Infection or do I just need to RDWHAHB?

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illinibrew04

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Hey guys, I've been surfing around here for about a year now and really appreciate all the advice I've gleaned from this forum. My 4th AG is in the secondary now (an APA) and it started to get some whitish bubbles on the top near the sides of the fermentor. No fuzzies or anything, but there appears to be a light brownish deposit along the sides by the bubbles. Maybe you can see it in the pics. Is this likely an infection? I'm usually pretty careful about sanitation, but anything can happen I guess. Should I leave it in the secondary (it's only been in there three days) or rack to the keg and let it finish in there?....or possibly cold crash it? Thanks for the help!

Here's the link for the pics (the hop bags are in there too which were boiled to sanitize)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27729192@N03/
 
It looks like a normal bunch of Krauzen junk in a glass carboy...the brownish deposites are just broken up bits of krausen smashed against the edge of the glass, and some fizzy yeasties.

The bigger question is, if it in secondary why is there krausen at all???

Secondary is for clearing and you don't move the beer to it until fermentation is complete. How long do you wait to rack to secondary? And do you wait to your hydrometer readings are stable for three days?

I think you are racking way too soon.
 
So the big balls floating on top are hop bags? If they're not, that's pretty scary stuff! :D

I wouldn't be too worried about the stuff around the perimeter of the carboy just yet. Let it go for a few weeks in secondary and see what it does. Have you tasted a sample of it yet? Does it taste ok?
 
That's a possibility I suppose. I usually wait 10 days to rack to secondary. I know I should be taking hydrometer readings regularly, but I don't have a great way to do it, and I feel that I'm just increasing my risk of contamination. I have a beer thief but it's too short, so I need to get the longer one. Any suggestions? Thanks for the input.
 
Looks like fermentation started back up in the secondary. Did you take hydrometer readings before you racked to the secondary to see if the beer had attenuated properly? You're probably going to want to rack it again as it looks like you're going to have a bunch of sediment to clear out again.
 
Haven't tasted it yet. Yeah, that would be a monster infection if those weren't hop bags!
 
illinibrew04 said:
That's a possibility I suppose. I usually wait 10 days to rack to secondary. I know I should be taking hydrometer readings regularly, but I don't have a great way to do it, and I feel that I'm just increasing my risk of contamination. I have a beer thief but it's too short, so I need to get the longer one. Any suggestions? Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

You know...if taking hydro readings were such a big risk of contanimating the beer then why would it be recommended so darn much??? All the books/websites tell us all the things not to do....but they all agree that taking hydrometer readings are important!

Don't forget your beer is cushioned by Co2 which protects the beer from stuff falling in.

Step 1 sanitize theif or turkey baster.
Step 2 open bucket/carboy bung.
Step 3 Draw Sample (I transfer it to a sampler tube, and it usually takes 1.5 draws of my long wine theif to get it to the height i like.)
Step 4 Close bucket or replace bung. (I keep a spray bottle of iodophor/Distilled water handy, and usually just give the lid or the bung a quick hit of sanitizer-if I remember...I haven't and everything's been fine.)

These steps take less than 20 seconds for me to do.

Step 5 Take stick thermometer in sample to figure out the temp.
Step 6 take reading.
Step 7 Drink Sample (the best part).

It can be done faster with 2 persons....one to open and close the lid/bung, and another to draw the sample.

Only problem with that is then you have to share the sample.

Thin about it this way...If you had taken the sample, you wouldn't have racked too early, you wouldn't have had fizzy stuff on your beer and you wouldn't have had to start an "is my beer infected thread?":D
 
Revvy said:
You know...if taking hydro readings were such a big risk of contanimating the beer then why would it be recommended so darn much??? All the books/websites tell us all the things not to do....but they all agree that taking hydrometer readings are important!

Don't forget your beer is cushioned by Co2 which protects the beer from stuff falling in.

Step 1 sanitize theif or turkey baster.
Step 2 open bucket/carboy bung.
Step 3 Draw Sample (I transfer it to a sampler tube, and it usually takes 1.5 draws of my long wine theif to get it to the height i like.)
Step 4 Close bucket or replace bung. (I keep a spray bottle of iodophor/Distilled water handy, and usually just give the lid or the bung a quick hit of sanitizer-if I remember...I haven't and everything's been fine.)

These steps take less than 20 seconds for me to do.

Step 5 Take stick thermometer in sample to figure out the temp.
Step 6 take reading.
Step 7 Drink Sample (the best part).

It can be done faster with 2 persons....one to open and close the lid/bung, and another to draw the sample.

Only problem with that is then you have to share the sample.

Thin about it this way...If you had taken the sample, you wouldn't have racked too early, you wouldn't have had fizzy stuff on your beer and you wouldn't have had to start an "is my beer infected thread?":D
Click to expand...

Awww dang...remind me to never piss revvy off...:eek:
 
Evan! said:
Awww dang...remind me to never piss revvy off...:eek:
Click to expand...

You haven't seen me pissed off...

www.sptimes.com_2003_06_23_photos_xprs-hulk.jpg_SPLASH.jpg


(except with a goatee) :D
 
Revvy said:
You know...if taking hydro readings were such a big risk of contanimating the beer then why would it be recommended so darn much??? All the books/websites tell us all the things not to do....but they all agree that taking hydrometer readings are important!

Don't forget your beer is cushioned by Co2 which protects the beer from stuff falling in.

Step 1 sanitize theif or turkey baster.
Step 2 open bucket/carboy bung.
Step 3 Draw Sample (I transfer it to a sampler tube, and it usually takes 1.5 draws of my long wine theif to get it to the height i like.)
Step 4 Close bucket or replace bung. (I keep a spray bottle of iodophor/Distilled water handy, and usually just give the lid or the bung a quick hit of sanitizer-if I remember...I haven't and everything's been fine.)

These steps take less than 20 seconds for me to do.

Step 5 Take stick thermometer in sample to figure out the temp.
Step 6 take reading.
Step 7 Drink Sample (the best part).

It can be done faster with 2 persons....one to open and close the lid/bung, and another to draw the sample.

Only problem with that is then you have to share the sample.

Thin about it this way...If you had taken the sample, you wouldn't have racked too early, you wouldn't have had fizzy stuff on your beer and you wouldn't have had to start an "is my beer infected thread?":D
Click to expand...

Did you not get your coffee this morning, Revvy?
 
Yeah, if that's an infection, then every batch I've brewed is infected.

And, many brewers have some fermentation in the secondary. Racking is one of the most effective ways to rouse yeast, so it never is any surprise to see some activity in the secondary. I've had batches sit in the primary for three weeks, where the SG has been stable for a week or so. Then, after racking, I see some activity and drop another couple points. Did I rack too early or do something terrible to my batch? Nope. I just made some beer.

I don't get all this fist pounding about no fermentation in the secondary. It is quite the fad right now, but I just haven't seen a benefit so tremendous to warrant the near-militant stance some brewers take on the issue.


TL
 
Hey guys, I really appreciate all the advice. I think my goal next time will be to take consistent hydro readings.
 
illinibrew04 said:
Hey guys, I really appreciate all the advice. I think my goal next time will be to take consistent hydro readings.
Click to expand...

It'll save you some worries....A wise person around here once said that it is "the only way your beer can talk to you."

(it might have even been Evan, back when he had a Billy Carter Avatar.)
 
TexLaw said:
I don't get all this fist pounding about no fermentation in the secondary. It is quite the fad right now, but I just haven't seen a benefit so tremendous to warrant the near-militant stance some brewers take on the issue.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It's still beer when it's done. What's the difference if it drops a couple points in secondary? Racking too early isn't going to ruin a batch of beer.

I take 2 hydrometer readings. One before it goes into the fermenter and one before it goes into the keg. I give my beers at least 10-14 days in primary before I rack them, then they normally clear for at least a month. It's good practice to take more readings when you're starting out, but now I find them to be a waste of a sample. I'm not going to fret over a few points unless I'm brewing something for a competition and I need to finish within a specific range.

RDWHAHB.
 
You know to be honest, I think it's much harder for a batch to get infected than most people think. I have had everything (not on purpose mind you) from mold on the airlock to having strange films appear on my beer surface post ferment, and it hasn't resulted in weirdness. In fact, with my Cider Vinegar although it happened naturally and the distinct smell of Acetic Acid was present early on, it has still taken since October to notice a distinct level of sourness. Another common type, Lactic Acid producing infections are really hard to do on accident post boil because of the boil and because you introduce sufficient viable yeast. The strong survive in the microscopic world, especially if you do your part to make sure they have a favorable environment.

RDWHAHB!
 
zoebisch01 said:
You know to be honest, I think it's much harder for a batch to get infected than most people think. I have had everything (not on purpose mind you) from mold on the airlock to having strange films appear on my beer surface post ferment, and it hasn't resulted in weirdness. In fact, with my Cider Vinegar although it happened naturally and the distinct smell of Acetic Acid was present early on, it has still taken since October to notice a distinct level of sourness. Another common type, Lactic Acid producing infections are really hard to do on accident post boil because of the boil and because you introduce sufficient viable yeast. The strong survive in the microscopic world, especially if you do your part to make sure they have a favorable environment.

RDWHAHB!
Click to expand...

+1 on this!
 
Soulive said:
+1...the only possible (not proven) infection I've had was from some bottling mistakes, not from fermentation mistakes...
Click to expand...

No doubt about that. You tend to see or hear about many more infected individual bottles than whole batches. It is hard to get some other bug to contaminate a batch, but not so much if you leave some bit of ka-ka in a bottle.


TL
 
OK so I just took a gravity reading and got 1.007, and the sample was also quite tasty so I think I'll be good to go. Thanks again for the advice/reassurance!
 
I'm kegging it, but I am going to let it clear for probably a couple more weeks first.
 

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