Um i need help!!! Save the Beer!

Okay so heres the problem, I made a Pilsner extract kit from my local brew shop using Munton's Pilsner Liquid Extract with added Light Briess Malt Extract and Sugar, Boiled it, got it to the Primary and everthing alright..

I racked to my secondary, looked good and i walked away, I come back 10 hours later and its Black kinda on top, I get worried but choose to observe it, go the whole day checking periodically and it is still about a gallon of Black with a few white Bubble like things on top with Brown underneath, the same Brown color I originally racked..


THEN i come back later and the airlock has blown off and its exposed. Well I quickly put it back on and race to here to ask you all about it. Its been a day since I racked to my secondary, glass Carboy and I had left the primary in for a week, then left a gallon head space in secondary.

What happened and can I save my beer? and will it taste horrible now?

If I am reading it right, it seems like you transfered to secondary too soon, but I woudn't worry about it other than to maybe re-sanitize the airlock. In the future, don't leave that much headspace in secondary, you want to minimize surface area to cut down on oxidation. Or just leave in primary for 2 to 3 weeks and not have to deal with it.

You will know how your beer turns out soon enough, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

then what about the black stuff with white spots on top? is that something to be worried about?

eagleheadbrewer said:

then what about the black stuff with white spots on top? is that something to be worried about?

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If it were infection, it wouldn't have blown like that. I can't vouch for the strange colors, but I'd guess if started fermenting again in the secondary. Keep an eye on it and give it more time.

SoonerDoc said:

If it were infection, it wouldn't have blown like that. I can't vouch for the strange colors, but I'd guess if started fermenting again in the secondary. Keep an eye on it and give it more time.

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I can't see why it couldn't have blown off and been infected too. You won't know unless you taste it. Make sure to take gravity readings before transferring to secondary.

Also, FWIW - many people don;t use a secondary at all except for very big beers, or for dry hopping. If your beer is going to be bottled/kegged within 6 weeks, I'd not worry about using one.

My guess is that your beer is starting to settle. It will very often appear as turning dark on top as the white yeast cells flocculate to the bottom of the fermenter. As for the white things? Could be yeast. Taste with a sanitized baster and see what it's like.