Beer Infection Vs. Campden Tablets: Repitch Questions!

So, I made a scotch ale and a stout, and both decided to grow a lovely wrinkly pale white film in secondary- I'm guessing an infection. I stole a taste from both, and they're both great- no weird flavors, no notable sourness, etc. So in following with some standard techniques, I added 1 campden tablet per gallon to each beer, and they're going to sit for another week or so.

Now, I know I'll have to repitch yeast for bottling, but my questions are which yeast, and how much? Should I use the same yeast? (WL Edinburgh and WL London Ale, respectively) Or should I use a neutral one (I've got Safale-05 on hand) so to not spoil any nice flavors? Should I use a whole packet/vial per batch? Or should I downscale the quantities, as most of the yeast has "done its job" already? Help!

I think any neutral yeast will work as long as they are in the same attenuation range.

I'm not sure how the Camden will affect the flavor of your beer. You can't really leave it exposed to let the sulfur off gas.

I'm curious how it goes. Post your results with these batches.

You added campden tablets to beer the MAY be infected but taste fine? All sorts of strange things appear on top of beer but that doesn't mean anything bad is going on. Next time, bottle or keg those babies up and drink them instead of messing with good beer that may or may not have a problem.

Welcome to HBT!

LoneSavant said:

So, I made a scotch ale and a stout, and both decided to grow a lovely wrinkly pale white film in secondary- I'm guessing an infection. I stole a taste from both, and they're both great- no weird flavors, no notable sourness, etc. So in following with some standard techniques, I added 1 campden tablet per gallon to each beer, and they're going to sit for another week or so.
!

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Your " lovely wrinkly pale white film in secondary" is suerly an infection. I have made many Scottish ales and stouts. "A lovely wrinkly pale white film in secondary" is not normal. You did well in killing it. Any neutral yeast should work for you for finishing out....
PS. Welcome to the asylum.......

Nurmey said:

You added campden tablets to beer the MAY be infected but taste fine? All sorts of strange things appear on top of beer but that doesn't mean anything bad is going on. Next time, bottle or keg those babies up and drink them instead of messing with good beer that may or may not have a problem.

Welcome to HBT!

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I agree, often people rack to secondary waaay to soon and get a new krausen forming and think THAT's an infection. Other times if they are dry hopping the oil from the hops leaches out, forms a skin on the surface which traps co2 rising from the bottom, and that "looks" infected but fine. Other times what people misconstrue as an infection is secondary is actually yeast rafts- yeast lifted from the trub by rising co2 from the bottom.

And sometimes as the worst case scenario a layer of mold grows on the surface but the beer just below is perfectly fine..And many of us has racked under it and saved the beer, and they have turned out fine.

In other words you can't JUST assume becasue there is something on the surface that the beer is infected or if it is infected, that it is bad (some folks like funky beers and purposefully infect them.)

The only way to know is to taste and smell the beer. Did you even bother tasting it?

And if it tasted/smelled fine then go ahead and bottle it.

Revvy said:

Other times what people misconstrue as an infection is secondary is actually yeast rafts- yeast lifted from the trub by rising co2 from the bottom.

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Now this I did not know. I guess it makes entire sense. This happened to me on one batch awhile ago and I just didn't give it second thought. But cool to know what is probably was.

I like the name too, yeast rafts....

cford1 said:

Now this I did not know. I guess it makes entire sense. This happened to me on one batch awhile ago and I just didn't give it second thought. But cool to know what is probably was.

I like the name too, yeast rafts....

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Nurmey and I see these threads 5 or 6 times a day....and like all the other beginner "is my beer ruined" questions, there is usually nothing wrong.

It is really really really hard to ruin your beer....That's why the answer to all these questions is usually RDWHAHB.....and not to dump your beer....