Another one of those infection threads

[ericw]

I brewed this recipe a week or so ago, let it sit in the primary for a week, and moved it to the secondary Sunday. I brewed it the same as all my other batches, but after cooling, we let it sit in the brew pot to settle out and used the siphon to move it to the primary instead of just pouring it in. The top was on the brew pot once the wort was at 80 deg, and only sat for 15 - 25 minutes. I boiled a little more water than I thought, and had to use water from the dispenser on the fridge, which is filtered, to get the full 5 gallons. The yeast I used was in a smack pack(my first time to use that kind), and I had some good activity within 12hrs. I checked on the secondary today, and saw this:

I took the stopper off and the beer doesn't smell sour, it just smells like beer. Does this look infected, or is some of the yeast that was brought over when I moved the beer?

 

[Ouroboros]

The top of my IIPA looked exactly like this about a day after I racked it and I wanted to flip out for a second since I put 20 bucks worth of hops in that beer. For me, the beer passed the taste test, and the bubbles went away with time.

I bet if you get really close to the carboy and look inside, you'll see that the white patches are composed of tiny bubbles perhaps mixed in with little yeast floaters. I think some CO2 comes out of solution when you rack and picks up yeast flocs on its way up. It went away after about a week.

 

[Pivot]

yea just looks like bubbles and yeast to me. if it smells alright, chances are pretty good that the beer will survive, and may even be the best youve ever made

 

[FiddleTilDeath]

I had a possible infection worry recently but I eventually concluded after looking through the huge infection thread and looking again closely at my stout in secondary that it was just bubbles. And then, I had a beer and stopped worrying Enjoy your beer!

 

[Conehead]

Next time, boil and cool some water to use to top up instead of the water from the dispenser in the fridge.

 

[ericw]

Next time, boil and cool some water to use to top up instead of the water from the dispenser in the fridge.

Looking back, I should have done that. I buy bottled water, and from now on, I'll get an extra gallon or two for just in case.

What would an infection be made of, or look like?

 

[KyleWolf]

This give you an idea? lol, this was my lemongrass wheat that I laid to rest.

 

[Revvy]

Looks like another one of those nervous noob threads.

That looks like a lot of yeast rafts floating on the surface of the beer. Did you actually take a gravity reading before you racked it to secondary? That amount of yeast leads me to believe that fermentation wasn't finished before you racked it, and the yeast are going to re-krausen and finish the job they were trying to do before you interrupted their work.

In other words, it's fine.......

 

[ericw]

I did take a gravity reading, and it was right where the recipe said the FG should be. If the yeast are wanting to finish up work, who am I to get in their way. I was debating on creating a thread or not, but I wanted to make sure before I bottled it and had to pour it out. I'm a noob, so I create noob threads.

 

[Revvy]

I did take a gravity reading, and it was right where the recipe said the FG should be. If the yeast are wanting to finish up work, who am I to get in their way. I was debating on creating a thread or not, but I wanted to make sure before I bottled it and had to pour it out. I'm a noob, so I create noob threads.

Well, (and this goes to all the lurkers) in order for us to help you better, it's a good idea to include details like whether or not you took a grav reading, and what it is before racking. That way it's more INFO in order to help us help you. Those are the clues that those of us with experience can use to discern what is going on.

 

[Ouroboros]

That amount of yeast leads me to believe that fermentation wasn't finished before you racked it, and the yeast are going to re-krausen and finish the job they were trying to do before you interrupted their work.

That is what I think happened. I imagine fermentation stalled when it wasn't quite complete, and I kick-started it by racking. When I saw bubbles like this on top of my IIPA, the gravity dropped a few more points over a week and then leveled off again. I went from 70% attenuation to 73%.

 

[ericw]

Well, (and this goes to all the lurkers) in order for us to help you better, it's a good idea to include details like whether or not you took a grav reading, and what it is before racking. That way it's more INFO in order to help us help you. Those are the clues that those of us with experience can use to discern what is going on.

Gotcha. I try to read before asking dumb questions, or ones that have been asked to death. I didn't think mentioning the gravity reading would make a difference or not, but now I know. Thanks for the help guys.