thread but....

What is the best way to handle it in terms of clarity and carbonation? Will the bacteria hurt any of the residual yeast that will be used for carbonation in the bottles? Will a cold crash help anything? Cold condition in the bottles longer help with clarity? Should I just carry on with my normal routine??

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Yes the bacteria will likely kill off your yeast, however:

The bacteria will carbonate your beer, but if it is actually brett, you certainly want to make sure you have reached final gravity before bottling because if you're at say 1.010, brett can keep going to 1.000 or lower , over carbing and bottle bombing are a very real issue with brett beer, just make very sure that it is done fermenting. It can sometimes take a lot of time to reach FG

Brett also will clear it up beautifully if you give it time.

Channel66 said:

Yes the bacteria will likely kill off your yeast, however:

The bacteria will carbonate your beer, but if it is actually brett, you certainly want to make sure you have reached final gravity before bottling because if you're at say 1.010, brett can keep going to 1.000 or lower , over carbing and bottle bombing are a very real issue with brett beer, just make very sure that it is done fermenting. It can sometimes take a lot of time to reach FG

Brett also will clear it up beautifully if you give it time.

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NOt truly sure what it is, but based on the pictures it is brett, lacto, or something like that.

I just checked the FG again and it is pretty well the same as when I transferred them to secondary over two weeks at this point (also with a 3 week primary). One thing I did notice is that some of the hydrometer samples seemed t almost be carbonated?? Maybe that is a sign of the bacteria working and doing its thing. Will read up on this stuff..don't know much about it. At any rate, I will check the FG before I bottle and hopefully the fizz I am seeing right now will die off. I would be a little hesitant to bottle with that still present.

When I do bottle, I assume that I can prime with corn sugar as a normal beer?? How does that work??

sparksanthony said:

NOt truly sure what it is, but based on the pictures it is brett, lacto, or something like that.

I just checked the FG again and it is pretty well the same as when I transferred them to secondary over two weeks at this point (also with a 3 week primary). One thing I did notice is that some of the hydrometer samples seemed t almost be carbonated?? Maybe that is a sign of the bacteria working and doing its thing. Will read up on this stuff..don't know much about it. At any rate, I will check the FG before I bottle and hopefully the fizz I am seeing right now will die off. I would be a little hesitant to bottle with that still present.

When I do bottle, I assume that I can prime with corn sugar as a normal beer?? How does that work??

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Think of bacteria just as you would yeast. It is a little different in the sense that it will finish lower because it can consume more complex sugars than yeast can, it's harder to kill etc. But they eat the same food, and produce the same product albeit with different flavor.

So yes in short, corn sugar is fine.

Channel66 said:

Think of bacteria just as you would yeast. It is a little different in the sense that it will finish lower because it can consume more complex sugars than yeast can, it's harder to kill etc. But they eat the same food, and produce the same product albeit with different flavor.

So yes in short, corn sugar is fine.

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OK, I will plan to prime with the normal amount of corn sugar in a week then (assuming FG is the same). Thanks alot for your help 66! I feel a little better now that I know 20 gallons of beer may not have to go to waste!

Note to self...boil the erlenmeyer after a big brett starter. Doh!

BallisticGourd said:

Note to self...boil the erlenmeyer after a big brett starter. Doh!

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Wouldn't you boil the starter in the erlenmeyer while making a starter?

mux said:

Wouldn't you boil the starter in the erlenmeyer while making a starter?

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I have an electric stove so unfortunately i can't, i transfer.

Must have scratched the inside of my better bottle while cleaning it, because this is the first infection I've ever had. I had to use a carboy brush on it a couple of times because oxyclean didn't cut it. Super bummed.

Weizer said:

Must have scratched the inside of my better bottle while cleaning it, because this is the first infection I've ever had. I had to use a carboy brush on it a couple of times because oxyclean didn't cut it. Super bummed.

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Seems there are some varying opinions about how to handle the equipment once an infection has been inside of it. Once you get an infection in a better bottle or plastic bucket...are they now best thrown away? Can they simply be bleached or sanitized using some other means to use again for future? Same for racking canes/tubes? I have read a little about how these "microscratches" (if present?) can harbor bacterias.

sparksanthony said:

Seems there are some varying opinions about how to handle the equipment once an infection has been inside of it. Once you get an infection in a better bottle or plastic bucket...are they now best thrown away? Can they simply be bleached or sanitized using some other means to use again for future? Same for racking canes/tubes? I have read a little about how these "microscratches" (if present?) can harbor bacterias.

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If it's plastic toss it, or dedicate it to bugs, this includes better bottles, buckets, transfer equipment, including funnels, hoses, lines, heck I even dedicate a stopper and airlock. Scratches in plastic can create a safe harbor for these itty bitty creatures, you can bleach, and sanitize all you want, the tiniest scratch in a bucket can be loaded with bacteria and you will be battling the forever infection.

I basically have 2 sets of equipment, 1 for sours, one regular, in my brewery this includes a dedicated tap, though many people don't go that far. Equipment wears out, you aren't going to keep the same siphon forever, I retire my old stuff to my sour brewery, keeping good clean new equipment for the clean beer.

mux said:

Wouldn't you boil the starter in the erlenmeyer while making a starter?

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I use pressure canned wort for starters, and usually starsan's enough to take care of the erlenmeyer...I was in a hurry and forgot I'd just done a starter for a barrel.

so after 4 days my British bitter looks like this. I think it's co2 and yeast but first time seeing this. tastes good.

bxtz3d, that looks completely normal. Just some yeast rafts and maybe some hop debris up there. Even cold crashing, there will still sometimes be those floaters. Bottle/keg up when ready and enjoy!

My first infection after about 50 batches. It's a hefeweizen so I think I'll ride it out. unfortunately it was a beer slated for my wedding with two batches after it on the same equipment so I hope it happened during transfer. Any idea what it is? Still smells like bananas.

Pink krausen? Tasted fine... A bit peachy but good. Pale ale. US-05 at 65 degrees.