Is My Beer Infected? HELP!
- Thread starter mtmartin2005
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mtmartin2005
Member
Can I drink this beer? I was so looking forward to it. Finished at 9.92 abv
Sure you can drink it... Question is will it make you sick. Might want to wait for other responses, again no expert but check out the infection info here
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-1.html
I ferment carrots and pickles, looking in that jar you don't think it will be ok to eat but they are damn good and according to most experts when it comes to wild yeast it's completely safe. Open it up. Smell it. Sample a little. Google it bet you find it will be ok to drink.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-1.html
I ferment carrots and pickles, looking in that jar you don't think it will be ok to eat but they are damn good and according to most experts when it comes to wild yeast it's completely safe. Open it up. Smell it. Sample a little. Google it bet you find it will be ok to drink.
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mtmartin2005
Member
Thanks for the link. I just sanitized my thief and tasted some of it. Its awesome. You can definitely tell its almost 10% abv. I'm gonna bottle it Saturday and see how it goes. Any more advice would be great though.
That is definitely infected. It looks like Lactobacillus to me. You should be fine to bottle it but just try to drink it quickly after it is carbed up or put it in the fridge (also after it is carbed up) so the lacto doesn't keep munching on your beer and cause bottle bombs. Most likely you won't even taste the infection. Be sure to clean and sanitize the crap out of your thief before you use it on a non infected beer. Same for anything plastic that has come in contact with that beer.
steveg5555
Member
It is infected. Bottle and drink quickly. Within weeks after bottling you will have over carbed "beer soda" or bottle bombs. Most will be gushers after a month and basically undrinkable. Best bet to save them IMO, bottle and carb for a week than all go in the fridge. Figure out what happened and dont do that again. We've all been there. I still remember seeing my first Altbier look like that. Very depressing.
Dont try to age them. They will disappoint/explode. Dont go Hurt Locker.
Dont try to age them. They will disappoint/explode. Dont go Hurt Locker.
steveg5555
Member
If you keg it will sour more slowly, assuming you refrigerate the keg. Just like if you took lemonade that looked like that and put it in the fridge versus leaving it on the counter. The plus is the keg (should) have a PRV that will blow out before it explodes, unlike bottles.
My vote is to drink some straight out of the fermenter , if you spit it out, then dump the batch, bleach the carboy and airlock, drink a different beer, reflect accordingly, and then move on with your brewing life.
If you are OK with the taste than bottle, condition at 70 for a week, than refrigerate, then drink it every chance you get till its gone. And maybe save 1 at room temp in a blast chamber for the sake of science and see what happens. Try it in a month, handling it with goggles.
My vote is to drink some straight out of the fermenter , if you spit it out, then dump the batch, bleach the carboy and airlock, drink a different beer, reflect accordingly, and then move on with your brewing life.
If you are OK with the taste than bottle, condition at 70 for a week, than refrigerate, then drink it every chance you get till its gone. And maybe save 1 at room temp in a blast chamber for the sake of science and see what happens. Try it in a month, handling it with goggles.
Yes to infection, no to ruined. Rack from under it, package and drink quickly. I actually find I like some infected beers, just be sure to disassemble and clean the crap out of anything that touches the infected beer or dedicate it to sours. I would also replace any tubing that touched(es) it. Nothing pathogenic can survive in beer so no worries there. Worst thing that can happen with an infection is that it tastes bad.
If you decide to keg it, it just means that you will have to be diligent in cleaning and sanitizing the keg, poppits, PRV, and lines that touch it. You probably will still overcarb a bit that way, but it wont really hurt anything.
If you decide to keg it, it just means that you will have to be diligent in cleaning and sanitizing the keg, poppits, PRV, and lines that touch it. You probably will still overcarb a bit that way, but it wont really hurt anything.
Undead8
Well-Known Member
Just curious... Do you know why it happened?
In my personal experience, i had only one infection 5 years ago because of a catastrophic sanitation procedure involving flies, a partly open fermenter for 2 weeks and unpasterized apples.
Now, I am very careful with sanitation, but even when I screw up massively (such as dropping a very dirty Gerber in the primary before the fermentation begin), I don't get any infection.
In my personal experience, i had only one infection 5 years ago because of a catastrophic sanitation procedure involving flies, a partly open fermenter for 2 weeks and unpasterized apples.
Now, I am very careful with sanitation, but even when I screw up massively (such as dropping a very dirty Gerber in the primary before the fermentation begin), I don't get any infection.
How many IBUs? Most strains of lacto are inhibited by both hops and high levels of alcohol, so lacto is doubtful. The pic on my phone is not too clear, but it kind of does look like a pellicle.
It's probably Brett. If you can keg, go ahead and do that. Brett does its thing, for better or worse, over a long period of time at room temps. Chilled, it will take very long. Drink at your leisure, and don't stress about it.
It's probably Brett. If you can keg, go ahead and do that. Brett does its thing, for better or worse, over a long period of time at room temps. Chilled, it will take very long. Drink at your leisure, and don't stress about it.
