Am I infected? HELP!

[briandickens]

I am about to transfer my beer into a secondary. It's been in primary about 2 and a half weeks. I look into the carboy and see the following:

pic

So, am I overly worried or am I infected?

This is my peanut butter porter which included actual peanut butter. So maybe it's just oils floating on top? I don't know though. I'm going to taste it, but I don't want to have to dump the batch.

What do you think?

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Wow. I'm not sure what to tell you about that pic. The tan colored stuff on top just looks like leftover krausen. It's the green stuff that I see that would worry me.

Did you dry the peanut butter out before you brewed with it?

 

[zoebisch01]

I really can't tell from that pic, the resolution is too low. At any rate, do you see furry mold? Most infections really only show up after a long time in the fermenter as a pellicle which will cover the whole thing. Otherwise, the other main candidate is mold which should be obvious. If you are infected there is really nothing you can do. I am guessing you are probably fine. I could be wrong though . Also, even if you did get mold there is a strong possibility that it would be localized to the PB oils and not really in the beer itself if you see what I am saying.

 

[zoebisch01]

Ok that pic is better. (the prior one I saw was tiny). Looks like normal remains of Krausen with a layer of oil and some other stuff underneath (hops mebbe?). No worries

 

[Beerthoven]

Could be boiled peanut butter combined with hop residue. Did you use pellet hops?

 

[briandickens]

Yeah I don't know. I am going to transfer and sample it and see how it tastes. Now that I look I am hoping that it's just oil floating over the krauzen.

I didn't see fur. Just weirdness.

I dried the peanut butter out as much as I could, but after a while, oils wouldn't come out.

 

[Otis The Drunk]

To me the picture looks like the krausen is still settling out.... Relax, Don't worry, Have a homebrew....

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Ok that pic is better. (the prior one I saw was tiny). Looks like normal remains of Krausen with a layer of oil and some other stuff underneath (hops mebbe?). No worries

At first I thought that maybe the green stuff underneath was hops too, but now I'm not so sure. We may need to call in the resident 'funky beer stuff' expert, Landhoney, on this one.

I'm hoping that it's some kind of byproduct of the peanut butter being present during fermentation and not a serious infection.

I'd think that if it was an infection it would smell all kinds of nasty.

 

[Brewsmith]

My vote is on the oil from the peanut butter mixed with some hops. If it tastes and smells fine, don't dump it.

 

[zoebisch01]

Yeah I don't know. I am going to transfer and sample it and see how it tastes. Now that I look I am hoping that it's just oil floating over the krauzen.

I didn't see fur. Just weirdness.

I dried the peanut butter out as much as I could, but after a while, oils wouldn't come out.

Although I haven't attempted the drying out, nor a PB brew, I am familiar with nuts and oils, etc. I think one would be hard pressed to get all of the oil out by simply physical settling. When exposed to heat (or probably even just put into liquid) it is going to still release more oil. I remember in chemistry a long time ago, we lit a peanut on fire. It is amazing how long a single peanut will burn. Most of that is oil.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

My vote is on the oil from the peanut butter mixed with some hops. If it tastes and smells fine, don't dump it.

+1

The oil in the peanut butter would naturally associate with hop oils and float on top.

 

[Chris_Dog]

If most of that is krausen like suggested. I would wait until it dropped and then take another look. If that is peanut oil (or mold) I would leave it in the primary when you rack.

 

[Brewsmith]

If the oil is the case, just make sure you leave it in the primary when you rack. Oil kills head retention.

 

[briandickens]

All transferred. So far, I am going to have to agree that it was oil and not mold. It finished up at 1.016 (down from 1.070), which is what I was shooting for. Pretty happy with the numbers.

Thanks for all of your reassurance.

 

[landhoney]

At first I thought that maybe the green stuff underneath was hops too, but now I'm not so sure. We may need to call in the resident 'funky beer stuff' expert, Landhoney, on this one.

Mine are intentional ohio, I'm not a diagnostic expert.
And I may do crazy stuff, but peanut butter in beer is a whole 'nother level. Big ups for trying it though. Oil and fat in beer is ballsy. I hope it turns out great.

Is the color in the picture accurate to real life, or is the white-balance off a bit and it appears slightly diffferent in color in person?

 

[briandickens]

The white balance is most likely off. It was sitting in a dark corner of the house so I was shining a flashlight through the carboy while pressing the lens of the camera to the glass and shooting in macro mode for better detail.

I'm looking forward to trying the beer now that it's all transferred. I conveniently finished off one of my kegs, so it's now ll cleaned up and ready for this.

I'm not sure how the oil is going to affect the beer aside from head retention. I'm not planning on sending this in for competition so it's not really THAT big of a concern. Though I'd be more proud if it came out perfect, of course.

I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out. I have high hopes but low expectations.

 

[zoebisch01]

A note on oils and beer, keep in mind they will affect long term stability. Have you ever tasted PB that is old (or even dry nuts that have been sitting around for a month or two opened BLEACHHH)? Keeping the finished product cold will help mitigate this effect, but don't plan on aging the beer over 6 months. I mean you could, just to see what happens, but chances are you will start hitting a point where rancid oxidized flavors will appear and they will cut through the beer flavor like a hot knife through butter. Rancid fats and oils are something that cannot be disguised.

 

[Atl300zx]

i dont know if it is infected, but it sure isnt pretty

 

[briandickens]

It's certainly not pretty! But it looks a lot better in the secondary. I'm a lot less worried about it now.

I will keep in mind that this beer need to be consumed quickly before it starts to get rancid. I'm hoping that by leaving most of the oil in the primary i can avoid that problem for the most part, but i'll keep it in mind nonetheless.

 

[Beerthoven]

The white balance is most likely off. It was sitting in a dark corner of the house so I was shining a flashlight through the carboy while pressing the lens of the camera to the glass and shooting in macro mode for better detail.

I'm looking forward to trying the beer now that it's all transferred. I conveniently finished off one of my kegs, so it's now ll cleaned up and ready for this.

I'm not sure how the oil is going to affect the beer aside from head retention. I'm not planning on sending this in for competition so it's not really THAT big of a concern. Though I'd be more proud if it came out perfect, of course.

I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out. I have high hopes but low expectations.

When you chill that keg in your fridge the oil might solidify, allowing you to rack the beer away from it. When I make chicken stock, for example, the fat floats to the top and solidifies in the fridge, making it easy to remove.

I have no idea if this will happen or not, I think it depends on what kind of oil is in there, but it might be worth while opening the keg to have a looksie after it has been chilled for a couple of days.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Maybe try a crash cool, and see if you can get that junk out before it gets into your keg.

 

[conpewter]

I was reading up on doing a peanut butter porter and the suggestion was to rack several times leaving the oil behind. It would not be a bad idea to rack after cold crashing.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=57427

 

[RockfordWhite]

The beer looks fine...but to get to your other question...after looking at your other pictures...yes, YOU seem infected to me, please report to your local quarantine...i will look after your beer from here on out