Beer infections

[usmc-ferg]

When your beer is infected when should you dump it? I've heard if it gets a hairy layer on it it should go. What do you all do?

 

[AmandaK]

What kind of infection are we talking about? Tastes like rubber or band-aids? Dump it. Most others, well I make sour beers, so I'd let it go and experiment.

 

[TopherM]

I've heard if it gets a hairy layer on it it should go.

That's definitely not a good rule of thumb. Plenty of normal krausens look hairy. Fermentation is NASTY and SMELLS BAD, almost 100% of the time. A better rule of thumb would be, "if it ain't nasty, something's wrong" in the early stages of fermentation.

Most common infections will SOUR your beer. No matter what it looks like on top, if you take a sample and it still tastes like malt/wort, then the beer's still fine. Even if it's a little sour, there are ways to save it if you catch an infection soon enough, and there are plenty of wackos like me who can turn an infected beer into a delectable blended sour.

90% of people on this forum who think they have an infection DO NOT have an infection, just a funky fermentation!!