Infected brew...

[brewer_in_the_cap]

Hi all,
I've been a reader for the last several months as I've been getting into home brewing. I've done a few Festa Brews that turned out well but this last one seems to have turned!

It's a Festa Brew Double Oatmeal Stout that has been weird from the start, after 6 days in primary my gravity was 1.022, next day it's 1.024 so I gave it a little swirl to get the yeast moving again. Checked it a week later and it was 1.020 right where it should be (according to Festa). Usually I rack to secondary but decided to give it another week in primary and bottle. Got ready to bottle tonight and opened up the primary to this...

It smells a bit like vinegar and doesn't taste good so it looks like I'll be pitching this. I haven't seen any pics of an infection like this, any idea what it would be? Is my plastic equipment junk now as well?

thanks for the help!

 

[BrewWNC]

That it interesting for sure. Infected if you ask me considering it looks, smells, and tastes funny.

If you do dump it, bottle a few and see how they taste over time.

 

[MikePote]

No harm in bottling it and seeing what happens.

I had a cider get infected and decided to let it ride. It wound up being a really good still cider with a touch a sour.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Looks a little funky...while I know everyone is a fan of checking gravity. You opened the fermenter at day 6, 7, and 14, and then went to bottle at day 21. JMO, but I think that is to much exposure for too long on a beer that was likely done fermenting at day 6. Again, JMO if fermenting in a bucket, I dont think it is a great idea to open it quite so often...

 

[brewer_in_the_cap]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll bottle a few to see how they taste as they age, can't really get any worse than they are now.

I guess with the Festa kits checking the gravity may not be as necessary since they're nearly foolproof!

 

[kh54s10]

Looks like fish eggs!

 

[wilserbrewer]

I guess with the Festa kits checking the gravity may not be as necessary since they're nearly foolproof!

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to check gravity at 6 and 7 days, since you likely aren't ready to bottle?

Once you start opening the fermenter, best to get it bottled sooner rather than later....2 weeks after you start opening the fermenter may be too long to let the beer sit after the headspace has been compromised???

While it can be difficult, I would suggest ignoring your fermenting beer more, if you truly taste vinegar, my guess is that it is a dumper

 

[brewer_in_the_cap]

I was hoping to go to secondary at day 7 or so after getting the same gravity reading 2 days in a row but that didn't happen so I left it in the primary. I do have a tendency to 'check' on the beer so I think this has taught me a lesson!

After racking to a bottling bucket and adding priming sugar it smelled and tasted a bit better so I bottled most of it, will sample in a month or so.

 

[dudius]

Vinegar comes from acetobacter getting into the beer somehow and doing some of its own fermentation. Chances are it got in while checking your gravity, but bacterial infection can occur at any time post-boil. Be sure to clean all your infected equipment (in this case, clean everything this once) very well. Personally, I would clean everything with PBW until spotless, rinse very well, and then clean with bleach. A lot of homebrewers are afraid of bleach but it is one of the best ways to disinfect plastic. Just be sure to rinse well and let it dry. After that you can sanitize with StarSan and be good to go!

 

[dudius]

Oh and if you reuse any acid cleaners from a spray bottle, like StarSan, check the pH. If it's >3 you'll want to add more concentrate or make a new batch, otherwise your cleaner/sanitizer can get infected.

 

[brewer_in_the_cap]

Thanks Dudius! I've done a thorough cleaning with Oxyclean, will test my StarSan and start a new batch this week.

 

[Transamguy77]

With it moving into summer and the humidity moving up make sure it's not where you are fermenting, last year I lost a lot of beer do to an infection that was growing in my basement, the comforting part was it was not my process but where I was pitching and fermenting, I now ferment in another place. Good luck with your next batch.

 

[Homercidal]

If it tastes like vinegar, it's probably infected. Those pictures look more "wet" than the infections I've seen before though. Keep us posted on the outcome.

When gravity changes like you say it does, it's usually when a homebrewer checks it without mixing well enough right after brewing. Not so in this case AFTER fermentation when it's mixed itself up well. It could also be a variation in temperature. There is a chart that comes with the hydrometer that will help you adjust for temperature. i doubt that's the case in this case though. I doubt the temperature was different enough to account for the difference in gravity.

Note that an infection will NOT RAISE a gravity. They will only lower it as the bacteria will consume more sugars than most yeast. Infections will often lower a gravit down to almost 1.000 or maybe lower. I guess the odd measurement is just an anomaly or something.

 

[dudius]

Thanks Dudius! I've done a thorough cleaning with Oxyclean, will test my StarSan and start a new batch this week.

While oxyclean is good for removing debris, it doesn't kill bacteria. Plastic is porous, I strongly suggest using bleach to disinfect your plastic fermenter. A good soak followed by thorough rinsing should help keep from infecting another batch.

 

[DarthCitra]

Dont dump it! bottle age it and see how it tastes after a month or two. You already put time and money into it, give it some time and see!

 

[Homercidal]

Dont dump it! bottle age it and see how it tastes after a month or two. You already put time and money into it, give it some time and see!

Agreed. I've been mistaken about bad beer a couple of times. I've also had some pretty good beer turn worse a few times as well. There is nothing to be lost here by waiting a few weeks and trying it again.

 

[brewer_in_the_cap]

With it moving into summer and the humidity moving up make sure it's not where you are fermenting, last year I lost a lot of beer do to an infection that was growing in my basement, the comforting part was it was not my process but where I was pitching and fermenting, I now ferment in another place. Good luck with your next batch.

We did have a bit of humidity and temp fluctuation here during the last week of fermentation. I have everything in the basement so the temp was pretty good (68-72) but it got very damp so I had the dehumidifier going for a few days to clear it up.

If it tastes like vinegar, it's probably infected. Those pictures look more "wet" than the infections I've seen before though. Keep us posted on the outcome.

Note that an infection will NOT RAISE a gravity. They will only lower it as the bacteria will consume more sugars than most yeast. Infections will often lower a gravit down to almost 1.000 or maybe lower. I guess the odd measurement is just an anomaly or something.

I did quite a bit of googling and looked at quite a few pages on the infected brew thread here and couldn't find anything similar. One of the reasons I decided to bottle was that the gravity was still good!

Agreed. I've been mistaken about bad beer a couple of times. I've also had some pretty good beer turn worse a few times as well. There is nothing to be lost here by waiting a few weeks and trying it again.

This was shaping up to be good beer when I sampled it after the gravity readings. I'm hoping it turns out and will keep you all posted when I try it.

 

[Homercidal]

If you can report that, then I'm fairly certain it's fine. Infected flavors don't just disappear.

 

[brewer_in_the_cap]

Just thought I post an update about this beer. After sampling it a few times over the past 3 months I finally dumped it all. It ended up with the dreaded band-aid phenolic taste, totally undrinkable.

Somewhat related: while racking a West Coast IPA to secondary I had yeast that started popping to the surface and it had the same look as the pics I posted for this one. It scared the crap out of me to see that but the beer turned out fine. Has anyone else seen this or know what causes it?

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks for closing the loop.

 

[docleatherneck]

Sorry your brew got infected, man. Sounds like your wort got infected with bacteria. I know my day is coming regardless of how clean I keep everything. Then I'll have to wait awhile to brew as my wife thinks my hobby is expensive.

Have a pumpkin in condition and a barley wine in secondary. I would rack it to tertiary, but it depends what the gravity is when I check it tonight. May go right to bottle.

Cheers!

 

[wilserbrewer]

IMHO, every beer is infected in very small amounts since we are not sterilizing. Just sanitizing. The key, and just my opinion is to not provide an environment that the small number of undesirables can grow. My guess is that this infection thrived on the oxygen that was allowed in the headspace of the fermenter.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/