Normal or Infected?

Hi guys,

Just looked in my fermenter after 5 days - the foam prevented me from seeing what was actually going on and I saw some white spots on top. They kinda look like thick bits of foam but it was really hard to tell without poking them, which I did not actually do.

Does this look normal to you? or is it early signs of an infection?

Cheers!

Berry good at this point. She looks like she is dropping the krausen as expected.

That's quite a relief to hear. For some reason I had it in my mind that the white spots were an infection as they looked a little different to what I've seen before, and they look a little shiny / greasy. I'm totally cool with it not being an infection though

mm55 said:

That's quite a relief to hear. For some reason I had it in my mind that the white spots were an infection as they looked a little different to what I've seen before, and they look a little shiny / greasy. I'm totally cool with it not being an infection though

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Probably just CO2 bubbles forming on the surface. I was freaked the first time I saw them as well, until you get close and notice they are tiny bubbles, they look like something growing on the top.

Thanks guys! How do I know when it's dropped? will all of the Krausen have fallen back into the wort? or all of the foam floating on the surface will be gone? I still think it's too early to rack to secondary, but I'm trying to figure out what signs I should be looking out for.

Actually, I still haven't decided whether to do secondary or not. I'd like the better taste, but a clearer beer would also be good. Does the type of beer (Pilsner) affect my decision in any way?

You can generally transfer to 2ndary after the first week. 2ndary won't make your beer clearer though. Clarity is largely a product of you brewing process.

It's my personal options a 2ndary doesn't produce any serious benefits to the quality of your beer. People will argue this. You really have a higher risk of infection if your sanitation isn't spot-on as you expose your beer to a new environment.

If you do need to age the beer longer than 4+ weeks or adjuncts are in the primary then 2ndary is recommended.

Thanks!