Is this an infection or a case of bubble or yeast rafts?

My american stout is giving me a lot of questions. I went through a period where it had an awful smell, i determined that was the smells of fermentation and was proved right, because now it smells amazing. But yesterday I woke up and saw this little odd shaped white patch floating on the top of my beer. There is also a SLIGHT oily film, but i believe that may be from the oils in the coffee and vanilla beans. i found an image of what the spots look like, but there is just one spot in my beer.



What do you guys think? does the oil from the beans cause a film sometimes?

Should i worry yet if everything still smells fine? It is only ONE patch about the size of a quarter.

 

It's hard to tell from the photo. Is it a collection of tiny bubbles? I see those a lot. That could be caused by an isolated yeast colony offgassing, or sputtering to the finish line. Is it a fuzzy, hairy mass? That's a very bad sign. I would halt proceedings, rack out from under it, bottle and hope for the best.

I wouldn't worry about a sheen on the surface.

 

That photo up there is just an example of what the SINGLE spot on the surface of my brew looked like. Its just one little white spot, not fuzzy or anything. I'll take a photo when I'm home from work if that will help. But it looks like almost like a flat white piece of something. almost how a paint chip looks when it floats in water. The smell on the stout is amazing and gets better every day though.

 

Looks like yeast rafts to me. Cute little guys. . ..

 

is there anything to worry about with that? orrr should it all be good?

 

If it's yeast rafts, you've nothing to worry about. The dissolved Co2 knocks chunks loose from the bottom & they float up on the bubbles.

 

I would not be overly concerned or worried about a single white spot that resembles a paint chip. Most likely it is harmless, even if it is an infection of sorts, it is also highly likely that the beer will be consumed prior to it taking hold and greatly affecting your brew. Everything is infected to some degree or another....don't fear or worry about it.

As CP says, nothing spoils beer faster than worrying. Now go RDWHWHB.

 

Did you move the fermentor near the window just for the picture? Otherwise that isn't a great place for a fermentor unless it it covered for protection from UV.

 

When you get home, take a good look. It might be hard to tell, so you'll have to get close, but does it look like one spot, made up of a collection of a bunch of tiny bubbles. I've seen similar lookign stuff in my beers and they freaked me out pretty bad, but once you get up close and look, you notice it's just the bubbles all collected in one spot, or multiple spots across the top.

My guess is you are OK, as long as it's not fuzzy or forming the look of broken ice.

 

this image was an example of what my single white spot looked like. my fermenters are always in a dark spot