White dots?! on secondary?!

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Chedda

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Alright so moved my honey kolsch over to secondary about 6 weeks ago. Used gelatin finins to get it super clear. Kegged/force carbed 2 days ago. Had a few white dots on the surface and looked like a little film. Never had a infection before. Tastes alright, kegged from the bottom since I have a catalyst. Left the top inch or so out. Let me know what you think? Lacto?
 

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Alright so moved my honey kolsch over to secondary about 6 weeks ago. Used gelatin finins to get it super clear. Kegged/force carbed 2 days ago. Had a few white dots on the surface and looked like a little film. Never had a infection before. Tastes alright, kegged from the bottom since I have a catalyst. Left the top inch or so out. Let me know what you think? Lacto?
hard to tell. Is it fuzzy? If it’s fuzzy it’s mold and you shouldn’t drink it.
 
hard to tell. Is it fuzzy? If it’s fuzzy it’s mold and you shouldn’t drink it.

Really couldn’t tell if it was fuzzy. To me it looked like mold, I think I caught it early but hard to tell. FG was 1.08
 
Low quality photo :(

It doesn't look like mold or yeast rafts, but rather it looks like a the beginning of a pellicle (a film with powdery white patches).
So, my standard pellicle talk...

The film is called a "pellicle". It indicates the presence of wild yeast and/or bacteria. The beer is safe to drink. We have no way to tell what microbes are present just by looking, or even by tasting. Many different yeasts and bacteria can survive in beer and form a pellicle. Lacto actually does not typically form a pellicle; that's a myth.
Mold is entirely different than yeast/bacteria. It appears fuzzy/hairy. Mold can produce toxins and allergens, making it unsafe. It's important to make a distinction.

You already kegged it and that's fine. Keep it cold and you almost definitely won't have any problems.
FYI it still has the wild microbes in it; they don't just live on the surface. The pellicle is just a byproduct of wild microbes exposed to oxygen at the surface.

Clean your equipment thoroughly after use. Soak in PBW or fragrance-free Oxiclean; disassemble and soak whatever moving parts you can.
Use a quality no-rinse sanitizer immediately before use.

Do not use a secondary vessel. It has zero benefit but rather it causes oxidation and increases risk of contamination.

Cheers

P.S. You called this a honey Kölsch. Did you by chance add honey to the fermenter? Honey contains wild microbes.
 
Rph, thank you very much for the detailed response. I’m very mad I didn’t take a better picture, if it happens again I will. Been making beer for years and never had a problem like that. I’m always obsessive with Star San and wash with bbrite after batches. Oh well, I’m assuming it happened when I added the gelatin as I’ve never tried that before. Who knows, anyway thank you for the advice, I’ll be trying it again it a bit fingers crossed it still tastes ok.
 
It could have picked up something wild randomly from the air during chilling or transfer, or any time the fermenter was opened. We don't brew in a sterile environment, so it'll happen to everyone at some point. Even professional breweries get contaminations.

Based on that photo I'm about 80-90% sure.

Good luck
 
Yea it’s the lighting and angle, poured a glass last night was pretty light and clear. Will post a pic soon
 
I'm wondering if this is potentially gelatin material that didn't completely dissolve when you added it. Have you used gelatin in the past? What was your process for gelatin fining?
 
Kenmoron, I thought that could be it as well but wasn’t sure since I’ve never used gelatin before. I used 1/2 tsp in 3/4 water that was heated to about 150 in a sanitized bowl.
 
Skip the secondary, especially long ones. I would have kegged that beer at about 2 weeks from primary. Why so long? I'm not saying that is the source of the pellicle but it could have been. The more time you mess with your beer the greater chance you have of contaminating it.
 
Dissolved gelatin is neither white nor does it leave a film.

I understand that dissolved gelatin doesn't do that. However, I was suggesting that perhaps the gelatin wasn't fully dissolved (bloomed) prior to adding to the beer. White clumping can occur without complete blooming. This is especially a possibility considering that OP mentioned this is his first time gelatin fining. As for the 'film' it seems to be fairly faint in the picture, and could simply be attributed to the recipe design and or process (leftover oils, cleaner, etc.). I'm not saying it's the gelatin, simply stating that it's one more thing to explore in the future.

PS...RPh here as well ;)
 
Skip the secondary, especially long ones. I would have kegged that beer at about 2 weeks from primary. Why so long? I'm not saying that is the source of the pellicle but it could have been. The more time you mess with your beer the greater chance you have of contaminating it.
Only reason I waited so long was I had to finish the stout in my keg. Next time I’m going to cut the time down before kegging this style.
 

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