Saison infected with Lacto (early signs) what to do??

Hey all,
So I brewed a Sasion and it might just be the best beer I've ever brewed, but there are early signs of a Lacto infection (little white spots have started to appear on the surface). Super gutted BUT it still tastes pretty damn epic at the moment; i.e. no noticeable flavour changes.

I have read up on pasteurizing etc. to inhibit any further bacterial growth but not sure if it is worth doing if I can just crash chill it and then throw it straight in the keggerator? will the infection still spread at around 6 Celsius?

I made it with lime zest, a little lime juice and a blend of WYeast 311 and 3724 and i am worried pasteurizing this will strip away all the flavours i worked so hard to get!

Any feedback/experiences would be much appreciated!

Are you sure it's lacto and not yeast rafts?

There is no way to identify an infection by the pellicle,so it could be lacto, pedio, brett, or a host of other infections. Unless you have a microspope and a degee in micro- biology then you really do not know what it is.

Keg it and drink it, one time that I had a questionable batch I did just that and was fine, the only precaution I took was to use a picnic tap so I didn't need to disassemble my lines and do a deep cleaning.
Actually tasted the best at the end, I was a little pissed as it was a big $ brew I had planed to age but all was good in the end.

Well yeah that's true! I had the same infection in a wheat beer some weeks ago that i bought as a fresh wort pack. So I am pretty sure the fermenter is the cause of the infection as it is the same one i used for that brew; and my latest IPA fermented in a different vessel was fine. Anyway the infection (whatever it may be) looks exactly the same as the wheat beer infection. Also it has been 10days and it is at its final gravity.

So type of infection aside, what do you think i should do?

ChefRex said:

the only precaution I took was to use a picnic tap so I didn't need to disassemble my lines and do a deep cleaning.

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Ah yes fantastic idea!! I didnt think about that!

" i bought as a fresh wort pack" You can buy liquid wort?
Wellington NZ?

+1 to the possibility of yeast. If the spots start to grow, I'd just rack from well underneath before it takes over.

ChefRex said:

" i bought as a fresh wort pack" You can buy liquid wort?
Wellington NZ?

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Yeah its pretty common, a few breweries do it and sell them at the local brew shops around town.

for example:
http://shop.brewtopia.net.nz/index.php?cPath=75&osCsid=ectrek79r52pnhafl857uujvh6

Real awesome if you cant be bothered brewing, just add yeast and your away!

Talk about easy, after putting the $ into a converter it's not to bad

antony said:

+1 to the possibility of yeast. If the spots start to grow, I'd just rack from well underneath before it takes over.

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Racking from underneath won't help. If a pellicle is forming, the bugs are already distributed throughout the beer.
You could try using campden tabs to kill the bugs. The mad fermentationist did that on a RIS. You would have to search his page for specifics.

rupert130 said:

Racking from underneath won't help. If a pellicle is forming, the bugs are already distributed throughout the beer.

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of course. I'm not a bug guy. I've racked from under mold on a lager once, turned out fine. So...if it's mold, rack from well under the surface.

cheers guys, I just opened up the fermenter and its way gnarlier than i thought. Still tastes pretty good though haha. Starting to crash chill it now to stop/slow the spread. Still not sure on the best course of action though...

heres a pic

If you keg, go for it and just drink it fast. You could use sorbate which should knock out any Brett infection, not sure on usefulness for pedio or lacto


looks like an early pelicle to me. Can you take a sample and test the pH? Should at least tell you if it's lacto or not.

If it tastes good, I'd try adding some viable commercial sour dregs to increase your chances of it turning into a nice accidental sour. You definitely want some brett in there at least

m00ps said:

If it tastes good, I'd try adding some viable commercial sour dregs to increase your chances of it turning into a nice accidental sour. You definitely want some brett in there at least

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Yeah I could definitely do that, I have access to Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Wyeast 5526 Brettanomyces lambicus; unless you mean just use the bottle dreggs of a commercial brett?

Could i age it in a keg for 6months? ie rack it into a flushed keg add the Brett bugs and stick it in the corner of my basement? or do i need a carboy?

Mohanz said:

Yeah I could definitely do that, I have access to Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Wyeast 5526 Brettanomyces lambicus; unless you mean just use the bottle dreggs of a commercial brett?

Could i age it in a keg for 6months? ie rack it into a flushed keg add the Brett bugs and stick it in the corner of my basement? or do i need a carboy?

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A keg would be fine, 6 months is short for a sour.

Mohanz said:

Yeah I could definitely do that, I have access to Wyeast 5112 Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Wyeast 5526 Brettanomyces lambicus; unless you mean just use the bottle dreggs of a commercial brett?

Could i age it in a keg for 6months? ie rack it into a flushed keg add the Brett bugs and stick it in the corner of my basement? or do i need a carboy?

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either way, ro both, works fine. I would definitely age it in a non-plastic vessel with little headspace though. purging it with CO2 isnt entirely necessary, since it should develop a pellicle should it feel the need, but its not going to hurt it

Thanks guys, really appreciate the suggestions. I've got an idea, could i use one of these glass jars with a swing lid. and put 5L in one as is, 5L in another with dregs of brett, and bottle/keg the other 10L? that way I can experiment with it and then maybe just rebrew it on the weekend.

Mohanz said:

Thanks guys, really appreciate the suggestions. I've got an idea, could i use one of these glass jars with a swing lid. and put 5L in one as is, 5L in another with dregs of brett, and bottle/keg the other 10L? that way I can experiment with it and then maybe just rebrew it on the weekend.

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YOu can really use anything glass that you can fit an airlock to with the right size stopper. But whatever you do, DO NOT bottle any portion that you add brett to before letting it completely ferment out over a few months. Bottle bombs are bad news