Infection?

[mattman91]

I’ve never had an infection before, but this just doesn’t look right.

I posted over on the fermentation forum the other day about having a very thin krausen and no bubbling in my airlock. I found that to be weird as I use an Anvil King Junior and tested for leaks. The attenuation is coming along as it should.

I’m at 9 days post yeast pitch and this looks off. I’ve brewed for quite a while and have never seen anything like this.

If it helps, this is a 3.5 gallon batch of dunkel. I used two packs of M76 and fermented around 52F.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Have you taken a gravity reading and tried tasting a small sample?

It doesn't look good but a taste you should be able to detect if it's infected. I had a bad batch recently, after just a couple days I could tell God was not on my side. It had a very sour taste, not typical of what an amber should be.

 

[mattman91]

Have you taken a gravity reading and tried tasting a small sample?

It doesn't look good but a taste you should be able to detect if it's infected. I had a bad batch recently, after just a couple days I could tell God was not on my side. It had a very sour taste, not typical of what an amber should be.

Yes, the gravity was down to 1.016 from 1.054. Meant to add that. Didn’t taste it, but it smelled good.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

It's good sign it's fermenting but it still could be junk. If it tastes OK for the style, I'd let it sit a while longer then keep it.

Fermentation can have strange looking results.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm betting that beer is just fine - to this point, at least. That's a whole lot of trub that is being floated up by the evolving CO2 from fermentation.

Stay the course...

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

I posted over on the fermentation forum the other day about having a very thin krausen and no bubbling in my airlock.

Here's the earlier thread the OP had started and is referring to:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/stalled-fermentation.728869/

 

[lumpher]

I see a lot of protein, but i don't see anything that looks like it should be worried about.

 

[mattman91]

I see a lot of protein, but i don't see anything that looks like it should be worried about.

Good to hear.

But…

In returned today from a work trip and now it looks even worse. Not the protein, but the bubbles.

Maybe I am being paranoid, but it just doesn’t look right.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Looks like fermentation to me. At this point, bad or good, there's nothing wrong with letting it run its course.

 

[day_trippr]

Still nothing evident to worry about..
Carry on!

Cheers!

 

[Miraculix]

Man, you opening the bucket multiple times now probably almost ruined the batch anyway.... sorry to say this but now it's certainly heavily oxidised. Could still be drinkable though, but still far from what it would be without the additional oxygen. Oxygen also promotes the growth of infections btw.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

For future batches, just seal up your fermenter and leave it alone. Of course have the fermentation lock in place.

Once Mother Nature takes over all you can do is wait, watch for bubble action and draw off a sample. No peeking!

 

[hotbeer]

Even a infected beer has a slight chance of being a enjoyable beer.

It just won't be what it was supposed to be.

Quit peeking at your beer.

 

[beren]

One reason I like clear glass.

 

[mattman91]

Man, you opening the bucket multiple times now probably almost ruined the batch anyway.... sorry to say this but now it's certainly heavily oxidised. Could still be drinkable though, but still far from what it would be without the additional oxygen. Oxygen also promotes the growth of infections btw.

I haven’t opened anything. It is in a sealed Anvil King Junior. The pics are close up shots from the outside.

 

[mattman91]

For future batches, just seal up your fermenter and leave it alone. Of course have the fermentation lock in place.

Once Mother Nature takes over all you can do is wait, watch for bubble action and draw off a sample. No peeking!

I haven’t opened the fermenter at all. Those are close up pics in a sealed King Junior.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I haven’t opened the fermenter at all. Those are close up pics in a sealed King Junior.

I stand corrected, sorry I did not know.
Nice setup to be able to see what's going on.

 

[Miraculix]

I haven’t opened anything. It is in a sealed Anvil King Junior. The pics are close up shots from the outside.

Well, than it's obviously a great setup!!

 

[mattman91]

Here we go again. I was about to cold crash this and noticed this white stuff floating around now.

Yeast rafts or something icky?

 

[day_trippr]

Is that a floating dip tube ball in the background?
Not sure what the white stuff is but I'd be inclined to rack from under it...

Cheers!

 

[mattman91]

Is that a floating dip tube ball in the background?
Not sure what the white stuff is but I'd be inclined to rack from under it...

Cheers!

Yes it is. It is a sealed fermenter.

 

[mattman91]

If it helps, all I have done the last few days has been to raise it to 68F for a d rest.

 

[mashpaddled]

Yeah it looks infected. At first I thought the brown floaters was coagulated protein but the bubble eliminates any question there. I've seen wild yeast make those kind of blobs that float. If you tried to pull one out and it breaks up and sinks, it's likely protein. If you can pull the whole thing out, it's a yeast or mold growth. The white flecks also look like the start of a pellicle. The large bubble suggests there might already be a filmy pellicle.

You definitely want to do a thorough clean and sanitization on everything cold side from kettle into this vessel. It may be a real bad packet of yeast but it seems more like a wild contamination. If the yeast was sluggish to start off, it would open the door for something else to ferment away. I'd be concerned that there has been a persistent contamination somewhere on your cold side.

 

[IslandLizard]

Those wrinkly white areas and dots are a pellice, pointing to an infection in the beer below.

 

[mattman91]

Damn.

That’s my first infection.

Thanks, guys.

 

[day_trippr]

Might be a mold though - all of the white bits are exposed to air, and I don't see an actual pellicle tying everything together on the surface.
If that's the case I believe you can rack under or otherwise keep the white stuff out of your packaging and may be ok...

Cheers!

 

[mattman91]

Here we go again.

Same fermenter. I washed with PBW and sanitized with star San 2 times, just to be completely thorough. I honestly went overboard on cleaning and sanitizing.

This is a beer I brewed about 2.5 weeks ago. I cold crashed it last Friday and just got back from a week long work trip yesterday to see this.

It doesn’t quite look like the white spots like the last batch, but it doesn’t look normal to me, especially after being left at 38F for a week.

Does this look normal? It kind of looks like yeast rafts, but surely all of that should be dropped out of suspension by now. If it matters, I used Lutra Kviek.

 

[beren]

View attachment 833147

Here we go again.

Same fermenter. I washed with PBW and sanitized with star San 2 times, just to be completely thorough. I honestly went overboard on cleaning and sanitizing.

This is a beer I brewed about 2.5 weeks ago. I cold crashed it last Friday and just got back from a week long work trip yesterday to see this.

It doesn’t quite look like the white spots like the last batch, but it doesn’t look normal to me, especially after being left at 38F for a week.

Does this look normal? It kind of looks like yeast rafts, but surely all of that should be dropped out of suspension by now. If it matters, I used Lutra Kviek.

I understand the worry but looks like clumps of yeast to me.

 

[mattman91]

I understand the worry but looks like clumps of yeast to me.

Right on. I’m thinking that too, but paranoid from the last batch. It has been sealed up the entire time and on C02 in the keezer for over a week. I may shake it up gently to see if it sinks.

 

[IslandLizard]

Right on. I’m thinking that too, but paranoid from the last batch.

Those are yeast rafts, your beer looks very OK.
There are no pellicles or slimy bubbles.

No need to try to sink the rafts, you'll be racking/transfering from underneath the surface.
Even when a raft or a little trub gets sucked in, it's not an issue. It will all settle out in the keg.