does this look infected to you?

[MrMeans]

So in the 4-5 years I have been doing this, I have not had a fermentation look like this. I feel like i have good sanitation practices, I know the little brown things are yeast rafts, what has me worried is the flim/bubbles. The beer smells fine, the beer tastes fine. The gravity has not dropped significantly since my last hydro reading 5 days ago. Thoughts?

 

[flars]

Looks normal. Sediment and yeast is dropping. Off gassing of CO2 is making the bubbles.

 

[lyonshead]

If you gave me a beer that smelled fine, tasted fine, and had the proper finish for the style, and then you told me it was infected... I'd still drink it. No known pathogens exist in beer, so I'd trust the smell and taste senses before that of sight, but that's just my 2 cents


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[moreb33rplz]

Drink!

 

[Setesh]

Looks good. Normal yeast rafts. If you let it sit another week if there is an infection it will show itself more drastically. Right now that looks normal to me.

 

[Yourrealdad]

I get beer that looks like that all the time. The Krausen goes back down and then little bubble pockets are left on top of the beer. The pic is a Berliner Weiss that is about a week in the primary

 

[Cyclman]

You're all good, it's yeast.

 

[krahm]

I think I'm seeing what the OP is referring to. It's hard to make out, but it looks like there's a film on the surface that would make me concerned, too. I'd say, if you really want to know, leave it in primary for another few weeks. If you open it back up, and you see a pellicle, there's your answer. If it looks okay, then drink up. I know that's not helpful, but if it were my beer, I'd close it up and leave it alone for a while, just out of morbid curiosity.

 

[bierhaus15]

Yep, looks like you have something besides sacc at work there. I've tested dozens of similar "films" in the lab and they've all turned out to be something other than sacc, usually either lacto or o.proteus (was this a yeast repitch?).

It's not the bubbles that are the issue, it's the chalky white stuff that breaks up into smaller bits. It might cause flavor issues or it might not.

 

[MrMeans]

it was not a repitch. It was a starter of WLP90 that I grew from the sediment of a few bottles from my last batch. I have a turkey baster that I use as a wine thief. I sanitizer it before every use and make it a point to flush it out really well after each use. I do not put my samples back in. I am wondering where I got this. I am a little pissed because my wife is about to have a baby which means I am not going to get to brew again for a while and this beer was supposed to get me through the next month. I just cracked open the fermentor and the chalkyish white stuff is still there. Everything still smells fine, I did not pull a sample this time to taste. I am going to post a picture of what it looks like now. I am still leaning towards some other bugs are growing in there,

 

[MrMeans]

 

[MrMeans]

If this is infected, is there any saving the fermentor or should I just turn it into a planter for my hop rhizomes?

 

[prohl84]

That is starting to look a bit like pellicle. I have had infections in two different plastic vessels (one HDPE and one PET) and fermented in them since w/o consequence- I didn't even bleach bomb. The only thing I've replaced is the siphon hose. One was a clean lacto sour the other smelled like day-old-vomit don't know why I tasted it- foul is putting it nicely.


EDIT: I'm actually in the same position... racked a brew to secondary and I could tell something was weird even though it looked and tasted normal. A couple days later there was a thin translucent pellicle. It's been a week, the gravity hasn't changed, and the beer tastes good so I'm bottling it. No sense in waiting for whatever is in there to compromise the flavor.

 

[MrMeans]

Well the good thing is that there is a restaurant equipment supply store down the street that sells 7gal buckets with screw on lids for $9. Take ye olde step bit to it, insert a drilled stopper and an airlock and I got a new fermentor. Plus this is a half sized batch and I am in it $12. Still pissed that my english mild got invaded.

 

[dbkdev]

Whatd you end up doing with this, was it infected?

 

[MrMeans]

I dumped the batch. It got down to 1.003 and did not taste good at all.

 

[jalmeida]

I have beer do that and it was fine. And I don't worry about infection. If i do my part their is no reason to worry. Also, the Belgians make tons of infected beer that people drink.


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[MrMeans]

That's all fine and dandy, but I did not like the flavor of the beer. No point in moving it through the rest of the process if I won't drink it.

 

[Setesh]

That's all fine and dandy, but I did not like the flavor of the beer. No point in moving it through the rest of the process if I won't drink it.

Especially if that process is bottling. It's not that big of a deal to 'keg it and see', but if you have to bottle it then cutting your losses is the smart move IMO.

 

[jalmeida]

That's all fine and dandy, but I did not like the flavor of the beer. No point in moving it through the rest of the process if I won't drink it.

True. Yeah, I didn't catch the last post about it not tasting good.


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