I Need Reassurance

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I just got back into brewing after a few years hiatus. Bought new equipment around the beginning of the year (had to get rid of everything when I moved into a small apartment) and have done several good batches since.

My wife promised some family that we'd have homebrew to share at the 4th of July get-together, so I started with an Amarillo blonde ale that I've brewed before with good results. After 1 week in the carboy, it had dropped from around 1.049 to 1.012. So far so good. I went to take another sample yesterday, and noticed an unusual scummy sheen on some of the bubbles at the top of the carboy. The SG had dropped to around 1.009, higher attenuation than I got in my last batch, but not out of the ordinary. But I can't stop thinking about those bubbles.

I've been planning to bottle this weekend, to free up the carboy for another batch before the 4th, but I use all plastic equipment, and if there's a chance this is infected, I don't want to risk contaminating any more of it than I already have. So, I'm going to swallow my pride and ask the question we all ask sooner or later (whether on HBT or at the doctor's office)....does this look infected to you?

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Does it taste and smell fine? Smells and tastes like normal beer then its fine.

What yeast did you use? I've had the same yeast act completely differently and look completely disgusting in one beer but not the other.

 

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Taste and odor is normal right now. I used US-05, which I've used several times before, but I've never seen bubbles like this. My concern is that in 2-3 weeks, I'll open up a bottle and find a gusher, then have to throw out my plastic equipment.

I'm more worried than I might be otherwise for a couple of reasons. 1) I brewed on a hot day, so it took longer to cool than normal -- about 50 minutes to get down to pitching temp; 2) I didn't have pre-boiled top-up water ready (haven't gotten around to buying a kettle that can accommodate 5 gal), so I bought a few gallons of distilled water from the store and dumped them straight in.

 

[flars]

It has the look of a lot CO2 off gassing and yeast rafts, with other sediments, being carried upward by the CO2. How long had the beer been in the primary when you took the pictures?

 

[unionrdr]

Looks like normal krausen left-overs to me. I don't see any beginnings of infection. And since I brew with spring water, I put a couple jugs of it sealed up in the fridge a day or two before brew day to get good & cold. I ice bath the hot wort in the SS kettle down to 75F or so, then strain into the fermenter. The fine mesh strainer not only gets the gunk out, but aerates the wort as well, giving a couple inches of foam. I then use the chilled spring water to top off to recipe volume, which gets it down to about 65F. Stir roughly a couple minutes to mix wort & top off. Since the chilled spring water remained sealed upon fridging it, it's sanitary. Also, not having been boiled, it still has dissolved o2 in it. A good thing for the wort when first getting it all into the fermenter before pitching the yeast.

 

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It has the look of a lot CO2 off gassing and yeast rafts, with other sediments, being carried upward by the CO2. How long had the beer been in the primary when you took the pictures?

I took these today, after about 10 days in the primary.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Taste and odor is normal right now. I used US-05, which I've used several times before, but I've never seen bubbles like this. My concern is that in 2-3 weeks, I'll open up a bottle and find a gusher, then have to throw out my plastic equipment.

I'm more worried than I might be otherwise for a couple of reasons. 1) I brewed on a hot day, so it took longer to cool than normal -- about 50 minutes to get down to pitching temp; 2) I didn't have pre-boiled top-up water ready (haven't gotten around to buying a kettle that can accommodate 5 gal), so I bought a few gallons of distilled water from the store and dumped them straight in.

Ah cool, then I am even more confident now. I've had a beer with US-05 look *EXACTLY* like that picture you posted. It bugged me out too since it was the first time I've had a beer look like that (also normally I was using opaque buckets at the time rather than clear carboys).

 

[scanlines]

OK, I feel better about this now. Thanks for the reassurance, folks!

HBT rocks :rockin:

 

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Just popping back in to say that I bottled this on schedule, and I just popped the first one (after a week at a pretty warm average temp), and it turned out great! Time to cellar these bottles and get the next batch going!

 

[Natdavis777]

As long as it doesn't look like this, I think you're good

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1433035427.142929.jpg

 

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