weird stuff in secondary

[jonstewartstwin]

I brewed a Barley wine on 4/20, it's been in the secondary since 5/1... it was clear for a couple of months, just a little co2 fizz, which didn't concern me...in the last week or two, i have some bigger, whiter, filmier looking bubbles on the surface... i'm pretty sure the abv is too high for an infection, so what could it be?!?! thanks for any ideas!

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Looks like the early formation of a pellicle to me...

 

[Clann]

Yup, looks like a pellicle.

 

[jonstewartstwin]

is that bad? recommendations? is the batch shot?

 

[Clann]

Have you tasted it? It could be interesting. If you have the space and don't need the fermentor you could let it ride and see what you end up with.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

A pellicle is an infection. What it's infected with unknown. A few questions:

1) Do you like sour beers?
2) Are you willing to let this one sit a LOOOONG time?

If the answer to either is no, I recommend tasting it. If it tastes good and like a normal barleywine, you're looking at 3 months of aging. With bottling and *COLD* storage, you can probably halt the infection, and if you drink them relatively quickly, shouldn't get bottle bombs. If it already tastes "off", you're stuck either keeping it and seeing what develops, or it might be a total loss.

If you *DO* like sour beers and have time to let it age, you might just want to let this go for a year or two and see what you get. You might like it.

 

[lschiavo]

is that bad? recommendations? is the batch shot?

I have never been in your situation...my beers are never left alone that long:rockin:

I agree that is a pellicle starting. That is not what you wanted but, not necessarily bad either.

I would taste a sample first. If I liked where it was at, I would rack to a well sanitized fermentor and decrease the headspace. If it tastes funky, I would let it get funkier and see what develops.

Please note: I am basing my recomendations on zero experience.

 

[jonstewartstwin]

I have never been in your situation...my beers are never left alone that long:rockin:

I agree that is a pellicle starting. That is not what you wanted but, not necessarily bad either.

I would taste a sample first. If I liked where it was at, I would rack to a well sanitized fermentor and decrease the headspace. If it tastes funky, I would let it get funkier and see what develops.

Please note: I am basing my recomendations on zero experience.

as it is already aged 4+ months, I'm inclined to bottle it, if its not disgusting...
damn...my first infection... bummer...

also, if i'm gonna keep it and bottle it, do i skim the pellicle off w/a turkey baster, or just put my racking cane underneath it and siphon from below it?

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

as it is already aged 4+ months, I'm inclined to bottle it, if its not disgusting...
damn...my first infection... bummer...

also, if i'm gonna keep it and bottle it, do i skim the pellicle off w/a turkey baster, or just put my racking cane underneath it and siphon from below it?

Be careful. If it's infected, it's still fermenting. If you bottle it now, you could have bottle bombs down the road.

And though the pellicle is just on the top, that doesn't mean that the infectious organisms don't permeate the entire beer, so getting "under" the pellicle doesn't really make much of a difference.

I'd put this entire fermenter in a dark closet somewhere, buy yourself a new secondary, and come back and bottle it in 12-18 months.

 

[lschiavo]

I'm just getting into wine making. Campden kills all the nasties with wine. Would that work here?

 

[jonstewartstwin]

Be careful. If it's infected, it's still fermenting. If you bottle it now, you could have bottle bombs down the road.

And though the pellicle is just on the top, that doesn't mean that the infectious organisms don't permeate the entire beer, so getting "under" the pellicle doesn't really make much of a difference.

I'd put this entire fermenter in a dark closet somewhere, buy yourself a new secondary, and come back and bottle it in 12-18 months.

so let's say i let it sit for another year...and make sour beer.... how does one rack/bottle a batch w/a full blown pellicle? doesn't it break up and get into the brew? or is that desired in sour beer?


ps, it's been in a dark basement closet for 3 months now...

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

so let's say i let it sit for another year...and make sour beer.... how does one rack/bottle a batch w/a full blown pellicle? doesn't it break up and get into the brew? or is that desired in sour beer?

At that point you'll just rack the beer from underneath it, yes -- if you need to push your can through it to get below, that's fine.

My main point was that bottling it today is a bad idea whether you avoid racking over the pellicle or not, because the organisms creating the pellicle are not only found in the pellicle. You'd be bottling a beer that hadn't finished fermenting, and you'd still have organisms in the beer to keep fermenting it.

 

[Stevo2569]

Taste it. If its good, then I like the Camden tablet idea and let us know how it taste after carbing. FWI I have no experience with your situation but would love for your brew to be the ginipig in case it ever happens to me.

 

[Yooper]

That's WAY too much headspace for secondary for any length of time, as you've unfortunately found. You've got the beginnings of a pellicle, probably from that much headspace.

You could try campen tablets, but I'm not sure that will work that well. If you don't want a sour, though, I think it's your only chance.

I'd use 5 campden tablets, crushed in a little (1/4 cup) boiling water and rack the beer into it. I'd also use a more appropriate sized secondary with little to no headspace.

 

[jonstewartstwin]

alrighty...sounds like campden is a plan... also, can i sanitize all my brew gear? my primary, one of my secondary's and everything else is plastic...should i not start another batch with that gear?

 

[jonstewartstwin]

Taste it. If its good, then I like the Camden tablet idea and let us know how it taste after carbing. FWI I have no experience with your situation but would love for your brew to be the ginipig in case it ever happens to me.

i just put in 5 crushed campden tabs...so far so good...nothing funky floating on top anymore... will keep the thread abreast of success or failure...thanks for info all...