Post your infection

IslandLizard said:

Sorry about your beer. Some unintentional sours can still be or become yummy, but it's an acquired taste. Those bucket lids/rims can be real bug traps. Spray sanitizer underneath and mop around with a sanitizer soaked washcloth. The large opening doesn't help either.



You can take samples out of buckets without removing the lid. Snake a skinny 1/4" OD hose down the grommet hole, and suck some beer out. When enough, pull the hose out so it doesn't flow back. Replace airlock.

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I never met a bucket who's gasket wasn't removable. Pull that sucker out and give it a good cleaning every time. I always seem to get black crap shedding off of it even new.

CurtTheCop said:

Ok guys, new brewer here. This is my 3rd kit and I had this around the edge of the fermenter/krausen collar (coopers new fermenting vessel) when it came to bottling... I don't think any of it had resided on top of the beer but it certainly didn't look appetising. Anyway it's bottled now so Im hoping it'll be ok!

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Looks like a huge colony of mold, and possibly some more small colonies on the clear part of the plastic. Almost looks like penicillin mold.

Cannman - unfortunately this is the only photo I took.

Resonator - thanks for your reply.

Is this quiet an uncommon sight for brewing then? And would you say it is still safe to drink? I removed the collar and stirred in priming sugar before bottling so I hope nothing has got into the beer

It's the new youngs American mocha porter btw if it makes any difference.

CurtTheCop said:

Cannman - unfortunately this is the only photo I took.

Resonator - thanks for your reply.

Is this quiet an uncommon sight for brewing then? And would you say it is still safe to drink? I removed the collar and stirred in priming sugar before bottling so I hope nothing has got into the beer

It's the new youngs American mocha porter btw if it makes any difference.

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From how to brew:
"Cause 2: Mold A simple case of mold.
Cure: Mold can usually be just skimmed off with no lasting effect on the beer's flavor. Withdraw a sample of the wort with a siphon or turkey baster and taste it. If it tastes foul then its not worth keeping. Otherwise the beer was probably not harmed. Infections in beer caused by molds are not dangerous. Be meticulous in your sanitation and you should not have any problems."

If it doesn't taste awful, you should be good.

Out of curiosity, what are you using for a sanitizer? Star San? Also, how long in between sanitizing the fermenter and adding the beer to the fermenter was it sitting, and was it sealed?

Thanks for that!

I use VWP sanitiser. I always bottle a brew, then clean and sanitise the fermenter, rinse, and then get another fresh brew on the go straight away. If the fermenter gets left to one side then I will sanitise it again before use.
People often refer to me as a clean freak in general day to day cleaning and I make sure no stone is left unturned when it comes to my brewing equipment so I'm not sure how it could of happened.

CurtTheCop said:

Thanks for that!

I use VWP sanitiser. I always bottle a brew, then clean and sanitise the fermenter, rinse, and then get another fresh brew on the go straight away. If the fermenter gets left to one side then I will sanitise it again before use.

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I think I'm reading that the fermenter could sit out for an hour or more??? Maybe misreading. I think it's best to sanitize immediately before filling, or sanitize and then keep the lid on for the few minutes before filling.

Also, this may not be necessary, but I prefer to let the fermenter soak for a few hours with Oxi Clean rather than cleaning it quickly - seems to come cleaner and smell fresher. Others may have different opinions.

I usually bottle a beer, rinse out the krausen ring with hot water. Then fill my fermenter completely with water and add oxy/pbw. Let it soak overnight, and rinse thoroughly water then next morning.

Brew day, I fill up my carboy with water and star san, shake it well and let it sit for 20 min. Then drain the star san into a 5 gal bucket to use for other sanitizing, and seal my fermenter so nothing can get in. When my kettle is in its ice bath I pour out any remaining star san from the bubbles settling down.

My guess is it could either be from the fermenter not being airtight (possibly sucking air in with temp changes), or it wasn't closed off after you sanitized and before you filled it with wort.

Ncbrewer - I'm currently only doing extract kits so it doesn't even get left longer than a couple of minutes.

Resonator - I am using the new coopers fermentation vessel with no airlock (if you have seen it) so I wonder if it isn't as good as they reckon out....

This is my Christmas Saison, I was planning to bottle it tomorrow and I noticed funny looking white clusters on the top today, any idea if this is an infection or not? It was down to 1.015 2 weeks ago when I transferred it to secondary, tomorrow I'll remeasure but should I be concerned?

View attachment 1442646913003.jpg

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At this point I'd say no, it's fine.

unionrdr said:

At this point I'd say no, it's fine.

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Thanks Unionrdr. After reading this I still prepared to transfer and maybe just sour the brew but when I tasted and it seemed all good and I think maybe the spots were just the yeast continuing after I'd transferred to secondary as it had dropped a little bit more since 2 weeks ago. I've bottled it all and it's tasting pretty good.

do i have to worry ?



*sorry for the poor quality pic

Not 100% sure, but I'd say no at this point.

hopsngrain said:

do i have to worry ?

*sorry for the poor quality pic

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Possibly.

Does it look like broken ice/skin on the top?
Or does it look more like oil?
Hard to tell from the pic.

How long has it been in the primary?

Resonator said:

Possibly.

Does it look like broken ice/skin on the top?
Or does it look more like oil?
Hard to tell from the pic.

How long has it been in the primary?

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1 week in the primary and up to now 1 week in the secondary and yes it look like broken skin/ice on top

hopsngrain said:

1 week in the primary and up to now 1 week in the secondary and yes it look like broken skin/ice on top

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Unfortunately, that sounds like a lactobacillus infection. Not a horrible thing if you like sours.

Im guessing its ruined

SamNorfolk1982 said:

Im guessing its ruined

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Have you tasted it?

Is that fruit I see under the bubbles?

Ok, so 6 days in fermenter, I peaked in and see this:
Is it dead?
This is the beer from the "disaster brew" post started a few days ago.
Is this Krausen falling or an infection? If you look close enough it looks like lots of tiny bubbles but there could also be that "oily" look on top.
Thx eh!

Jq1n said:

Ok, so 6 days in fermenter, I peaked in and see this:

Is it dead?

This is the beer from the "disaster brew" post started a few days ago.

Is this Krausen falling or an infection? If you look close enough it looks like lots of tiny bubbles but there could also be that "oily" look on top.

Thx eh!

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Looks normal. Leave it closed. What kind of yeast did you use though?

Ok. Thx. I do usually leave it closed. My first two batches I didn't look until about 10 days and it was to take a gravity reading so I will follow that advice. Because of the trouble I had during the boil, etc I wanted to peek. I used Fermentis us-05.
This is Mr Cheeks IPA from the recipe section.
Thx again

Jq1n said:

Ok. Thx. I do usually leave it closed. My first two batches I didn't look until about 10 days and it was to take a gravity reading so I will follow that advice. Because of the trouble I had during the boil, etc I wanted to peek. I used Fermentis us-05.
This is Mr Cheeks IPA from the recipe section.
Thx again

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You should be good. That stuff on top will usually drop out with Us-05

This is my first time all grain - first time infection?

I popped the syphon in the FV but kept the lid on as best i could. Ran clear smelt OK.. but I gots cheese! This is after 8 days Primary using WLP007 in an IPA.

Thoughts??

MikeyOnABikey said:

This is my first time all grain - first time infection?



I popped the syphon in the FV but kept the lid on as best i could. Ran clear smelt OK.. but I gots cheese! This is after 8 days Primary using WLP007 in an IPA.



Thoughts??

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You sure it's not just yeast?

Maybe so, Its my first all grain and not seen it like throughout me brew kit batches. From what I've read WLP007 can be a bit fiesty, It was pretty lumpy when making the starter, but don't have any real experience.

I was a relatively hard layer to break through but Its in the secondary now, so will check in a few days

Cheers
Mike

Looks like yeast rafts, krausen & cold break to me.

Pumpkin ale. Normal for pumpkin, or beginnings of a dumper? Tastes good, gravity is spot on...

brokebucket said:

Pumpkin ale. Normal for pumpkin, or beginnings of a dumper? Tastes good, gravity is spot on...

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If it tastes good, don't dump it.

It is infected (probably lactobacillus), but the worst that probably will happen, is it gets a little sour.

I dunno, I've seen brett make a pellicle like that. If it is, I wouldn't bottle it as it could continue to attenuate. Either give it a long time to make sure gravity doesn't continue to drop, or keg it and keep it cold.

Anyone got a read on this?
American IPA. This is after 6 days in the primary. I know it took a while to get started. Gravity is at 1.015
And for what it's worth, it tastes like a Trippel.
Thanks

butterblum said:

Anyone got a read on this?
American IPA. This is after 6 days in the primary. I know it took a while to get started. Gravity is at 1.015
And for what it's worth, it tastes like a Trippel.
Thanks

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Does it look like a bunch of little bubbles clumped together and some krausen/yeast color looking things spotted in between?

If so, everything is fine.

From what I can see, everything looks normal to me.

Oh, they can. Especially if you're popping the lid to look/test a lot. Or it sits long enough. Other things as well, but this one looks like krausen & yeast rafts to me.

Anyone able to advise me if this looks like an infection? There were a few gloopy/slimey looking white things on the surface of my beer. After racking to the secondary, i found a bunch more at the bottom. The beer had a slight vinegar smell, which seems like it could be a bad sign.

This is probably my 6th or 7th brew, haven't seen anything like this before.

Just looks like yeast to me. Some strains in some conditions will do that. I'd say you're fine.

Patrick87 said:

Just looks like yeast to me. Some strains in some conditions will do that. I'd say you're fine.

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Agreed

A slight vinegar smell is a bad sign. Likely acetobacter at work?

Resonator said:

If it tastes good, don't dump it.

It is infected (probably lactobacillus), but the worst that probably will happen, is it gets a little sour.

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Why would you say that? it could be any kind of bacteria... but for some reason its prob lacto because............

pls dont spread misinformation.

j1n said:

Why would you say that? it could be any kind of bacteria... but for some reason its prob lacto because............



pls dont spread misinformation.

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From what I've seen lactobacillus usually starts out looking like broken ice and then films all over. It could be any bacteria, true, but there are many species of lactobacillus, and it is the most common in beer spoilage followed by pediococcus.

Good enough?

j1n said:

Why would you say that? it could be any kind of bacteria... but for some reason its prob lacto because............

pls dont spread misinformation.

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It is impossible to diagnose an infection by the pellicle. I agree with j1n on this one.

It can be any one of a number of infections. Unless you have a microscope and a degree in micro biology you cannot diagnose the infection. It is infected, but with what we do not know.