Infection???

[Bonneville]

I brewed a Brown Ale a while back. It sat in the primary for a few weeks and has been in the secondary for quite a few more. As I went to bottle it today, I found:

A few (very few) spots on top of the beer - white-ish
A very slight ring at beer level
A surprising amount of sediment
Some 'flakes' floating within the beer... similar to the sediment

I would take pictures, but the "symptoms" are so slight I doubt they much show. Is this a "mild" infection? Could it be something else?

I guess I will go-ahead and bottle and spend extra effort cleaning the equipment afterwards. Not sure what else to do at this point...

 

[Yooper]

How does it smell and taste? Infected beers taste bad (sour, usually) and smell bad. There are all kinds of things in beer- yeast clumps, remnants of hops particles, etc, and most of them are benign. If it tastes ok and smells ok, then it's probably fine. Bottle it and see how it is in three weeks!

 

[MoRoToRiUm]

+1; relax and let it play out. More then likely, by the sounds of it, it should turn out just fine. Don't waste beer!

 

[ArcaneXor]

A few (very few) spots on top of the beer - white-ish
A very slight ring at beer level
A surprising amount of sediment
Some 'flakes' floating within the beer... similar to the sediment

1.) This is from outgassing of dissolved CO2 and remnant yeast activity
2.) This is probably a kraeusen-ring. When you transferred to secondary, you stirred everything up and generated a mini-secondary fermentation.
3.) It's amazing how much yeast is still suspended in what appears to be fairly clear beer. Secondaries usually have a good layer of yeast in the bottom.
4.) The yeast sediment will sometimes "shoot up" clumps consisting of proteins and flocculated yeast. Also normal.

 

[Bonneville]

OK - I bottled it tonight (yesterday got chewed up with a Golden Ale brew). I'm guessing it's OK, but we'll know in a few weeks. I tasted it and it's a little off... but it's similar to my prior Brown Ale, which I thought was ruined by adding Hazelnut flavoring. There is a certain nuttiness that's not quite right. I think this is a recipe problem though, not an indication of an infection.

Thanks!

 

[MoRoToRiUm]

Let it age once you find out it's carbing and not infected; you might be surprised with the results. Beer definitely taste better when it has the proper time to condition. *cross fingers* hope it's not infected