Post your infection

Looks fine

Yep. Looks like a finished fermenting beer to me.

djrosso said:

Wanted to get expert opinions on this one. This is my first 5 gallon batch, I've done three 1 gallons in the past without infection. Just opened after a week to dry hop, took a quick pic and closed the bucket. Is this an infection or just krausen still floating around?View attachment 277321

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This looks fine. And probably very tasty.

Looks like the remains of krausen to me. One week often isn't long enough for krausen to fully drop out. I always like to leave my ales 2 weeks before dry-hopping to make sure fermentation is completely finished.

FView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431568245.558728.jpg
Like an idiot, I fermented my (what was supposed to be clean) saison in the same area as my 100% Brett L and my batch with 100% Crooked Stave Vieille dregs. Do you think by this pic it has Brett, or all the bugs?

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431575048.679932.jpg so, first IPA I've ever done. First time using honey malt. Vigorously sanitized and washed everything. What's that white speck (and some others) floating in there? Just scrape it out?

peejaynj said:

so, first IPA I've ever done. First time using honey malt. Vigorously sanitized and washed everything. What's that white speck (and some others) floating in there? Just scrape it out?

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Looks normal to me, I wouldn't touch it. Keep the lid on it until it's sat for 2 weeks from brew day, then toss in some dry hops, wait another week, and bottle.

TastyAdventure said:

FView attachment 277904
Like an idiot, I fermented my (what was supposed to be clean) saison in the same area as my 100% Brett L and my batch with 100% Crooked Stave Vieille dregs. Do you think by this pic it has Brett, or all the bugs?

Click to expand...

It definitely looks to have picked up an infection. You might be right about the brett.

peejaynj said:

View attachment 277915 so, first IPA I've ever done. First time using honey malt. Vigorously sanitized and washed everything. What's that white speck (and some others) floating in there? Just scrape it out?

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The foamy-looking stuff is just krausen. The white spot could be a slimy bubble indicating an infection. The rest looks like yeast rafts to me.

TastyAdventure said:

FView attachment 277904
Like an idiot, I fermented my (what was supposed to be clean) saison in the same area as my 100% Brett L and my batch with 100% Crooked Stave Vieille dregs. Do you think by this pic it has Brett, or all the bugs?

Click to expand...

It has some sort of bug. Can't tell from a pellicle what kind. If you keep your iarlocks full then fermenting a brett beer near another will not cause an infection. Most likely from some other source.

I ferment brett beers and sours near my other clean beers all the time.

Well I used the same thermometer to take readings from each, even though I DID sanitize in between... But my Vieille does not have a TRUE airlock on it

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431799484.443554.jpg

Gross and slimey it what? Honestly used to fermenting in a glass carboy so I can see what's going on underneath, so idk the deal with the top layer here in the bucket. Looks awfully foamy.

Looks like high krausen. Totally fine. Yeast is pretty slimey. . .

Patience. . ..

Yup, just a good, healthy krausen layer! Congrats! You're making beer! Nastarovie!

Looks great! Close the lid!

Hi there,

My 2nd ever brew - an Evil Dog American Double IPA. OG of 1.062, current gravity 1.006. Kit says 7.1%, mine is about 7.3% so far. Airlock still bubbling once every 4 minutes or so.

Took a sample tonight which tasted..bland and sort of tart but not too much?

Surface looks like:



There appears to be some larger, thicker bubbles?

Full size image can be found at http://i.imgur.com/2JrBbCu.jpg

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Allan

To my eye that just looks like "yeast rafts" and residual co2. Green beer can certainly be a bit tart, so I wouldn't let that worry you either. How long has it been fermenting?

lowtones84 said:

To my eye that just looks like "yeast rafts" and residual co2. Green beer can certainly be a bit tart, so I wouldn't let that worry you either. How long has it been fermenting?

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Thanks for the reply and reassurance. The taste wasn't bad as such so I'm not too worried!

We are into day 12 of fermentation. This kit comes with 2 dry hop additions which haven't been done yet which could explain the lack of distinct flavour.

Currently enjoying one of the final bottles of my first batch, as they say, RDWHAHB!

Totally, RDWHAHB (but it sounds like you're doing that)! The dry hop additions will certainly make a difference, as will carbonating and conditioning. Although you have some residual co2 on top, I bet that fermentation is done. The co2 can come out of solution and make the airlock bubble once in a while, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's still fermenting. The only way to be sure is to do hydrometer checks, but I would bet you're ready to start dry hopping.

lowtones84 said:

Totally, RDWHAHB (but it sounds like you're doing that)! The dry hop additions will certainly make a difference, as will carbonating and conditioning. Although you have some residual co2 on top, I bet that fermentation is done. The co2 can come out of solution and make the airlock bubble once in a while, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's still fermenting. The only way to be sure is to do hydrometer checks, but I would bet you're ready to start dry hopping.

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Yeah I'm going to take another reading on Saturday morning. If the reading is the same I intend to dry hop on Sunday and then bottle on Tuesday. Due to work this is the only schedule I can adhere to at present.

Two-three days might be a little short for the dry hops to do their thing, could you wait five days? I understand life and work gets in the way though, so do what you have to do. Welcome to the forum, by the way!

How long could you wait? I dry hop for 7 days..is that possible with your schedule? 2-3 days is just really short to get the desired result. I've let it go for up to 10 days before and didn't have any negative results (that I can remember anyway).

Thanks! I will be sure to contribute!

I can dry hop tomorrow evening which should allow 4 full days for the hops to impart their flavours if I bottle on Tuesday?

I could wait until a week today if that would squeeze even more flavour into the brew?

Allan

A week dry hop would be better...

John Kimmich from the Alchemist brewery (Headdy Topper) says that 4 days is the optimum amount of time to dry hop a beer. I tried it and it works very well.

No need for a week.

On their level, or ours? Different mechanics at work in each instance. But maybe a week would help the aroma last longer?

Not really. Ever tried it? It works. I have tried it and it works great.

Everyone just regurgitates the week mantra, but have never tried less time.

...I think the shortest time I ever dry hopped was 5 days. Worked ok...

With pellet hops after a few days you are not getting anything more out of them after a few days.

If I dry hop for 4 days, I should be able to clean and sanitize my equipment then, upon my return from a couple of days away with work, I should be able to get my 3rd brew on the go on Thursday evening. First batch was a St Peters IPA, 2nd batch an Evil Dog American DIPA. 3rd batch will be my first foray into DME - hopefully be a nice Witbier in time for the summer!

I'm not sure if this is an infection? I'm a bit of a noob. Today is the third day of primary infection.

Coppers apa kit
Asda bottled water
200g crystal malt in boiling water and steeped for 30 mins
25g EKG pellets boiled for 15 mins

I thought I was quite thorough with cleaning and sterilization. Everything was sanitized - including all pots and utensils.

BUT

The bottles were stored outside prior to use.
Whilst pouring the bottled water in, a small snail which had been attached to one of the bottles fell off and into the fermenter. After using a cleaned, sanitized sieve , In less than a minute, I managed to retrieve the snail. Perhaps this could be the cause of any infection?

Thanks in advance.

Boiling water with grains is not a good idea. The water should be no hotter than about 160F for steeping, 155F for mashing generally. Did you clean & sanitize the bottles before filling? That could potentially do more damage than a small snail.

I was following instructions as per one of the coopers recipe
Brought 2 liters of water to the boil, took it off the hob and then steeped. Alas the grains were not boiled per say. I will keep your advice in mind for the future though.

Does the pic I've posted look like an infection?

Looks like left-over krausen to me so far.

Rufas said:

I'm not sure if this is an infection? I'm a bit of a noob. Today is the third day of primary infection.

Coppers apa kit
Asda bottled water
200g crystal malt in boiling water and steeped for 30 mins
25g EKG pellets boiled for 15 mins

I thought I was quite thorough with cleaning and sterilization. Everything was sanitized - including all pots and utensils.

BUT

The bottles were stored outside prior to use.
Whilst pouring the bottled water in, a small snail which had been attached to one of the bottles fell off and into the fermenter. After using a cleaned, sanitized sieve , In less than a minute, I managed to retrieve the snail. Perhaps this could be the cause of any infection?

Thanks in advance.

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Unfortunately, the snail is covered with gram-positive bacteria... Its just the way things are, romping through the dirt and what not. Better luck next time... but others here will advise you the best course of action as to what to do to salvage any of the brew if possible.

Did the snail fall into cooled wort, or was this pre-boil?

It's a kit brew, so I started with 4 litres of boiling water and the coopers APA kit, beer enhancer etc. the snail fell in during the addition of the bottled water to bring the mix up to 23 litres.

unionrdr said:

Boiling water with grains is not a good idea. The water should be no hotter than about 160F for steeping, 155F for mashing generally. Did you clean & sanitize the bottles before filling? That could potentially do more damage than a small snail.

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Boiling grains isnt so bad. The tannin thing is false as long as pH is under control. Boiling grains is exactly what is done with decoction mashing

Yeah, but that's a small amount added back to the main mash. You wouldn't want to denature all the enzymes. Then you wouldn't get conversion. Seems to me decoctions were done before they came up with all the different malts we have today?

Rufas said:

It's a kit brew, so I started with 4 litres of boiling water and the coopers APA kit, beer enhancer etc. the snail fell in during the addition of the bottled water to bring the mix up to 23 litres.

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Looks fine to me. The chance of whatever was living on the snail out competing, what I assume is, a pack of dry yeast enough to cause anything visual or even off flavor or aroma in 3 days is unlikely. Once those short chains get eaten up, maybe something will show up. But, all things being sterilized before the snail, I wouldn't let it stop you from proceeding as normal.

unionrdr said:

Yeah, but that's a small amount added back to the main mash. You wouldn't want to denature all the enzymes. Then you wouldn't get conversion. Seems to me decoctions were done before they came up with all the different malts we have today?

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True, but this is referring to crystal malts. More of steeping grains than base malts. No enzymes there. The fermentables all seem to be coming from the Coopers kit.

Okay I am going to stop derailing now.