What the heck?!

I hate to be this guy, but I need some help...

I brewed a Sierra Nevada clone (extract - from Midwest) on 11/03, pitched wyeast 1056 from a 1.6 L starter at 70° and fermented it in my basement at 65° until today.

I cleaned and sanitized my keg and got ready to rack / opened the bucket and this is what is on top. Is this infected? I've never had floaters like this. Looks like kombucha!

Keg it or dump it? I don't know if I have the courage to sample it yet - kinda averse to molds, etc.

Thanks!
Neil

 

Looks like normal krausen to me.

 

Looks perfectly normal...though it is weird that the krausen is still so thick after a month of fermentation

 

How does it smell?

 

It had kind of a faint rotten egg smell as fermentation was beginning which was replaced shortly by the aroma of hops. I haven't checked on it basically since the rotten egg smell went away. Now all I can smell is my adrenaline and tears.

Should I just keg it and see what happens?

 

I would just leave it in the fermentor for another week or 2 and see. Also sanitize a wine thief and pull a sample out to check the FG, see where its at and if it is close to done.

 

What is the temp that it was fermented at? If cold it will slow the process.

 

Looks like krausem leftovers & cold break to me. If it tests done,package it up.

 

This might be a dumb question, but did you meet your target volume in the fermentor?
Lightly swirl the bucket to loosen the krausen. After it has dropped take a hydrometer reading. Taste your sample.

 

Did you take a gravity reading? After a month it should be done, but it might have had a long lag, especially if the yeast were stressed/unhealthy (which might explain the sulfur smell early on.

 

I should add that nothing about that picture looks like an infection

 

Ok, here you go.

1.010 FG and tastes good. Lots of break material in my auto-siphon when I took a sample (used it as a poor mans wine thief) but maybe that's just because I poked through the krausen on the top?

Should I transfer it to secondary in hopes it will clear a little more, or just go straight to the keg?

Will this break material clog the dip tube?

Thanks for your answers and patience!

Neil

 

Ok, I'm a wuss.

Racked it to the keg. Was nice and clear once I got going. I bet it's going to taste great in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for talking me through this, guys!

Cheers,
Neil

 

Cool!!