Gravity not hit target, and possible Infection. If infected, what to do.

[Kahless]

After 3 weeks at 19C/66F my E.S.B. (LME + steeping grains) went from 1.050 to only 1.020 gravity, with a target of 1.012.

The samples was taken from a tap near the bottom of the bucket; it tasted lovely then but was still on the sweet side. I upped the temperature to 21C and left it another week, but the gravity has only gone down to 1.018, so I decided to pop the lid open and make sure it was okay, and found this;

After half an hour I went back to take a second picture, and it looked like this:

Is this saccharomyces having a laugh or I is my beer infected with Brett?

I've looked at hundreds of pictures of infected batches and normal batches and I can't draw the line finely enough to know what this is. I hope you all can help me.

I have upped the temperature once more, as I have no carboy to rack into from under it (and I'm not fond of the idea of carrying one on the bus from my LHBS at the nearest city!) and if it is just my pitched yeast playing tricks then I better get it going again. But if advised otherwise here, I might go out and get some glass, rack into it with some heavy dry hopping and maybe a bit of bourbon to crack down on the nasties.

Alternatively, I could bottle immediately into some 2L cola bottles (not risking glass bottle bombs).

 

[homebrewdad]

First pic looks normal to me. Second pic looks like a skin forming, which is a bad thing.

Hard to say for sure.

 

[Kahless]

Thanks for commenting. I am worried about that skin-like formation. I am tempted to shake it to see what happens but curiosity might not be best for the beer in this case >_>

 

[cluckk]

I don't think it is a pellicle--at least it doesn't look like what I've seen with Brett batches. It looks a bit nasty, but I don't think it is an infection. When Kraeusen drops it can leave behind some nasty looking stuff that will continue to raft for quite a while. Watch it to see if it increases or decreases over the next few days.

 

[Kahless]

Thanks. Hopefully it will disappear and leave only nice ale.
Since i bumped the temperature up to 21C, there has been a bulge in the lid and some airlock activity (pressed out some air and it bellowed up after half an hour). (Would be good if that was the last of the fermentable sugars getting eating by yeast!)

 

[Kahless]

It has been a day and a half and it looks a lot more pleasant already!

I modified the recipe (I'm using Brewology101) to have a less efficient yeast
http://brewology101.com/AleAbacus/10005/Werewolf-Bit-er

I was basing it on Coopers Ale Yeast, but it searching around it seems that the Young's Yeast that came with the Kit I began with can leave beers a bit too sweet (Although this is very sweet!) - Reducing the yeast efficiency from 75% to 66%, I end up with what the gravity is at now: 1.017.

I found one reference that said Young's Ale East forms a very compact sediment, and another reference that said that very compact sediments are usually formed by low flocculating yeasts over longer periods of time. Putting these things together might explain the ugly pictures at the top.

 

[masskrug]

It looks fine. If you're worried, just rack under that. You may lose a few ounces, but there is beer under there!

 

[Kahless]

Thanks masskrug

Well, the gravity finally went down a bit more, just to 1.014, still rather sweet tasting but safe to bottle and not moving further. I boiled some hops (meant for my next batch) for 60/30/15 minutes in batches and added the resulting bitter liquid to make it more balanced.

The fermentation stall could have been due to the incorrect temperature (19C suggested on another forum, should have been 20-24) or even adding 500g of Golden Syrup in with the boil (yeast getting used to those simple sugars and losing some ability to produce enzymes for tackling the LME's slightly tougher sugars?).
Or perhaps it was buying the cheapest kit in my LHBS and hoping steeping malts will make up for it! (Where were the hops Young's? Where were the hops!)

So that means no infection, and beer in the end! I thought it best to put in this conclusion in case anyone comes by this thread in a later search. Thank you all for your help

 

[Larrydrinks]

what do you guys think about this one coffee Porter 8 days in secondary?? Any input please and thanks!

 

[RPh_Guy]

View attachment 637000 what do you guys think about this one coffee Porter 8 days in secondary?? Any input please and thanks!

Hi and welcome to HBT.

It looks all right based on your photo. I assume there are things added to it, yes?

 

[RM-MN]

View attachment 637000 what do you guys think about this one coffee Porter 8 days in secondary?? Any input please and thanks!

Bottle it up and send some to me. I'll give you feedback on what I think of it. From the picture there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it except that you moved it to secondary which is unnecessary. i just see some little round yeast rafts where the escaping CO2 has bubbled it to the top.

 

[madscientist451]

You got an extract beer down to 1.014, its time to bottle. Wait until its carbed up before starting the next batch, then when its fermenting, DWRAHAHB.

 

[RPh_Guy]

You got an extract beer down to 1.014, its time to bottle.

Yeah, six years should be long enough

 

[El Nino]

Yeah, six years should be long enough

Aged stouts are the bomb! though I'm not sure about 6 years haha.

I was gonna say "that doesn't look infected at all", but when you pointed out this thread was 6 years old..

 

[Rfox2014]

View attachment 637000 what do you guys think about this one coffee Porter 8 days in secondary?? Any input please and thanks!

How was this? Looks like coffee beans were floating at the top?