Possible to treat infected beer?

Has anyone ever sprayed starsan or some other sanitizer on the whitish layer that usually signals the start of an infection? I wonder if it would work? After looking at some of the infected beer pics, it makes me wonder.

i dont think StarSan would work. StarSan isn't a microbialcide (don't think thats an actual word) per se. it kills bacteria and what not by lowering the PH to a point that the microorganisms cant handle and killing them. if you sprayed the StarSan onto the top of your wort it would mix rather quickly and its PH would raise to a point where its no longer effective within milliseconds. while this may kill some of the most top layer of the infection it wont get any of the lower badies.

I would suggest using a little more sanitizer prior to developing the infection!

Sorry for the smart ass remark. I could resist, but I didn't want to.

Unfortunately it will not work. The white layer on the top is a 'signal' or symptom, but it signifies a larger issue 'below the surface', both literally and figuratively. You cannot get that bad stuff out of the beer.

I wondered this too, if you just bottle an infected batch, will all the bad stuff just keep reproducing in bottles? will it still taste decent? does more time help/hurt?

I've only had one infected batch (last year), but here is a hypothetical: if you caught it early enough, couldn't you stabilize (sorbate and k-meta) and force carb? I guess it probably depends on what it tastes like once you notice the infection.

the only way you can kill out an infection in a brew that i can think of is to add one campden tablet per gallon. this will also kill the yeast as well. you could force carb or pitch more yeast after the campden denatures itself. adding sorbate will only stop fermentation and prevent it from starting again it wont kill anything.