Belgian Wyeast 3944 fermented down to 1.000 - Infection or Steriods?!!

[CoreyG]

Hey Gang,

Got a belgian Wit that I left for 4 months in primary - and it fermented down to 1.000 (far beyond my estimations of 1.012). It was essentially a 50 % pilsner/ 50% flaked wheat recipe with an OG of 1.051, mashed at at 122 for 20, 150 for 60. So with all that, I can't see how it got down to 1.000. Primary fermentation started at 68 degF and I just let it naturally ramp up so fermentation was in a pretty standard temp range.

Only real explanation I have is infection. Now I don't have the strongest palate, but i dont taste ANY sour notes, no brett funk, no weird floating particles... it really just tastes like a really bland version of what I was going for.

Anyone have experience with a yeast going way past its FG estimate. Any ideas what if there are any infections that would just ferment out my last 10 points without any major flavor impact. I can't see how aceto, pedio, brett, lacto would do that.

Anyways. Im at a loss. Let me know what ya think

 

[IslandLizard]

I'd say you have some Brett in there. Brett doesn't always throw off funky flavors, it can ferment quite cleanly.

Why the 4 months in primary? I'm surprised you don't pick up any autolysis flavors or oxidation. Those are not bland.

 

[CoreyG]

Unfortunately it was 99% laziness then an extended vacation. No real excuse!

 

[CoreyG]

I just started working with some Brett in my other batches but I kept separate equipment for everything. I guess I'll have to throw out all my plastics because I had 2 carboys of this and both exhibit the same symptoms.. looks like one of the piece of equipment got contaminated

 

[IslandLizard]

If your plastic fermentors don't have deep scratches there's not need to throw them out (or repurpose). Buckets and plastic carboys are very cleanable and Starsan will eradicate most bugs.

Try buckets a good scrub (stiff nylon hand brush) with PBW, followed by a soak in bleach, thorough rinse-out, and leave them out in the bright sunshine for a day. It works miracles! Use Iodophor (or IO Star) for a while, it kills yeasts and gram positive bugs better than Starsan.

Check and clean your valves, especially the ones on your kettle. They can harbor crud and bugs, a very common source of infections creeping in after a few brews.

Although they can be cleaned too, I would replace vinyl (racking) tubing, just in case, it's so cheap.

I've been using Brett and other voracious bugs in the same equipment as my clean beers. Never had an unexpected infection, except in 2 yeast starters lately, which I caught. They're actually very nice for sours.

Is that Wit still palatable? Nothing wrong with a tart Wit. To compensate for the dryness add some fruit juice or fruit syrup to a glass if you want. Nice summer shandies!

 

[MVKTR2]

IslandLizard hit on something I hadn't thought of before. UV light kills microbes so effectively that it's used to kill algae in koi-lily ponds. Survivalist teach putting non murky water in clear containers such as 2 liters, leaving it in direct sunlight for 8-12 hours to kill off cryptosporidium etc. I suspect a good cleaning of suspected plastics that were then covered and left in the sun a cpl days would really help.