stuff on my wort

[SauceBoss]

hey all,

I searched the forums for a while today trying to go through as many threads on 'oily' and 'filmy' stuff on my wort in my fermenter and everything seemed to point to it being hop oil or something left from the sanitizer. A few threads mentioned it could be an infection of the sort but I really do not know what to look for in characteristics of what it could be. Its a stout that I moved into secondary like 2 weeks ago and it has been going well. I uncovered it today to see a oily film with some brown bubbles (looks like the stout, not like mold or anything) on top. When I tip the carboy, it seems to be on the side too.

Can anyone offer their thoughts? The smell seems normal. Should I try it? If so what should I look for in taste? Below is a pic:

Thank you all in advance and I will await your replies.

 

[RedGlass]

Assuming that bright spot in the lower center is your camera's flash and not in the carboy, it looks fine. RDWHAHB.

 

[mrk305]

I am drinkiing a batch that looked like that when I kegged it a few weeks ago. I looked at several pictures of what people posted as infected batches, but I went ahead and kegged it any way. It even had big waxy looking bubbles in addition to the film yours has.

It tastes great. I never did figure out what caused the film and the weird waxy looking bubbles. I am thinking temperature change maybe. Beer can be ugly sometimes I guess and still taste great.

 

[SauceBoss]

Thanks for the feedback. That white spot is in fact the flash lol.

I just want to make sure that all is well. I keep the carboy in a swamp cooler locked up in a room so the temp fluctuates almost nil. When taking temps its always between 65 and 68 degrees. Either way, like I said it doesnt smell or have any off odors and I havent tasted it yet.

I dont keg, but bottle instead, when I bottle do you think it will continue to look the way it does in the bottle or will carbonation stop it? Do u think that would cause any difference? Any one else have any ideas?

 

[theredben]

How does it taste? I would not be concerned at all.

 

[wonderbread23]

That looks like the beginning of a pellicle. I've done sour beers before, and a few of them looked quite like that near the beginning. I'd drink it young.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

That looks like the beginning of a pellicle. I've done sour beers before, and a few of them looked quite like that near the beginning. I'd drink it young.

Concur... Make sure you clean/sanitize really well when done. I'd not reuse your tubing after transferring this beer. I'd also consider bottling vice kegging.

 

[Loneleigh]

That looks like the beginning of a pellicle. I've done sour beers before, and a few of them looked quite like that near the beginning. I'd drink it young.

wth is pellicle? I have the same thing going on in my secondary.

 

[makomachine]

Maybe I'm not seeing it but that looks pretty much exactly like every beer I've ever done and completely normal. Pellicle? Someone please edit the picture and circle where you are seeing it.

 

[Scooby_Brew]

"Stuff on my wort" - wow, that sounds pretty personal.
But you good, I think.

 

[nytimez]

"Stuff on my wort" - wow, that sounds pretty personal.
But you good, I think.

Better than "wort on my stuff."

 

[trigger]

A pellicle, in this context, is a biofilm created on the surface of your wort or must by non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae microorganisms. In other words, it's a skin formed by bacteria or wild yeast. What wonderbread was referring to was the thinner translucent regions on top of the wort.

I agree with the speculation that it appears to be the beginning of a pellicle. I have made several kombucha mothers from commercial bottles and they look exactly like that after a week or two. Kombucha is fermented by a combination of yeasts and bacteria, and forms one heck of a pellicle. On the other hand, the picture's resolution/size makes it hard to call it.

You have two options: 1) wait and see if it thickens, which would indicate the presence of an unintended population fo 2) keg and cool it to ~freezing fast to inhibit possible growth of any bugs. You could also just rock on and let your beer do it's thing, and you'd probably be just fine. The caveat is if it is supporting an undesireable population your beer could go south on you, or you may have a case of bottle-bombs on your hands.

 

[jsguitar]

You can also pasteurize it to stop the infection now before it gets worse. I've never done it, but here's a link explaining the process. http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Fermentation-FAQ#infected

 

[deggenbe]

thanks for the idea, think i'll try this.