I suspect an infecton

[Dabbed_Out_Brewing]

My Stout is 3 weeks old and im starting to notice a few little white patches floating on the top. It started as one and now I noticed a second smaller one this morning. It smells pretty good but there is still something funky in the smell. Would it be wise to rack to the keg and age it in there? Fermentation is complete but i wanted to wait another 3 weeks to keg it. I could also rack to an empty carboy if the keg is unwise to age in. Can you leave it in the keg for extended period of time without getting off flavors or something? Please let me know what I should do, if anything.

 

[bbohanon]

If it is indeed and infection (without photos its hard to confirm):

Rack it to a keg ASAP, keep it COLD and drink quickly if you want to save it.
Had a caramel porter with this same problem that got infected from a plate chiller. Had 2 kegs of it and was able to drink it before it funked up.

Just remember that any kegs/lines/taps it comes into contact will be also be affected infection-wise. I ended up having to put boiling water into those kegs after they were empty, replace my picnic tap lines, and boil all poppets and posts.

Alot of work after you consume that batch to make sure future batches in those kegs did not get infected, but I did not want to dump that batch.

Your other option of course it to bottle it all and keep the bottles COLD if you want to forgo the keg.

Last but not least, you can always dump it.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Best might be to rack it to a keg and purge it well w/ co2. Cold storage would also greatly slow any possible infection.

 

[Gavin C]

3 weeks. Get that sucker racked to the keg. Fermentation has long ceased.

Drink up!

 

[Dabbed_Out_Brewing]

If it is indeed and infection (without photos its hard to confirm):

Rack it to a keg ASAP, keep it COLD and drink quickly if you want to save it.
Had a caramel porter with this same problem that got infected from a plate chiller. Had 2 kegs of it and was able to drink it before it funked up.

Just remember that any kegs/lines/taps it comes into contact will be also be affected infection-wise. I ended up having to put boiling water into those kegs after they were empty, replace my picnic tap lines, and boil all poppets and posts.

Alot of work after you consume that batch to make sure future batches in those kegs did not get infected, but I did not want to dump that batch.

Your other option of course it to bottle it all and keep the bottles COLD if you want to forgo the keg.

Last but not least, you can always dump it.

i think I'm going to rack to a keg tonight and keep it cold. As far as the boiling and such, couldn't you just run starsan through everything and clean it real well instead of replacing it all? Ill let you know what happens, i really want this batch to work out it was going to be so tasty. Idk where or how and infection occurred, i was so careful.

 

[Gavin C]

i think I'm going to rack to a keg tonight and keep it cold. As far as the boiling and such, couldn't you just run starsan through everything and clean it real well instead of replacing it all? Ill let you know what happens, i really want this batch to work out it was going to be so tasty. Idk where or how and infection occurred, i was so careful.

If you're sure it's infected dump it. Would you eat gone off food, flat soda, moldy fruit,chicken with a funky aroma?

Many experts in sour beers will usually say how near impossible it is to get an unitentionally infected beer drinkable.

 

[Dabbed_Out_Brewing]

If you're sure it's infected dump it. Would you eat gone off food, flat soda, moldy fruit,chicken with a funky aroma?

Many experts in sour beers will usually say how near impossible it is to get an unitentionally infected beer drinkable.

that's the thing, I'm not totally sure so I'm not going to just dump out something i put money, time, and care into. I need to be sure so, I'll keg it up let it sit a few days in the fridge and try one. If it is indeed spoiled, i'll dump it. Im not sure if it's yeast or bubble rafts, or some kind of infection. The image below is what it looks like, it is not my photo and there are only 2 patches about the size of a dime and a quarter.

 

[bbohanon]

Looks like yeast rafts to me. Mine was a fully skinned over layer on the top with powdery bubbling (No doubt about it being an infection). Yours looks good to me. I would rack it and let it condition for drinking.

I vote that you are infection free..

 

[bbohanon]

i think I'm going to rack to a keg tonight and keep it cold. As far as the boiling and such, couldn't you just run starsan through everything and clean it real well instead of replacing it all? Ill let you know what happens, i really want this batch to work out it was going to be so tasty. Idk where or how and infection occurred, i was so careful.

Also with an infection, no...StarSan is not enough on its own. When (not if) you do actually have an infection, you will have to go nuclear on everything keg wise (boiling water) and toss any plastic components to get rid of it or it will never go away and will become worse.
Trust me..I have had to deal with this recently...

 

[Dabbed_Out_Brewing]

Also with an infection, no...StarSan is not enough on its own. When (not if) you do actually have an infection, you will have to go nuclear on everything keg wise (boiling water) and toss any plastic components to get rid of it or it will never go away and will become worse.
Trust me..I have had to deal with this recently...

gotcha, yeah im gonna move it in and condition it tonight when I'm home. Can i leave it in the keg for a while? Also, can i condition in my fridge or should i do room temp with a blanket of Co2 on top? thanks for the info! im hoping you're right

 

[m00ps]

you can either do the firge or room temp. Either way, pressurize and purge it

 

[bbohanon]

gotcha, yeah im gonna move it in and condition it tonight when I'm home. Can i leave it in the keg for a while? Also, can i condition in my fridge or should i do room temp with a blanket of Co2 on top? thanks for the info! im hoping you're right

You can condition cold or at room temp but as the previous poster mentioned pressurize and purge it regardless.

Were it me, I would rack it to the keg, pressurize it (blanket it with CO2 and/or leave it hooked to the gas at around 10PSI to carb it up nice and easy as carbing it has no impact on conditioning from my experience) and condition it cold.

Even infection-free, I prefer to keep all of my kegged beer cold once it leaves the fermenter even when conditioning lagers/stouts/porters.

Quite a number of local craft breweries here where I live also keep their beer cold once it leaves their fermenters for freshness. I follow that mantra and my beer loves me for it.

 

[Dabbed_Out_Brewing]

UPDATE: Kegged the stout last night, gave it a little bit of carbonation, and then left it at serving pressure. On the first taste, i was really happy. No weird off flavors. I don't think I had an infection. I do get a hint of a taste that i can only describe as, it tastes almost like the smell of Co2 when you pressurize an empty keg. But it is the SLIGHTEST hint of that taste and is not unpleasant, nor does it ruin the beer. I believe this taste will mellow out as the beer becomes fully carbonated. Anyone have any input on that?

 

[bbohanon]

Probably just needs some time to condition out. The beer is probably just tasting "green" at this point since its a darker beer.
I would pull another sample in 2 weeks and see where the beer is taste-wise.
Stouts and Porters benefit from some additional time in the keg for their taste magics to come together and the beer is all it can and should be.
I usually let my porters/stouts condition in the keg for a min of a month before tapping it for myself and others..It will get even better the longer it sits...The last pull of my stout or porter before the keg kicks is usually the best glass.