Infection or Fermentation Byproduct?

[lazyguitarist]

Hi Everyone,

I've been brewing for about a year, and I just tried my first saison. Thanks to the heatwave, I've been able to ferment this beer in the upper 90's/low 100's for several days straight, and I was pleased to get it down from 1.050 to 1.008 in just a couple of weeks.

However, I'm a little concerned about what I saw when I checked the gravity last night. I posted a picture for reference. Is this bubbly white scum on top of the beer a mold infection, or something created by the saison yeast? I've even read that it could be a wild yeast or something. If it's an infection, it could have happened when I checked the gravity a week ago. The beer doesn't stink, and I used a turkey baster to get a sample from below this layer of crud. The beer looks good and tastes fine--decent level of bitterness with a mild fruity flavor.

So, what is this stuff, and what should I do about it? Should I skim it off the top, or just leave it alone?

Thanks!

 

[leolee86]

Your fine, wait a few weeks and taste it

 

[arnoldk2]

They look like yeast rafts. You should be fine.

 

[bierhaus15]

Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree here, you definitely have something else growing besides yeast. The giveaway is the white, patchy film that breaks apart into angular bits. It's called a pellicle. Whether or not it will impact the flavor of the beer, you'll find out. Sorry.

 

[leolee86]

What I ment by your fine is, just wait a bit and taste it..if it tastes good, drink it..if it tastes like someone crapped in your mouth wait awhile then taste it again...if it still taste bad...dump it and sanatize more thoroughly on your next brewday

 

[lazyguitarist]

Thanks for the replies so far. With these mixed opinions, I did a little Google-Fu on what's happening. I found out that this pellicle that bierhaus15 is talking about sometimes appears if a wild yeast starts fermenting in your beer. With saisons, this sometimes happens, and some brewers like it because it will have a slight effect on the flavor--a little bit of sourness that is acceptable. I've been keeping the saison in my toolshed so that it will purposefully ferment hot, and I did open the lid a couple weeks ago to check the gravity. I wonder if a miraculous mystery yeast got into the fermenter that way? I guess that would make this a "wild saison," and it may turn into an awesome beer! I also learned that this pellicle forms when brewers use Brettanomyces yeast to make a Brett Beer, which is supposed to have a sour flavor on purpose, but now I'm beginning to go beyond my level of experience.

Can anyone with experience brewing saisons add anything else to the discussion? The beer still doesn't taste or smell bad, so I'm just going to relax, stop worrying, have a homebrew, and let it keep running. Maybe that mystery bug is what will get it down to those ridiculously low numbers common in saisons. And, if I'm wrong, well, this isn't the first batch I've had to toss, and it probably won't be the last.
Cheers!

 

[leolee86]

For what its worth, I had a britt saison from new Belgium over the weekend..one word...perfection

 

[daksin]

Saisons only get wild yeast in them because brewers pitch it, or accidentally. It's not something that "just happens sometimes" with Saisons. A brett saison can be very nice but that's obviously not what you were going for here. It's DEFINITELY got something in it that you didn't pitch (ie an infection). If you're willing to roll the dice and see if it turns into something drinkable after a long wait, you can do that, but most wild yeasts don't make tasty beer. If it does, you're very lucky. If you have the ability to keg and it tastes fine, keg it right this moment and chill it down as fast as you can to slow the growth of the rogue agent. Drink it quickly before it goes sour. My only infected beer tasted fine when I first saw the pellicle, but was undrinkable the next day.

 

[SledgeH]

Rack under the floaties (technicial term) and give it a go. I've seen worse pellicle picts on this forum that brewers have salvaged good beer from. I also think dumping is a cardinal sin. Like coveting your neighbor’s brew rig. If it is drinkable at bottling time, it is worth bottling.

 

[lowtones84]

What yeast did you start off with? I would just have fun with this if it tastes fine.

 

[lazyguitarist]

I started off with Wyeast 3725 (Belgian Saison). I swung by the LHBS today and showed them a picture of the brew, and they agree that it's an infection--possibly Lactobacillus. I am a psycho about sanitizing everything, so my best guess is this got into the beer when I opened the bucket to check the gravity about 10 days ago. I'm not sure if this means anything, but the gravity had already gone down to 1.010 before the lid ever came off. So, the beer was already 4.9% ABV before the nasties got in it. That, plus an already low gravity, and I'm hoping it will lessen whatever damage that nasty white blob does to my beer.

This experience has shown me that I still have a lot to learn about brewing. I tried something different, and I have learned a great deal from the entire experience, so it won't be a complete waste even if the beer turns into crap. It tasted pretty good last night, so I'm going to rack everything under the pellicle and bottle it. I have nothing to lose but a pack of priming sugar and a few dozen bottlecaps. Hell, it may be the best beer I've ever made (and I won't be able to make it again!).

Thanks for the replies...I'm off to crack open a homebrew.

 

[lazyguitarist]

If anyone's still reading this thread...

I bottled the infected beer three weeks ago. The pellicle reformed in the bottles, but if you gently swish them around, it dissolves. I chilled a couple of beers and poured them into a glass. No ugly pellicle, and the beer tastes GREAT! It's lightly carbonated and goes down smoothly. It's a bit dry, and has a decent amount of bitterness, but no sour taste. The flavor is light, which I guess is normal, and it almost has an oaky flavor. The aftertaste kind of reminds me of a hefeweizen. So, to everyone who said to bottle it anyway and try it...good call! This is not one of my best beers, but it is a perfectly enjoyable brew!

 

[daksin]

Keep them cold or they may majorly over attenuate/explode/get funky on you! Otherwise, glad the beer turned out tasty afterall.