Pellicle Photo Collection

Williams 728
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Is this a pellicle? Doesn't look like it..? My first 100% brett beer (wlp645) finishing up. It's at 1.012 (OG is 1.058) as of 20 minutes ago.

The other weird thing is I am not tasting any of what I read to expect. I know it's early and brett moves slow, but it's got a crazy belgian flavor going on.

I don't believe you will see a pellicle with 100% Brett. unless a large amount of air is getting in. I have done two 100% Brett fermentations (one with ECY Brett Brux. and the other with ECY Dirty Dozen. The dirty dozen was pitched in an American IPA and had a bombastic juicy pineapple character for about 3-4 months before it became a funk bomb. The Brux. Was pitched into an English IPA, and stayed clean for almost a year. From my experience, when you pitch the right amount of cells, Brett. acts very much like a clean ale fermentation. Your observation of a "Belgian" character is not that far off.
 
mesooohoppy said:
Is this a pellicle? Doesn't look like it..? My first 100% brett beer (wlp645) finishing up. It's at 1.012 (OG is 1.058) as of 20 minutes ago.

The other weird thing is I am not tasting any of what I read to expect. I know it's early and brett moves slow, but it's got a crazy belgian flavor going on.
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I used ECY01 and ECY20 a year ago. I bottled the 01, and it was very Belgian-esque. Also a little fruity. Its supposed to be a mix of wild sac and brett strains along with some lacto and pedo, but they never seemed to take hold. FWIW, this one also never formed a pellicle. The ECY20 did after I disturbed it and gave it some oxygen while taking a sample, and then it formed a real nice one after racking onto tart cherry concentrate.
 
my first pellicle. and it's intentional!

my yeast guy hooked me up with some Basque cider yeast he harvested from a bottle

have been wanting to funk up a cider for a while now. can't wait to try it when it's ready

IMG_0627.jpg
 
microbiologist the local brewery hired on as consultant and he started his own yeast company.

he sells that brewery's house yeast and I used it in my last beer, a SN Bigfoot clone. gave it my usual aeration (paint stirrer on a power drill), a decent sized starter and it took off like a rocket, high krausen and falling within 24 hours

he gave me this Basque cider yeast to test out. he also messaged me saying he's getting some yeast from a Polish brewery, wanted to know if I wanted some. well, since my next brew is a Grodziskie, I said hell, yeah, I want some.
 
i'm starting to hate this topic, this night i had a nightmare in which i had the skin like a brett pellicle:eek::drunk::D
 
GrogNerd said:
microbiologist the local brewery hired on as consultant and he started his own yeast company.

he sells that brewery's house yeast and I used it in my last beer, a SN Bigfoot clone. gave it my usual aeration (paint stirrer on a power drill), a decent sized starter and it took off like a rocket, high krausen and falling within 24 hours

he gave me this Basque cider yeast to test out. he also messaged me saying he's getting some yeast from a Polish brewery, wanted to know if I wanted some. well, since my next brew is a Grodziskie, I said hell, yeah, I want some.
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which brewery?
 
GrogNerd said:
Polish brewery? no idea ;):p

local brewery is Lost Rhino and his Jasper Yeast/Bright Yeast Labs JY85 is their house yeast

really good stuff. I'm seriously considering not using anything else but his strains for everything I do
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The local Northern VA strains look interesting. might grab some of their yeast if im ever at one of the 2 home brew shops they sell the yeast at.
 
MarshmallowBlue said:
How well did the suran wrap thing work?
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Only one batch trying it but I think it worked great i was surprised I thought the wrap was going to be a huge pain, i used uncrushed acid malt to help lower ph after the mash and to add the lactic bacteria, no nasty barnyard smells or flavors finished product came out just tart and citrusy
 
If I didn't have a wife and kids constantly using the stove i would have covered it with a blanket, but no, at risk of a fire i left it uninsulated lol
 
1 month primary pitched TYB Melange, RR Beat, Bruery Reueze, Orval dregs, 1 month into secondary finally got my pellicle started:

344uufk.jpg
 
Rhaop said:
If I didn't have a wife and kids constantly using the stove i would have covered it with a blanket, but no, at risk of a fire i left it uninsulated lol
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I understand, using any combustible material on or near a stove is dangerous, and should never be left unattended.

So you left the burner on low for 3 days? How was the temperature of the mash those days?
 
I mashed low around 150 i think, will have to check notes, and no I didn't leave the burner on that would have gotten too hot, all i did was check the kettle throughout the weekend and hit the burner for maybe 30-45 seconds at a time to keep kettle around 90
 
I'm looking for Brett B (wlp650) pics. My pale ale is looking like it has mold on it. The growth is powdery white with black spots growing in. Thanks in advance.
 
millsbrew said:
I'm looking for Brett B (wlp650) pics. My pale ale is looking like it has mold on it. The growth is powdery white with black spots growing in. Thanks in advance.
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I've had white powdery pellicles from Brett many times but the black spots don't sound good. Post a good pic maybe someone can give you an opinion.
 
millsbrew said:
View attachment 350554View attachment 350555

These are from a few days ago. It's 1 month in primary. I was going to rack to secondary but noticed the growth on there. I'm not sure it's mold as I'd expect some on the glass. I will try for a better pic tonight. Thanks.
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That looks awful. if that's mold it's the most I personally have ever seen growing on a beer. You said it's a pale ale so I can't see what else that would be. I would dump that and sanitize the **** out of that fermenter.
 
masonsjax said:
How does it smell and taste? It doesn't look very scary to me. It looks like the start of a pellicle maybe. If it's not foul smelling and tastes good, let it ride.
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I've seen a lot of pellicles can't say I've ever seen a black one especially on a pale beer. where would the black color be coming from?
 
BUCKNUTS said:
I've seen a lot of pellicles can't say I've ever seen a black one especially on a pale beer. where would the black color be coming from?
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I could be wrong of course, but the black looks like lighting to me. I see wort with white specks on top which wouldn't be too unusual. I'd drink just about anything if it tastes good though :tank:
 
masonsjax said:
I could be wrong of course, but the black looks like lighting to me. I see wort with white specks on top which wouldn't be too unusual. I'd drink just about anything if it tastes good though :tank:
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Lol you're a wild man. He did say it had black spots on it. I'm gonna pass on moldy beer personally. Ingestion of mold can have a host of affects on us human beings I would rather not chance it. I had to dump a fruited sour because of mold and it broke my heart. I can always buy more ingredients to make a new batch but can never get back that yesr it spent aging.
 
BUCKNUTS said:
Lol you're a wild man. He did say it had black spots on it. I'm gonna pass on moldy beer personally. Ingestion of mold can have a host of affects on us human beings I would rather not chance it. I had to dump a fruited sour because of mold and it broke my heart. I can always buy more ingredients to make a new batch but can never get back that yesr it spent aging.
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Here is some food for thought. I make sourkraut a few times a year and it is not uncommon to have mold grow on the surface. The general consensus I've found (including advice from the book "wild fermentation" and my grandmother who made it for 70+ years) is to scoop off the mold and forget it was ever there. The reason is that below the surface is an anaerobic environment that does not support the growth of that bacteria so it will never penetrate below the surface. I would think the same argument can be made to beer. So, as long as you leave all the mold behind in the carboy when you rack the beer you should be OK?
 
crane said:
Here is some food for thought. I make sourkraut a few times a year and it is not uncommon to have mold grow on the surface. The general consensus I've found (including advice from the book "wild fermentation" and my grandmother who made it for 70+ years) is to scoop off the mold and forget it was ever there. The reason is that below the surface is an anaerobic environment that does not support the growth of that bacteria so it will never penetrate below the surface. I would think the same argument can be made to beer. So, as long as you leave all the mold behind in the carboy when you rack the beer you should be OK?
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I would never chance it personally I just don't know how you could ensure you got all the mold. The beer I dumped had a fine black film of mold that disbursed in to the beer when I moved the carboy. I just couldnt risk it.
 
Bugs galore in here:

- Conan harvested from a Heady Topper can
- Wild Yeast caught in my garage
- Bacteria harvested from some silage of my in laws farm

Dregs from:
- Wild Beer Brett Brett IIPA
- Tool Weisse
- Baby Grand Flanders Red from North End Brewing here in NZ

No idea what has taken or what was viable when pitch but it's full of funk!

View attachment 1460958507521.jpg
 
It's really hard to tell from the pic if the dark spots are wort or something growing on top. If it's a growth, I'd be more iffy on it. If not, it's probably fine. I've made some really good sauerkraut that had some gnarly mold on top. Scouped it off and the rest was great! If you're not comfortable drinking it, don't let me talk you into it.
 

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