Is it an infection?

OK, so I've read a few of the posts on here about infections, but I can't seem to classify my brew.

It's a DIPA SMaSH, brewed about a month ago. Primary only.

When I opened the lid to rack it into my keg, it smelled very strongly of alcohol, exactly as I would expect. BUT, there was a small area of white, waxy coating floating on the top. Unfortunately, I skimmed it off and trashed that bit (with a sanitized spoon!) before I took my pictures. (Stupid, stupid!!)

The white area I trashed didn't look a whole lot different than what you can see in the pictures. If anything, my guess is that it was just thicker and therefore you couldn't see the color from the beer beneath as well.

Anyway, here are two pics taken while I was racking into my keg:




I've tasted the brew, and I while it doesn't taste fantastic (what flat beer does?), I don't get any "nastiness." I'm thinking that maybe I got a mild infection and that it won't affect the beer too much?

I don't mind being patient, chilling and carbing the keg and then trying it, but I don't want to be stupid with my health. I've heard it said time and again that "you can't get sick from an infected/contaminated beer," but I wanted to get some eyes on MINE and get some words of advice.

What do you think?

Thanks!!!

You really aren't going to get sick drinking an infected beer. In fact, many people deliberately infect their beers to achieve certain flavors.

The thin white layer could be the beginnings of a pellicle, but I'm not sure. I've had a similar layer on a batch before and the remaining bottles I've got from that batch still taste great months later.

Update:

My wife tasted it (without knowing why ), and she didn't think it tasted off.

I tasted some more (about a half a beer) and I think that if there wasn't anything floating on top, I would never have noticed anything being amiss.

Still, I'd love to get some opinions.

Thanks!!!

nope, that looks like floating yeast and trub/krausen residue.

its one of the reasons I still secondary. i still get cleaner beer from secondary than a long primary. I invariably bump the racking cane and suck up a bunch of yeast going from primary, and some yeasts leave 'top floaters' like this that I don't want in a keg or bottle.

Thanks for the comment.

Pardon the stupid question, but what makes a beer "infected?" Is it bacterial? Why is it possible to drink infected beer without it making you sick? I've always heard that if it's dangerous, you'd either not be able to stomach the taste, or you'd literally not be able to stomach it; that the infection would cause you to vomit, but not make you long-term sick.

Have I been mis-informed?

Thanks!

malkore,

I don't want to challenge you, but I've never seen my yeast turn whitish, and the floater I removed (kind of like a waxy, slick spot) was definitely WHITE. Still the same answer?

Thanks!!!

While there are definitely floaty yeasts in that pic, there's also a thin white layer of something that looks like pellicle formation to me.

What IS a pellicle? The best I can tell from some google searches seems to indicate that it's formed from a particular strand of yeast that is used for lambic beer brewing.

I've also seen some comments that seem to indicate that sometimes a "brett pellicle" will form unintentionally in a beer.

Can anyone tell me what a pellicle is and what it does to a beer? When is it desirable and when do you want to avoid it?

Will it ruin a DIPA?

Thanks!

MBM30075 said:

What IS a pellicle? The best I can tell from some google searches seems to indicate that it's formed from a particular strand of yeast that is used for lambic beer brewing.

I've also seen some comments that seem to indicate that sometimes a "brett pellicle" will form unintentionally in a beer.

Can anyone tell me what a pellicle is and what it does to a beer? When is it desirable and when do you want to avoid it?

Will it ruin a DIPA?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I'm just into all grains myself, but I've read up a bit. Pellicle is caused from oxidation of different yeasts such as Brett and Lactobacillis. It will cause several different flavors (some would call them "off") such as sour, barnyard, and "horse blanket." However, in an IPA it might be a bit misplaced.

Just looking at the pict it looks like you have nothing to worry about though. A real pellicle looks more like this: http://www.ithacabeer.com/beerblog/images/brett_pellicle.JPG

It really doesn't look like an infection. It could be oils from something. Did you leaf hops?

Well, the recipe was 1 oz. of Simcoe leaf hops (mash hop) and 1 oz. of Simcoe FWH, then 3x1 oz. additions of Simcoe during the boil. Total IBU was supposed to be 100+. Could that be the issue? If so, would the white "spot" simply be a higher concentration of those oils?

Thanks!!!

MBM30075 said:

Well, the recipe was 1 oz. of Simcoe leaf hops (mash hop) and 1 oz. of Simcoe FWH, then 3x1 oz. additions of Simcoe during the boil. Total IBU was supposed to be 100+. Could that be the issue? If so, would the white "spot" simply be a higher concentration of those oils?

Thanks!!!

Click to expand...

any dry hop?

Not yet. Didn't want to waste any more before checking to see if this batch was toast. Also, I'm down to only Simcoe pellets and I need to get a hop bag.

UPDATE: I tasted a small sample this morning, and though it's obviously not carbonated yet, being cold gave me a better idea of its quality. The flavor is unique, but that's probably due to the fact that it's a SMaSH DIPA (Maris Otter and Simcoe). I can't detect anything that I would call an "off" flavor.

Thanks for all who posted. I'll post back next week when the beer is ready to drink!

Thanks!