I believe I've had my first contamination. What is it? Is it going to ruin my beer?

Cptcecil · May 21, 2012

I'm just now racking my first AG batch, an English Brown Nut Ale, to keg and it looks contaminated to me. It doesn't smell very bad although I haven't tasted it yet. What have I done, does it ruin my beer and if so is there anyway to fix this. Also should I even put this on tap, its my first time working with kegs. Thanks.

http://i.imgur.com/snqGS.jpg

Pappers_ · May 22, 2012

Yeah, that looks bad to me, too. I would toss it, toss all the plastic equipment you used and get new, or alternatively, go nuclear on it and use a strong bleach soaking (and then rinse it, of course.)

anteup · May 22, 2012

Looks like cooking grease/oil?

WileECoyote · May 22, 2012

Hello, DO NOT TOSS IT YET !!!,
I wouldn't toss it just yet, I read several threads here about infected beers, some brewers infect beers intentionally to get a sour beer, from what I read a sour beer needs to age for a year, and I read that you can skim off the mold carb it, and drink it before it starts to sour, also I read that nothing can live in your beer that can hurt you, just passing on what I read on this forum

I would do a search on infected beer, and read the threads before you toss it.

Im not trying to contradict anyone by any means, just saying information will help you make the proper decision.

Thanks
WiliECoyote

Raenon · May 22, 2012

Yep, that's an infection.
You can taste it to see if it's unpleasant, and that will give you an idea for how long you need to let it condition before trying again. I wouldn't keg it, unless you have a lot of spare kegs, this one will need to age for a good long time before you know if it's worth drinking. Better to do that in a mess of bottles stuck in the back of a closet, where you can pull one at a time 3, 6, or 12 months from now.