Is my secondary infected?

[WisconsinWildcard]

I am probably putting this in the wrong area but anyway...

I have dry hopped a IIPA about 5 days ago. Had the pellet bag, scissors and hop bag in starsan for 20+ minutes. It was looking fine the first few days, it had a little residue on top but I have read here and other places it is completely normal. I looked at it today and it had large green chunks floating around and a thicker film on top than I would expect. Pics are below.

Do you think it is infected? If so, should I bottle it as is? What should I do? I was really looking forward to this beer so if I could salvage it, I would like to.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Looks like krausen krud and yeast rafts to me. I think you're good.

 

[Revvy]

Yeah, I'm kinda thinking you racked too soon, and fermentation continued/re-started in secondary.

 

[WisconsinWildcard]

Yeah, I'm kinda thinking you racked too soon, and fermentation continued/re-started in secondary.

Thanks for the reply Revvy. I have read a lot of your stuff on here and it is all very helpful.

OG was 1.085

After 3 weeks in primary it was down to 1.021

Yeast used-Wyeast 1056 Apparent attenuation 73-77

I had it in the secondary for a month before dry-hopping and all this activity took off in the last 2-3 days.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Yeah, for an OG that big it probably wasn't all done. Did the temperatures warm up within the last few days? A little jostling and a bit of warmth and the yeast could wake up and get back to business.

 

[i4ourgot]

I have had the same thing happen for me with my lagers, when I dry hop in secondary I get some more activity. Not sure why that is but I think your beer is fine and getting better.

 

[WisconsinWildcard]

Yeah, for an OG that big it probably wasn't all done. Did the temperatures warm up within the last few days? A little jostling and a bit of warmth and the yeast could wake up and get back to business.

It actually got cooler in the past few days when all the scary stuff (for a rookie like me) took place

It was jostled a bit when I moved it out of the closet so that definitely is a possibility.

I am new at this, but I thought (given the apparent attenuation of the yeast) that the gravity of 1.021 was about where it should be. I kind of just left it in the primary for 3 weeks to be sure...instead of taking serial gravity readings as I now have learned to do.

I was planning on bottling a week from now, should I still go ahead with that? Or should I give it more time if the yeast have been re-activated?

Also...thanks for the reply. This site and its members is a lifesaver.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I am new at this, but I thought (given the apparent attenuation of the yeast) that the gravity of 1.021 was about where it should be. I kind of just left it in the primary for 3 weeks to be sure...instead of taking serial gravity readings as I now have learned to do.

I was planning on bottling a week from now, should I still go ahead with that? Or should I give it more time if the yeast have been re-activated?

Also...thanks for the reply. This site and its members is a lifesaver.

The attenuation you get depends on what you're fermenting. The quoted values are for an average gravity beer wort, and your beer appears to be bigger than that. Without knowing your recipe is it is hard to say where it will finish up.

For example, Nottingham ale yeast is often used in cider making and, while it has a quoted attenuation of about 75%, it will ferment apple juice completely dry for 100% attenuation, because the juice is all simple sugars that the yeast can readily ferment. Beer wort is a mixture of simple and complex sugars and starches, the exact ratios depend on your recipe, and some yeasts are better at breaking down the complex sugars than others.

And bigger beers may finish very slowly (first 60 points come off in a week, the last 10 may take 4 more weeks). The bigger the job, the longer it takes.

I would take gravity readings once every 3-4 days. If you get 3 readings that are the same and you don't have a stuck ferment or other problems, then you are probably good to bottle.

 

[WisconsinWildcard]

The attenuation you get depends on what you're fermenting. The quoted values are for an average gravity beer wort, and your beer appears to be bigger than that. Without knowing your recipe is it is hard to say where it will finish up.

For example, Nottingham ale yeast is often used in cider making and, while it has a quoted attenuation of about 75%, it will ferment apple juice completely dry for 100% attenuation, because the juice is all simple sugars that the yeast can readily ferment. Beer wort is a mixture of simple and complex sugars and starches, the exact ratios depend on your recipe, and some yeasts are better at breaking down the complex sugars than others.

And bigger beers may finish very slowly (first 60 points come off in a week, the last 10 may take 4 more weeks). The bigger the job, the longer it takes.

I would take gravity readings once every 3-4 days. If you get 3 readings that are the same and you don't have a stuck ferment or other problems, then you are probably good to bottle.

Thanks for clearing that up!

The recipe is the 115th Dream Hopbursted IIPA from NB.

Fermentables are 6lbs amber malt syrup (60), 6lbs gold malt syrup (late 15 min) and 2 lbs corn sugar (0 min)

From what you said, I would think (given the corn sugar) that the gravity should have been lower than it was when I racked it into the secondary.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Yeah, just assuming 75% attenuation for your fermentables says you should wrap up at about 1.021, but that assumes your corn sugar is only 75% attenuable when it is closer to 100%. I think that you'll see the last 5-6 points will fall off pretty slowly, and I'd guess that you would level off around 1.015 or so.

Keep calm and carry on. Take those hydrometer readings and keep us posted.