Infected??

[MoodyCopperpot]

Okay, so I just brewed a pale ale, the same recipe that I've brewed about 5 times now, and I'm transferring it to the secondary and I popped the lid of the primary bucket and there was a bung of these little white flakes on the top... I have need seen or heard of this before.
Does anyone know what the he'll this is? Did my beer get an infection? Do I have to dump this batch? I'm uber confused!!
The fermentation is on track in terms of gravity, it's been in the primary for about 3.5 weeks. I could really use some help on this one!

 

[rockytoptim]

Not much help, but did you taste it?

 

[MoodyCopperpot]

I did, and it seems to taste fine for being room temp and uncarbonated. No crazy astringent flavors or unwanted bitterness.

 

[beerkrump]

Looks like trub and maybe some hop particles. Beer's fine.

 

[3 Dog Brew]

A couple of things:

1st it would start to taste sour not bitter or astringent is my understanding. Is there a "skin" floating on top? That would be a clear indicator of contamination.

2nd, it is also my understanding that because we are brewing in an environment that is not sterile, every beer we make is contaminated. All we are hoping to do is to overwhelm any naturally occurring wild yeast or bacteria with a huge volume (by contrast) of the yeast we want to ferment our beer. We only sanitize our equipment, not sterilize.

If you wanted to find out what this stuff is, you could make a starter and skim the top off. See what grows in the starter. It's unlikely to be anything toxic, but I'm no micro-biologist.

 

[Boleslaus]

Is there a "skin" floating on top? That would be a clear indicator of contamination.

Not true. I was following a thread a few weeks ago about this. Most of my beers have a thin film on top at some point during fermentation, most other people did as well. My best guess is that film is most likely hop oils.

 

[509inc]

I would consider that a goner, but if it does not taste bad then drink it.

 

[user 70770]

Really hard to tell just by looking at it if it's good or bad. But it looks to me like hop residue which can be quite gross and slimy. Only time will tell. Some flavors like sourness can take some time to develop. But I'd definitely not toss it based on how it looks.

 

[MoodyCopperpot]

Thanks guys, that gives me some hope. There was no film at the top. A buddy of mine who brews thinks he might have seen some white flakes in his beer once, but never to the extent of that much. I'll finish the fermentation and tap it to see how it turns out.

 

[BelgianKing]

I just tried to look for the thread started the other day. It had a picture of something similar. I would search "infected brews" on here. It looks like some kind of Lactose infection but I dont remember what it was called. If the beer tastes fine, the people stated skim off the white flakes with a sanitized spoon and rack to a secondary leaving the last few inches behind. Although you lose some beer but at least you removed the good stuff from the bad.

 

[bierhaus15]

It's definitely infected. That doesn't mean it isn't drinkable, just that there are something other than yeast at work.

 

[nefarious_1_]

Infected. If you really want to save it, skim off the crud and rack what you can, see how it turns out. Only time will tell... Infections tend to get worse as time goes on. I've heard stories of similar situations turning out OK though, just drink it quick!

 

[lordbeermestrength]

Infected. If you really want to save it, skim off the crud and rack what you can, see how it turns out. Only time will tell... Infections tend to get worse as time goes on. I've heard stories of similar situations turning out OK though, just drink it quick!

indeed. I even had an infected stout that turned out awesome (for a while, until it got a sour apple taste to it).