Slimy snot-like substance in beer?

[jpm5171988]

Hello all. I have 10 gal of cream ale winding down in primary right now, in two seperate 6 gal carboys. I took a small sample from each carboy today just for grins. Again for grins i combined my samples for a gravity reading. When taking my reading a noticed a little black slimey sphere of some kind floating at the top of the beer. After removing it and studying it closely, I noticed a small amount of clearish slime floating at the top of the beer, also with very tiny black particles suspended in the slime. I have never seen anything like this before, as I have never contaminated a batch of beer, and for all I know, it could've been from my hydrometer tube. But, I looked at the hydrometer tube and it shows no signs of bacterial growth or mold. Im afraid that what I've seen is some kind of mold or mildew or bacterial growth. Has anyone seen anything like this before? Do you think the beer is contaminated? Its hard to see the beer in my carboy because the sides are caked with dry krausen, yeasties, hop resins, etc, so I won't be able to get a better look until I tranfer the beer in a couple of days. I tasted the beer and although it is still "green," it tastes the way that it usually does at this stage and doesn't taste "off". Any information or advice would be helpful.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Not sure. I wouldn't worry about at this point though, especially if there are no off-flavors or odors. Wait until you transfer and then try to get a better look.

 

[Kaz]

I wouldn't worry about contamination until a) I see big pellicle of mold on in the fermenter, or b) the beer tastes like crap. There can be all kinds of gunk floating around in the carboy that may have gotten in your tube. How long has it been fermenting?

 

[jpm5171988]

today is the 8th day. the main fermentation process is pretty much over, but i usually leave my beer in primary for about 10 days to allow the yeast to clean itself up a little bit before i tranfer to secondary.

 

[mrduna01]

I have the same slime looking film on my cream ale at day 7 and still has a sulphur smell to it... Nothing black though.

 

[jpm5171988]

does that usually happen for you? this is the first time that it has happened to me.

 

[mrduna01]

First time I have noticed it.

 

[Aschecte]

I have the same stuff going in my witbier I was starting to wonder myself who blew snot into my carboy !!!! Everything I am reading is telling me that this can happen with certain yeast strains as others have said don't worry too much it's probably just fine.

 

[Cmanuel]

Yeah, I had this happen a few weeks ago with a hefeweizen I brewed. There was a clear ring around the carboy where you could see it. I just ran the beer through a strainer when I transferred to a secondary, and it got basically all of the snot stuff out. Soaked the primary in hot water + oxi-clean overnight and it cleared the snot from the carboy.

 

[passedpawn]

Yeah, I had this happen a few weeks ago with a hefeweizen I brewed. There was a clear ring around the carboy where you could see it. I just ran the beer through a strainer when I transferred to a secondary, and it got basically all of the snot stuff out. Soaked the primary in hot water + oxi-clean overnight and it cleared the snot from the carboy.

Aw geez, you strained out the best part!

 

[Cmanuel]

Aw geez, you strained out the best part!

haha, no actually it was kind of a big strainer. there's plenty of yeast in this beer let me tell you. It did the job of filtering the snot crap out but left plenty of yeast in the beer

 

[passedpawn]

All kidding aside, I've never seen anything snot-line in 100 batches of beer. I don't look at them much anymore, but I used to. Good luck.