Infected?

[Brewing Clamper]

Hey guys, I have a wheat beer in secondary now (6 days) and aside from a small amount of settled yeast at the bottom, which I expected, the beer also developed small slimy looking threads that float to the top. There is also an unpleasant odor, certainly not that of beer... am I screwed? Here's a photo of the thread if it helps...

Photo 1
Photo 2

 

[EvilTOJ]

What exactly does the smell, uh, smell like? I've seen those floating things in my secondaries before, usually when I'm not completely done with the primary. Nasties like mold that you don't want grow fur on the top of the liquid.

 

[mysterio]

What temperature did you ferment at? And what temp is your secondary at? What kind of yeast are you using? How would you describe the smell?

Assuming you're using a hefeweizen yeast, that stuff goes through a range of odd smells I wouldn't worry about. Its probably not infection if you sanitised everything. I didn't look at your photos but I'd guess the stuff that's floating around is just yeast.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

Ok, so I'm using WLP300 at 68º for primary & secondary. No fuzzy anythings floating... I think I just panicked because I had not seen that on my first batch, nor had it smelled the same. I'm now in the process of bottling it, and it tastes fine and smells like a hefe. So thank you all, but I guess I just freaked... oops....

 

[chask31]

Fur on top of the liquid?? what color is the fur? I have some white stuff on top of mine that looks like bubbles...

 

[Lounge Lizard]

Fur on top of the liquid?? what color is the fur? I have some white stuff on top of mine that looks like bubbles...

Tiny bubbles clumped together are often mistaken for trouble. Especially in dark brews. If they look like bubbles, that's most likely what they are. Gently tilt your carboy back and forth and I bet they disperse.

 

[chask31]

I checked this morning...the bubbles seem to be dissipating naturaly.