Cross-State Infection

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Chris7687

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Hey guys,
So headed home for Thanksgiving this past weekend to see the family and friends. A few friends actually homebrew so I brought my stuff with me and ended brewing up an ESB. Threw it in the bed of the truck with an airlock (vodka) on and headed home on Sunday. Last night (Monday) I went into my closet to pitch two packets of British Ale yeast and came to find a nice layer of foam on the top of my beer. Figured I'd let it play out and see what happens. This morning I checked and it has brown stuff forming on top of the foam (krausen possibly?). Was wondering what everyones thoughts were. I drove across the state of Florida, might have picked up a wild yeast. Gotta come up with a name for it... if it turns out good! Cracker Sour... Highway 60 Wild... Should I just let it play out for a week or two, or just pitch some dry yeast on it now? Never had an infection before, if this is even one.


Monday Night Picture:
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Tuesday Morning Picture:
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I would have pitched the yeast after brewing, but since you didn't you must have picked up some wild yeast/bacteria. I've never had any decent results with wild yeast contamination, but maybe you'll get lucky.
 
Yooper - I didn't want to pitch it and it get all shaken up over the trip across the state, but guess it wouldn't have been a been a problem as oxidation occurs after fermentation is over, correct? What do you think I should do? Let it run it's course or pitch some dry yeast on it as well? Should I move this out of the room of other fermenting carboys, as you would with a lambic?
 
Taken a gravity reading to see if it's actually fermenting yet? If it is dropping in gravity, so sense in wasting good yeast. If not, pitch away!
 
I'll take a gravity reading tonight. If the beer is infected and taste like crap, what are some things I can do with it? Turn it into liquor?

Also, for Lambic's I know you can never make a normal beer in the same carboy ever again. Is this going to be the case here? Should I label this a "lambic carboy"?
 
I would be surprised if gravity is not dropping. But I would be worried about what is eating the sugar. If I wanted to try to salvage it, I would smell it. If it smells okay, I would taste it. If it tastes okay I would figure it's got a shot. I might save a quart if the brew in a mason jar and let it ferment out just for curiosities sake, but the rest I would boil to kill whatever is in there. Then take a gravity reading, add some sugar if it is low, and then pitch some yeast.

... but you might be more adventurous than me.
 
Most worts, once chilled, are contaminated with some amount of mold, fungi or bacteria. In a home setting, it would be almost impossible to keep it sterile. Its getting the yeast in there and active in the shortest amount of time that keeps the infection from taking hold. I wouldn't pitch the yeast just yet, like Amanda says, see if the gravity is dropping and then decide, if its fermented too much, there could even be too much alcohol present for the yeast to get going.
 
I would be surprised if gravity is not dropping. But I would be worried about what is eating the sugar. If I wanted to try to salvage it, I would smell it. If it smells okay, I would taste it. If it tastes could I would figure it's got a shot. I might save a quart if the brew in a mason jar and let it ferment out just for curiosities sake. Then I would boil the rest of it to kill whatever is in there. Then take a gravity reading, add some sugar if it is low, and then pitch some yeast.

Wait so I can reboil the wort and be fine? I might just do that.
 
Wait so I can reboil the wort and be fine? I might just do that.

I probably wouldn't use the word "fine," but it might be salvageable. Boiling will kill whatever is in there, but it's going to be a very different beer than it would have been originally. Whatever is in there has probably eaten a fair amount of sugar and produced some flavors in the processes.

You might get lucky with whatever is in there and it could come out fine. I'm just saying what I would do if I was in your shoes.
 
Ok, I'll smell and taste it tonight and decide from there. If it isn't good, how long should I boil it for? Glad I didn't make a 10 gallon batch over Thanksgiving. The recipe was expensive enough as it is with 12 lbs of Maris Otter! Want to save what I can. Should I add some simple sugars (cane or corn sugar) to keep the ABV up there?
 
I haven't had to save a batch like this, but if it were me, I would figure that there is still a fair amount of maltose because that is hard enough to ferment. Also I would boil for just a few minutes. At 160 most bacteria will be dead, (see "flash pasteurizing") 212 is just in case there are some real nasties in there.
 
I think that's pretty cool. If it was me, as long as the gravity is dropping, I would leave it. Might end up with some usable wild yeast but from what I've read the odds are pretty low for anything that actually tastes good. Too bad it was MO, that's an expensive experiment... I would give it time before doing anything drastic.
 
Was thinking of just throwing a make shift air lock on a gallon growler and letting it run it's course and boil up the other 4 gallons. Last time I wait 2-3 days to pitch yeast, just didnt want to disturb it while driving across the state. I think some wind blew through the air lock while in the bed of the truck.
 
Update on how the beer. Smells almost like the smell of a paint shop or fiberglass shop, it's a hard word to describe, but it still taste like a maltier ESB. The OG was 1.056 and the gravity just now was 1.046, there is definitely yeast activity. I think I might just let the whole thing take its course. should I ferment this away from my other carboys?
 
I wouldn't get too excited about it picking up "cross state" wild yeast. Whatever's fermenting that batch was in there when you put the carboy cover on. Contamination during the chilling process, racking to carboy, carboy contamination or whatever - you're probably going to be dealing with something crazy.
 
Brewing yeast doesn't have a kill factor (it doesn't kill other organisms). Whatever is currently fermenting the batch apparently already has a nice population going - I doubt anything you pitch could outperform it.
 
Boiled 4 gallons and kept a gallon growler of the infected hooch, sitting in a separate closet. The OG was 1.054 and ended up with about 3 gallons. Pitched British ale dry US-04. I'll let you all know how both turn out in a few weeks.
 
It's been 2 full days since I pitched my S-04 and there seems to be no activity... Haven't taken a gravity reading, but there isn't any krausen developing on the 3 gallons of re-boiled wort. Going to take a reading tomorrow, if nothing has dropped I think I'll pitch a second pack.
 
Hey guys, took a gravity reading today and the beer finished at 1.03.... Not sure what is going on. This is the second beer that my gravity has finished way to high... Any thoughts on this? I know poor oxygenation and pitching rates coudl cause this, which my be the case on this beer but the Belgian (OG - 1.067 , FG - 1.026) I used a WLP vial which is supposed to be enough yeast to not use a starter.

As for tasting notes, an extremely strong bitterness on the back of my tounge, a little maltiness. This is my second ESB I've made so don't have much experience with the flavor profile of an ESB.
 
You may have just brewed the best beer ever made in the history of mankind. What if the wild yeast is "totally awesome" wild yeast? haha. Never know. If the gravity is dropping like the post above says, I would sample that. Is there any possibility that there was some left over yeast in that fermenter? The pic sure looks like the fermentation is at full throttle.
 
To be clear, the beer I am talking about was the re-boil. The infected beer is still sitting, I am going to check that out tonight or tomorrow. It had a very STRONG fermentation. It popped the stopper out of the growler it was fermenting in. So I am very interested in tasting it and taking samples. Hope I don't die drinking it!!!

Friedclutch - I am pretty sure there was no yeast left over. I pretty particular on cleaning well. Do my yeast washing, then pour out everything else, do an oxyclean wash with a carboy brush, an oxyclean soak, take a soft bristle nail cleaning brush to the neck of the carboy with diluted bleach, and then flush out clean.
 
Hey guys, wanted to give you all an updated... a disgusting update.

So, it's been about two and a half months since my last update. This weekend I checked out the re-boiled batch, took a taste test and it was still off; something about it wasn't right. Thought maybe it needed some more time, so I left it in the carboy. Today I wanted to test out the 1 gallon batch that I left as is. I poured an ounce worth into a shot glass, the color looked perfect, the smell was an overpowering burn to the nose, and the taste was of a malty-acetone. I couldn't even hold it in my mouth for to long. Disgusted, I spit it into the sink. Made my decision of pouring or keeping the 1 gallon of the "wild fermenation" much easier. I started pouring the gallon down the drain when I got about a 1/4 left and it became clogged. I turned the bottle back over thinking it was odd that it became clogged and looked into the neck of the carboy. After forcefully shaking it upside down, this scary and nasty organism ( for the best description) fell out... Boy am I glad I didn't swallow that sample! I'm sorry, but what the $^*% is this!!?!?! This grew in the gallon growler from what I am assuming caused the infection. This was obviously not in the growler when I racked the beer into it. I kept it for pictures then washed it down the drain, the thing started creeping me out. Anyone that has any idea on what this is, please share! I think I won the "scariest **** you have found growing in your beer" award!

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You put oysters in your beer?!?! :D Sorry, I just sucked about a billion oysters this weekend, and that's exactly how they looked.

it almost looks like a mother of vinegar in the first picture, but that last picture definitely does not.
 
Hah! Definitely looks like a mutated oyster!

Didn't know what mother of vinegar was, so I looked it up. Mother of vinegar looks to be more of a liquid, this thing was solid like a steamed dumpling from your not-so-favorite asian dinner.
 
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