White Film On Imperial Stout

Hi all,

Well I have been watching my Imperial Stout with a hydrometer for the past month or so. Yesterday when I popped the lid off, I found this strange white film on the top. Infected? I was having problems hitting my FG and even with the film on top it's still over my FG at about 1.035. The beer is around 10% ABV and was fermented with WL Irish Ale yeast. The beer smells and tastes just fine.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery...jsp?albumId=496696603212&ownerId=432742731212

Thanks!!!

Can you post pics directly? The kodakgallery keeps giving me the busy sign.

Can you try uploading your shot directly to the forum or use an alternative site? The Kodak Gallery doesn't seem to be working...

Let's try this again...

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l266/josh_454/IMAG0022.jpg

it looks like infection to me. im not 100% sure though.

Is it forming little white bubbles on the surface? ...Is it hairy? We can never be sure about it being an infection. Could be yeast or mold. The best way to approach it is to do hydrometer tests and make sure the F.G. is not dropping. How long do you have until you are supposed to bottle? If it still tastes good then you can rack from the below the nastiness, bottle, and cross your fingers that you don't have bombs (probably won't).

Legin said:

Is it forming little white bubbles on the surface? ...Is it hairy?

Click to expand...

A little wild fermentation here and there may be great for a thrill, but you know you go can't go pitching your yeast in any unboiled wort you pick up off the street. It may look clean, but Brett is the gift that keeps on giving. The only way to be truly safe is to practise good sanitation and be faithful to one beer from grain till glass.

No hairs and there is one bubble about the size of a pencil eraser. I'm torn between dumping and racking under the scum and seeing what I got. I'm still above my FG so I don't THINK I'll have bottle bombs. I think I might have picked something up all the times I popped the lid of to check the gravity with the hydrometer.

DO NOT DUMP IT. It can't hurt you at this point.
Just give it a few more weeks/months and then bottle it to try and avoid bombs.

It's kind of neat, it looks a bit like marble.

Don't ever dump, unless you mean to dump to a bottling bucket. Rack under the scum and bottle. Because it's such a high alcohol content, the bacteria will have issues spreading and you will most likely end up with a safe and great tasting brew. If you look at many pics of infected brews, you'll notice that they are in buckets. It's pointed out in How to Brew that buckets are not best for conditioning in, oxygen can still get in and popping off the lid can lead to infections. I suggest you buy a 5gal carboy if you want to do any long-term aging in the future. Hope it all goes well.

Looks like mold to me. I'd rack from under it and bottle ASAP.