Infection, or beginner's paranoia?

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jimmytango

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I'm brewing up a saison and have been unable to keep myself from peeking under the lid every few days, and am scared that it might have gotten infected. It had formed a nice krausen for the first three days, and that fell and everything was fine for the next week. However I peeked today and noticed there was a new layer of foam, and some sketchy looking bits that I can't identify due to my lack of knowledge on basically everything.

Hopefully this is just me being paranoid and this is just an extra bit of krausen appearing. What do you pros think?

http://imgur.com/a/m579x
 
The slimy, white bubbly part with the beginnings of little web-like lines looks like the beginning of an infection to me. But in a saison, a little Lacto can be a good thing. :mug:
 
I used Wyeast 3724 and it's been about 9 days. The OG was 1.045 and the current grav is 1.011 - if my paranoia overtakes me, would I be creating bottle bombs if I bottle it this weekend? It tastes good, but has a hint of sourness to it.
 
I used Wyeast 3724 and it's been about 9 days. The OG was 1.045 and the current grav is 1.011 - if my paranoia overtakes me, would I be creating bottle bombs if I bottle it this weekend? It tastes good, but has a hint of sourness to it.

No! What you are seeing on the top is bubbling from active fermentation! Saison can go all the way down to 1.002 and they can take 4-6 weeks. I have one right now that is at 3 weeks and still bubbling.

Also, go get yourself a glass or plastic carboy so you can appease your curiosity without opening your fermenter.
 
There is a prevailing attitude on here that "newbies think they have an infection, but they're so silly - RDWAIHAHB!"

Like unionrdr said, there are webby lines, and it looks slimy. It looks like there is a skin developing. Most beer yeast makes foam and might have floating "rafts," but in most beers, you don't want a skin.

Bottling it is not the answer if you think it has an infection. That's the worst thing to do. If your paranoid, then let it ride and see what happens in 2 weeks with.the.lid.closed.

If you bottle an infection, odds are it will be sour and it will gush, best case. Bottle bombs if it is really aggressive. So let it go a little longer.
 
There is a prevailing attitude on here that "newbies think they have an infection, but they're so silly - RDWAIHAHB!"

Like unionrdr said, there are webby lines, and it looks slimy. It looks like there is a skin developing. Most beer yeast makes foam and might have floating "rafts," but in most beers, you don't want a skin.

Bottling it is not the answer if you think it has an infection. That's the worst thing to do. If your paranoid, then let it ride and see what happens in 2 weeks with.the.lid.closed.

If you bottle an infection, odds are it will be sour and it will gush, best case. Bottle bombs if it is really aggressive. So let it go a little longer.

Thanks for the advice - I'm going to keep the lid on for the next few weeks and see what happens.
 
Reminds me of several years ago when I was broke as hell and had no beer. I was brewing a small batch of mead. It had only been fermenting for a week but I could not help but open up the gallon jug and pouring some into my glass and drinking it up!

I kept opening it to taste it. It was soooooo good. Still sweet and bubbly.

I kept drinking it bit by bit until it was gone. It was great!
 
Quick update - based on the rapid growth of fuzzy white fluffy stuff on top of the beer, im 93% certain that it has a lacto infection (based on the pictures I've seen in the infection thread). I tried a sample of it, and it still has a good saison taste to it, even though the bucket has a fairly off putting smell to it. I racked it to secondary (for science!) so I can see how the infection progresses without having to take the lid on and off constantly. It's bubbling out CO2 fairly consistently, and its gone from 1.045 to 1.008 over the past few weeks.

I'm going to see if I can save this beer, and possibly try working with any sour flavors it develops. I'll wait until the CO2 settles down a bit before bottling.
 
And you might want to bleach bomb your plastic or replace.

If it's fuzzy, could that be mild? Anyone?
 
Kinda looks like the start of an infection. Opening the lid all of the time does not help. Opening the lid allows oxygen in which helps feed the infection I believe.
 
I used Wyeast 3724 and it's been about 9 days. The OG was 1.045 and the current grav is 1.011 - if my paranoia overtakes me, would I be creating bottle bombs if I bottle it this weekend? It tastes good, but has a hint of sourness to it.

At what temperature are you fermenting?
 
If you like to see what is going on with your beer, simply switch to carboys. They are harder to clean than buckets, but its interesting to see what's going on.
 
Kinda looks like the start of an infection. Opening the lid all of the time does not help. Opening the lid allows oxygen in which helps feed the infection I believe.

If it is a laco infection (guessing yes based on the first couple of pictures), it's anaerobic. Prefers no free oxygen.

:mug:
 
Here's what it looks like today. I'm not exactly sure what it is and when I compare it to other people's infections I can't come to a clear conclusion. I've seen people call similar infections both lacto and brett, and there isn't a clear resource on the difference in appearance between these. From what I've read though, I'm hoping its brett since this is a saison and I do plan on drinking it.

saison-infect.jpg
 
Just for reference:
  • Secondaries should have no headspace. 1 inch in the neck of a carboy, max!
  • You definitely have an infection going on. Judging by the speed the pellicle is progressing, it's something pretty aggressive. Lacto can do that, Brett is a much slower actress.
 
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