Pellicle Photo Collection

My question is: is the pellicle identifiable? Does anyone have thoughts of what it might be/likely is?

And also, opinions. If it most likely is a wild contamintation- Let it ride and see what happens? I only pulled one sample last week. It didn't taste off, but definitely different than the beer that went in the bucket. Any specific "bad" flavors to look out for?

Thanks

Max_Chavez said:

My question is: is the pellicle identifiable? Does anyone have thoughts of what it might be/likely is?

And also, opinions. If it most likely is a wild contamintation- Let it ride and see what happens? I only pulled one sample last week. It didn't taste off, but definitely different than the beer that went in the bucket. Any specific "bad" flavors to look out for?

Thanks

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I'm not following your posts well I don't think but your bucket is definitely pellicle. It sounds like it was intentional. The Better Bottle one that is labeled "sour only" looks like it is not infected at all. It looks like wort fermented, krausen developed, and you have beer. It seems as though you mixed up the two, though that seems odd. Even still, I would let the one that clearly is infected (in the bucket) ride. You pitched sour dregs so it should be given the chance to develop. If the better bottle is showing signs of infection or tastes off it could be that you used a sour vessel unless you labeled it after the fact.

Vinegar is a taste I can use to describe an infected beer. There is sour then there is vinegar. Do you taste that? Also, be sure not to taste the two side by side. Rinse your mouth with some water if you taste the infected beer first to give your pallet a chance to detect a new flavor.

Thanks, yeah. To clarify, I only posted the photo of the better bottle to illustrate that there is absolutely no way I just "mixed them up" The better bottle tastes great and has flavors developing that are similar to those of the beer the dregs came from. The better bottle was brand new and I pitched the dregs directly in the better bottle after the bucket had been completed and sealed for 30 min. I believe that the lack of o2 in the bottle and the short timeframe(2.5 weeks) is why no pellicle.
The bucket had never been used for sour before. However was opened a few times. So, I feel like wild yeast70% or contamination 30% somehow from the dregs beer or a sour mash going in the same room are the culprits.
Thanks for the let it ride advice. Definitely no sour or vinegar notes. I made a berliner last month and make kombucha at home, so I'm aware of difference. I'll give it another 2 weeks and let it go as long as it doesn't go "off"

Max_Chavez said:

My question is: is the pellicle identifiable? Does anyone have thoughts of what it might be/likely is?

And also, opinions. If it most likely is a wild contamintation- Let it ride and see what happens? I only pulled one sample last week. It didn't taste off, but definitely different than the beer that went in the bucket. Any specific "bad" flavors to look out for?

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I think I'm following better than Hello (I think)

Can't help with identification, but I would let it ride and even help it along with add'l dregs at this point. The pellicle looks like it's been there for a while, not just starting, so I wouldn't recommend bottling and drinking quickly (like you might try if it was just a minor infection).

Rye saison should work well with some Brett or mixed culture added. Pitching some dregs should improve the chances of a positive outcome, rather than hoping whatever got in there by accident will yield tasty results. Rack to secondary, pitch dregs, and forget about it for a while.

Interesting. I like the idea of adding more dregs in secondary. I guess I have a new Sour bucket that won't be going back into the communal beer brewing rotation (we brew at work-restaurant kitchen)

Look out for updates in 2015!

Hi guys. First time posting.

This is the result of my 2nd batch. It should have been an APA, but things go wrong sometimes. What does this look like?

I will sanitize everything that was near it and never used this bucket again for other styles (exclusive sour fermenter now ), and I'm thinking about storing it for 6 more months. It probably won't be good (lots of vinegar smell), but I won't lose anything doing it.

What I'm really worried is contamination on the other stuff.

Any advices?

Revisited the 'off' bucket tonight. I believe I have cornered it as ethyl acetate(acetone). Probably from wild yeast infection. It's 90% in the aroma and barely there on the palate.

Now the question is, is there any reason to believe that something(ie, brett) might break it down and turn it into something else? I don't feel the need to keep it around and Hope that it transforms. Unless there is real reasoning involved.

Thanks

From a 9 month old Flanders Red on first pitch of straight Roeselare. I'm kegging it today for further ageing and to free the fermentor for another batch.

masonsjax said:

From a 9 month old Flanders Red on first pitch of straight Roeselare. I'm kegging it today for further ageing and to free the fermentor for another batch.

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Interesting. I have a 9 month-old Flanders Brown with Rosalaere and have a bubbly pellicle.

There were some bubbles the last time I peeked at it, but they all went away and were replaced by that iceberg looking thing. I've got another red made with ECY Flemish and a Lambic style wort on ECY Bugfarm both in the 7-8 month range, neither with any kind of pellicle at all.

Updated: now two weeks in secondary, here's the dark rye sour. It's pretty.

First: This is my favorite thread.

This is a sour stout that I made using the second runnings from an imperial stout. It was intially pitched with US-05, and dregs from Fantome Printemps, Monk's Cafe, Rivertown Ojos Negros and my sour wit (derived from Jolly Pumpkin dregs). After some initial sourness, and the beginning of a pellicle, was present, I added a pack of Roeselare. Three days later, this happened.

The intention of this beer is to inoculate a 3rd use 5 gallon oak barrel. Wish me luck!

Floral honey wheat sour. Recipe taken from the American Sour Beers book. Fermented on Wyeast 3203 de Bom yeast cake.

Two pellicles:

American Farmhouse at about 5 months:



Bootleg Biology Pithos Lambic at ~9 months:

hirschb said:

Floral honey wheat sour. Recipe taken from the American Sour Beers book. Fermented on Wyeast 3203 de Bom yeast cake.

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this gets my vote for most beautiful pic in this thread.

the lighting, the symmetry... i can smell the funk through my screen. bravo.

sweetcell said:

this gets my vote for most beautiful pic in this thread.

the lighting, the symmetry... i can smell the funk through my screen. bravo.

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Thanks! Note that one of the big bubbles on the bottom right popped (due to movement when opening the lid). Hopefully it'll pop back up and I can get another shot of this (and I'll use a better camera).

- Oh, I still need to buy you a beer for some previous great advice you gave me. I'll be in DC in late Nov.-early Dec. If you're planning any trips to Meridian/Brookland Pint, Right Proper, Pizzaria Paradiso, hit me up.

hirschb said:

- Oh, I still need to buy you a beer for some previous great advice you gave me. I'll be in DC in late Nov.-early Dec. If you're planning any trips to Meridian/Brookland Pint, Right Proper, Pizzaria Paradiso, hit me up.

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cool, PM me with details and we can plan a meet-up.

Here's my latest sour stout! Ten months in and the pelicle is going crazy! Both carboys are the same thing pitched with Roeselare blend. Looks good! The sourness is really starting to come through and one batch will get blackberries and raspberries added as well.


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These little guys popped up about 10days into fermentation... We are going to bottle it and see how it goes.

It was a smash beer with 2row and citra. Dry hopped it and boom here comes these little guys!


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When did you plan to bottle it.

ShootersBrewCrew said:

View attachment 229404
These little guys popped up about 10days into fermentation... We are going to bottle it and see how it goes.

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i'd be pretty nervous about bottling this beer unless the gravity was really, really low (like 1.004 or less). 10 or even 20 days into fermentation doesn't let you know where those bugs will stop. you could end up with bottle bombs.

Planned on bottling tonight... No good?


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sweetcell said:

i'd be pretty nervous about bottling this beer unless the gravity was really, really low (like 1.004 or less). 10 or even 20 days into fermentation doesn't let you know where those bugs will stop. you could end up with bottle bombs.

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It's been in there for over a month.


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ShootersBrewCrew said:

It's been in there for over a month.


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That normally isnt long enough. I would suggest having at least a month with the same gravity.

Wait, I think I read your first post wrong. Did you not add brett or bugs?

Made a brown ale and then pitched some of the leftover yeast/bugs after bottling a blonde lambic that was in primary for about 2 years. The yeast/bugs from that lambic came from a kriek I made a year earlier using the Wyeast Lambic Blend. The pellicle has looked different on all 3 beers.

ShootersBrewCrew said:

It's been in there for over a month.

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it's not about how long the pellicle has been there, but how stable the gravity is. maybe the bugs have finished their work and you're fine. however, typically they tend to work slowly and a month isn't enough. take a gravity reading now, then do so again in a month. if it hasn't changed, you're good to go.

finsfan said:

That normally isnt long enough. I would suggest having at least a month with the same gravity.



Wait, I think I read your first post wrong. Did you not add brett or bugs?

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Nope they came all on their own.


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They came all on their own.


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This is my first funky/wild brew. 60/40/10 pils/wheat/Munich with Perle hops to about 20ibu and a starter of wlp670. Brew day was July 2. It's very fruity and a little funky. It's kind of boring, so I'm about to rack half onto wild blackberries picked this summer and half onto some more Perle.

I had another bucket from the same brew that got ecy03 and Hill Farmstead/Crooked Stave dregs. Pellicle was just a grimy skin, but it tastes incredible. Fruity, earthy, green apple, tart. Shaping up to be the best beer I've made.

Terrible photo, but I discovered this when I checked on an Oud Bruin brewed last February and racked over onto prunes.

My first sour, Flanders red brewed on 8-9. Pitched single pack of roeselare. Is the white moldy looking stuff Ok?

Yeast caught from a spontaneous fermentation in my garage. At the time I had hay and wood in the garage....

Fairly certain that's a pellicle forming and the rest is just coagulated proteins? Happy to be corrected....

Recipe was a basic SMaSH of Vienna & EKG to test out the yeast. Has taken the beer from 1.052 to 1.000 as of today's hydro test.

Wow! That looks gnarly! Any taste/smell tests?

mnick12 said:

Wow! That looks gnarly! Any taste/smell tests?

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Took a sample from it today. Smells like apple juice, like REALLY fruity. Using EKG I wasn't expecting that so can only assume thats yeast driven.
Taste is ok, little tart right at the end of the palate, I'll keep an eye on it and keep testing it to see how it evolves. If it's **** I"ll either turn it to vinegar or blend it

Cute, but not really suitable for an Imperial IPA.

Flanders Red with house culture (all bottle dregs), racking to secondary.

This is going to be a yummy Grand Cru Cuvee Van de Keizer clone that I decided to add a packet of Roeselare to. The first words out of SWMBOs mouth "Ewwwww. Are you really going to drink that?".... <sigh>

I'll take her share.