in the 6 or so years I have been brewing I think I have my first infection!

[802VermontHomebrew]

is there any saving this? I very carefully racked it into a glass carboy trying not to disturb it too much. I have heard mix reviews about saving it and chucking the entire batch. I just wanted to know your thoughts. it looks fine in the carboy. I figured I would let it sit over night in the carboy and then keg it a lot of sediment is already at the bottom of the carboy. Hopefully I can save it.

 

[Yooper]

It is a definite pellicle. It may taste ok, or it may taste terrible- there is only one way to find out!

 

[luke_d]

Any idea what type of infection this is in particular? I have the same thing in one of my carboys.

 

[IslandLizard]

Congrats with your beautiful pellicle!
You should definitely taste it before deciding what to do next. Some accidental sours taste really good! Others get better with age. Only a few (very few) will be undrinkable in the end.

The bugs will chow down on leftover fermentables, so beware, it isn't done fermenting yet. And those bugs are tenacious.

Everything that has been in contact with this infected beer needs to be meticulously sanitized. If you fill a keg with it, you may have to dedicate it to sours only from then on, unless you can make sure every bit has been cleaned and sanitized to perfection to eradicate the bugs, aside from the vessel itself, this includes poppets, o-rings, threads, dip tubes, etc.

 

[BradleyBrew]

A stainless steel keg is the last thing I would worry about in terms of not being able to sanitize after a infected beer has come into contact with it. Especially if you replace any of the o-rings. A bucket yes I would use for something else... carboys can be a pain to clean out especially if they are plastic and prone to scratching.

I say just taste it and try it out!

 

[Clonefan94]

is there any saving this? I very carefully racked it into a glass carboy trying not to disturb it too much. I have heard mix reviews about saving it and chucking the entire batch. I just wanted to know your thoughts. it looks fine in the carboy. I figured I would let it sit over night in the carboy and then keg it a lot of sediment is already at the bottom of the carboy. Hopefully I can save it.

Do you mind if I ask if you have an indication on how/when you might have picked this up? Had you just let it sit for a couple of weeks after pitching, open it up and see this? Or had you done anything post pitching where you might have introduced a new bug? Gravity samples, opening the lid too often, etc?

I'm about a year into brewing and have always wondered where the most likely place for getting an infection is. Is it more likely to pick something like this up right off the bat or is it something that you usually pick up while messing with the beer, transferring, gravity readings along the way, etc.?

I've actually started moving my wort cooling indoors during the warmer months. Seems the ants, flies, wasps and bees can't get enough of that sweet sweet nector that I am trying to cool down.

 

[adiochiro3]

Took you long enough! My first one was inside of 6 months...

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

haha i know right! i guess I have always been good about sanitizing however I did have a few homebrews while making this batch (who knows lol).... No I didnt do anything with it once I sealed the lid I let it sit longer then normal. I usually rack it right after the 3 week mark I waited six on this one as I had a lot of home projects going on.... I keep it all down in my basement for summer temps on my bar as its a little cooler down there (not much with all this heat though!) I did another batch the following week (my stout) so that was in the primary for 5 weeks and looked fine so I kegged that... I am gonna go down and look at the carboy (this is an amber ale that got infected). now in the carboy hopefully I can save it!

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

so the bucket is no good anymore now that it got infected? **** come to think of it I racked my stout after however that was all rinsed and cleaned hopefully that one is ok now too... man I may have screwed the pooch on this one! faq!!!!N!!!AAAAA

 

[adiochiro3]

so the bucket is no good anymore now that it got infected? **** come to think of it I racked my stout after however that was all rinsed and cleaned hopefully that one is ok now too... man I may have screwed the pooch on this one! faq!!!!N!!!AAAAA

Not necessarily...

Is it scratched? I've successfully brewed in plastic buckets after an infection. I ran my hand over every inside surface feeling for scratches. If scratched, keep for sours or discard. If not, sanitize really well, and back at it again. No follow up infection in the next batches in my case.

 

[BradleyBrew]

I have reused plastic as well. Just sayin it could be the source of it is scratched.

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

i will check for scratches
thanks! i just kegged the infected beer just from overnight i could see the surface started to get a hazy white glaze over it (the start of what it was in the picture I guess) I carefully racked it into my keg trying not to disturb any of it, we'll see I guess.

 

[802VermontHomebrew]

last time I kegged this same brew it took about a month for it to truely taste good I didntnt like it at first it had some off flavors I will keep this in mind with this batch as I am sure with the infection may be a little funky at first... I will be patient thoughh and hope for the best fingers crossed!