Bee Heavy

[chumpsteak]

Went out to the ferm chamber to check on my beers today and found this in a strong scotch ale we made last week:

That's a bee. There's actually a couple of them in there. They were flying around everywhere during the boil so I'm almost positive they fell in while boiling. I'm siphoning the beer into another fermenter now, sans bees of course. Anybody had this happen before? Am I definitely looking at infection?

 

[Smerfs8485]

im thinking infection. no bueno Sorry man that sucks.:smack:

 

[kingogames]

I'd still bottle it & see how it goes.

 

[chumpsteak]

I keg and plan on conditioning for another 2 weeks before carbing. The beer is over 9% alc if that helps at all. Will just keep an eye on it and see how it goes.

 

[darrenbrews]

I vote no infection, based entirely on that I've noticed this happens frequently and seems infections have rarely occurred.

If this happened to me I would not be overly concerned, but then with my few months of experience I could be totally underestimating the potential for infection.

 

[DrakeSuperbus]

Iif the bee fell in during the boil, then whatever it brought with it was probably killed off.

 

[chumpsteak]

That's what I'm thinking, just afraid there's a slight chance one of the bees got in there during chilling.

 

[dinnerstick]

looks more like a wasp? this distinction may seem pedantic but could harbor enormous repercussions concerning the naming of the beer. i would get a qualified entomologist in sharpish

 

[axivanax]

You'll be probably fine, maybe you'll grow some wings after drinking it, but the batch seems normal to me.

 

[Slow_Day]

I often have bees showing up wanting to sample my wort. I have to be vigilant while chilling. There are always one or two that attempt to enter once it cools. Found one dead in the chilled wort (1.050 gravity) right before transfer. Removed and fortunately had no issues.

I have been meaning to get a screen to cover my bk like i have seen on some other posts.

 

[BobbiLynn]

I've had bees in my beer, quite a few lately, and every bee beer batch has turned out fine. Except thinking I had an allergic reaction to it, but was mistaken, sore throat was caused by something else.

 

[Darwin18]

I've had this happen before. So long as you pitched a healthy volume of yeast then I think you're fine. If it were fruit flies or ants it would be a different story. I hate, hate, hate bees!

 

[chumpsteak]

looks more like a wasp? this distinction may seem pedantic but could harbor enormous repercussions concerning the naming of the beer. i would get a qualified entomologist in sharpish

Does look like a wasp in the pic. I bet you look different in the tub too....

It has to bee a bee. There were about a million of them flying around and one even landed on my glasses and sat there for a good 3 or 4 minutes. I feel kind of bad for killing them but I guess that's what they get for trying to steal my beers.

 

[chumpsteak]

I've had this happen before. So long as you pitched a healthy volume of yeast then I think you're fine. If it were fruit flies or ants it would be a different story. I hate, hate, hate bees!

Why are fruit flies or ants different? They don't all carry the same amount of bacteria? Or do you just mean the fruit flies and ants get in through the airlock?

These bees were nice. It was actually really cool because it was the first day we've had above 40 in months and they literally came out of the woodwork to hang out with us (and ultimately die a horrible untimely death after surviving months of winter) while we brewed.

I never even considered that some of them would end up in the beer.

 

[BobbiLynn]

Oh. the bees will dive into a mass suicide effort. I've seen it happen. Pick the bees and bee body parts out one by one. I have chosen to let them "BEE" because my plants are growing nearby and as annoying as they are, they will pollinate your garden, both bees and wasps.

 

[chumpsteak]

Almost 3 weeks now and no visible sign of infection. Thinking everything is going to be OK.