Pellicle Photo Collection

That's more of a berlinerbic or lambweisse. Traditional BW is 50/50 pils/malted wheat.

 

Did you transfer the raspberries to the fermentor?

 

Popped the lid to did this unintended infection. Any idea what this is?

I have two berliner Weiss going right now and this smell very different then lacto. I'm thinking acetobactor- the aroma is a cidery not quite vinegar.

 

That there's just yeast rafts

Likely it's some of the same bugs.. Depending on the hop rates and so forth the lacto may not have been able to assert itself as well. It looks good though! What is it?

 

I agree with you, yellow. I bet underneath that nasty goodness there is a fine brew developing.

 

Sour Blonde with persimmons. Brett B, C, L, Lacto, and Pedio.

 

No, the pulp stayed behind in the kettle.

 

The pellicle on my Consecration clone looks like something out of an alien movie.

 

Wow, that's a unique one. What'd you pitch?

 

Pitched Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey Ale yeast for primary then Wyeast Roeselare about a week later. Brewed mid-January 2013.

 

Definitely one of the craziest pellicles I've seen, wow.

 

Anybody see creepshow 2? These pellicles remind me of that crazy killer oil slick blob in the lake...Friggn trippy

 

Eeeewwww.... Via Creepshow 2...

 

That's one sexy pellicle!

 

ha Im calling pellicles "the raft" for now on

 

Normally I would just relax and have a homebrew, but this part of the pellicle is thick and very blue... Should I be concerned?

It is slick looking, not furry. About a month ago I transferred to a secondary with maltodextrin.

 

Looks like mold.

 

Looks like someone broke an egg in your beer.

 

That's bizarre.

 

Sour mash Betliner Weisse with Brett blend - all the same pellicle over about 12 hrs

 

that looks like the terrain from some planet out of a Star Trek episode.

 

Supplication clone after adding cherries and oak.

 

Beautiful! I pitched supplication and consecration dregs into separate 1gal experiments and got very active primary fermentation but no pellicle development so far. Not sure why...

 

Hi all, Saw the pictures and it looks like a wild yeast to me and not necessarily Brett. I'm doing a Framboise attempt and I added Brett to my secondary fermentation and have no pellicle showing, but I know Brett is there just by the smell of it (its a funky animal smell). Although on other batches I have seen this pellicle in secondary fermentation and usually I just rack and its gone. What I have noticed about this pellicle is that it adds a light mineral taste to weizen which is not very noticeable after carbonation and no off-smells. To me Brett has a sweaty horse smell and its the same in wine and in beer. Hope this helps

 

sorry, which picture are you talking about? are you talking about your pellicle?

 

Pellicles only form in the presence of oxygen. Active fermentation creates an anaerobic environment inside the fermentation vessel.

 

I was talking mostly about the pics posted in this thread. I've seen that stuff in some of my batches (the white filmy stuff with bubbles that don't pop). I associate that stuff with wild yeast and not necessarily Brett or bacteria. Usually when working with bacteria what happens is that beer turns murky for a while until they die off. I agree with TNGabe pellicles or veils form in the presence of oxygen. When you are in primary fermentation there is enough CO2 and activity to keep those things from forming, but when you start secondary CO2 levels go down and you start seeing veil formation. When they start forming I give it a swirl to keep them from forming or rack the hell out of them and add CO2. Wild yeast are a gamble they can give your brew something good or something nasty. I depends on what you want for your brew. In any case they are really cool and scary to work with.

 

Makes perfect sense. So for a small experiment where there is already CO2 from fermentation should I just leave them be or rack for longer aging? Will I still get activity from whatever bugs were in the dregs even if I can't see evidence in pellicle form? I have done one Brett fermentation but no bacteria. And I saved those dregs in a sanitized container in the fridge for several months. I got very active fermentation but not sure exactly what is working in there.

 

looks like your experience doesn't align with most of the folks here. the vast majority of pictures in this thread are of brews that contain brett and/or other bugs that were pitched on purpose. they are not wild yeasts.

my experience with wild yeast is that they don't form pellicles at all. i've haven't read a single thing that says that wild yeasts form pellicles. no more so than brewer's yeast (saccharomyces cerevisiae).

brett will form a pellicle in the presence of oxygen. the fact that you're not seeing a pellicle means you're doing a good job of keep oxygen out of your fermenter. if you want to see a pellicle, remove the bung for a few minutes, re-seal, and wait a few days.

i have two one-gallon jugs of saison to which i added brett. one formed a pellicle, the other didn't. i guess one had a better seal, or somehow managed to expel the oxygen while the other didn't.

 

Um, isn't Brett a type of wild yeast?

You guys mean native wild yeast?

Other than that little nitpick, I agree with sweetcell.

 

If brett is a wild yeast than so is sacc, right?

Wild yeast is a largely meaningless term, is it not?

 

Not necessarily.

S. cerevisiae is the domesticated brewer's yeast, while Brett is its distant (wild) cousin. This is also I.A.W. White Labs website.

I wouldn't say that. It's somewhat relative. What's packaged and sold in some areas of the globe is wild in others.

Perhaps it could be argued as a matter of semantics, but in my (and others') opinion, there's domesticated brewer's yeast, then there are wilds, including Brett. You will notice that there are certain behaviors and characteristics common among Brett and other wild yeasts that don't encompass S. cerevisiae. Perhaps looking at it from a taxonomic perspective would illustrate the point better?

 

Heck, I don't even know what taxonomic means. I'm just looking at it from a dumbies perspectve. Is S. cerevisiae not found in nature? I just read the abstract, but this suggests so if I understand it.

 

First, start here.

Second, sure S. cerevisiae the species is found in nature. In the same sense that wolves and wild cats are, but we own domesticated dogs and cats for pets. Meaning, man has domesticated a former "wild" species, with which we have bred many different sub species of yeast (i.e. we call them strains) that are now domesticated and isolated from most that are naturally occurring, however still under the same genus and species. Therefore "wild" could indicate a strain found naturally occurring in the grain fields of the Midwest that are remarkably similar to domesticated strains commercially available to both homebrewers and pro brewers alike. However, according to the taxonomic charts and observed characteristics, there could be some fundamental differences such as metabolism, attenuation, flavor contribution, whether or not it will produce a pellicle, etc.


Again, I'll concede that this could be a semantic issue, but there is plenty to support this, both brewing wise, and biologically speaking.

 

Quoting wikipedia is never good for credibility in my book. Let's call it semantics and be friends. I've been causing enough trouble bickering about the definition of things here lately.

 

The Wiki article on taxonomy is accurate, I assure you. Taxonomy is essentially the classification of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. I can provide other sources if you're hesitant on the Wiki article.

I agree, though, let's not let this get between us, as we both love, brew, and drink the same thing ultimately. You'll either have to trust me on this one, or research this for yourself on your own time.

Cheers!

TB

 

Internet sarcasm fails again!

On my part, that is, when I feigned ignorance of taxonomy.

 

As long as you know.

 

Sorry to bump myself, but it appears y'all have concluded your admittedly entertaining discussion! Just a couple questions regarding best practice here that I would love some feedback on.

 

Wait, are you guys domestic partners?