Is this an infection?

[webby45wr]

Hi folks,

I just opened up my bucket to rack to the bottling bucket and found this. Is it an infection? The taste seems fine, but I don't want to risk anything as the plan was to give this beer away as a favor at our baby shower in a few weeks.

It was a centennial blonde that I racked onto 6 lbs of blueberries in secondary. Then last week I moved it to tertiary to let the blueberries mix a bit more.

Any help would be appreciated!

(Note: I attached the photos...I hope that was the right way to do it)

 

[andy6026]

My guess is yes, but I've only had an infection once and mine looked different from that. So best wait till others chime in before taking evasive maneuvers.

 

[webby45wr]

Thanks for the info. For a bit more detail, their is a film on top. I went through to get the gravity sample and the film reformed on top. There appears to be little white bits in the sample, but the taste was okay. Although, now I wonder if the tartness is the blueberries or perhaps the infection?

 

[unionrdr]

That broken ice pack stuff & white filmy bubbles is the start of a lacto infection. A wild yeast that can cause souring if left long enough. sometimes not in a good way.

 

[webby45wr]

That broken ice pack stuff & white filmy bubbles is the start of a lacto infection. A wild yeast that can cause souring if left long enough. sometimes not in a good way.

Thanks for the info! If I bottle now, will it sour in the bottles? (I guess did I catch it early enough)

 

[andy6026]

It was the visible film in your photo that made me lean towards saying yes - it's infected. The white chunks could well be yeast rafts. The spidery looking film that appears to be developing would lead me to suspect lactose infection, but my only knowledge of that comes from seeing posted photos and others chipping in that it's lactose infection.

Even if it is infect, if it tastes good then you can bottle it still. You'd want to open a bottle every few days to make sure that you're not going to get bottle bombs -- the wild bacteria can ferment what your yeast won't and increase the pressure in the bottles. From what I hear, lactose infections will increasingly sour the beer as they age.

Personally, I didn't bottle my infected batch because I didn't want to increase the chance of infecting more equipment (such as the siphon, bottling bucket, bottling wand). But I hear of others on here doing it.

Be sceptic of what I tell you though - most of what I write here isn't from first hand knowledge.

 

[webby45wr]

Those are good suggestions, andy6026. I don't want to take the risk of messing up any of my other equipment, since I use all plastic. Of course, I get my first infection on the beer that I really need for an event in a few weeks!

 

[kh54s10]

It looks like pictures I have seen seen describing an infection. I have not seen one in person. (knock on wood)

I suggest that you get a smaller vessel for doing secondaries. The large headspace increases your chances to get an infection.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yes, my guess is that is the start of an infection, perhaps lacto IDK. Transferring too much post fermentation, secondary, tertiary has exposed the beer to oxygen. My advice would be to get it bottled / kegged and once carbonated KEEP it cold to keep the infection at bay. Cold temps will slow or almost halt the progress of the infection.

 

[webby45wr]

Thanks everyone. Since the plan was to give this away, I don't want to risk bottling it and it turning off flavored. I also can't guarantee it would stay cold to keep the infection at bay. I think I'm better off dumping it and starting new.

 

[Jonas217]

their is a film on top. I went through to get the gravity sample and the film reformed on top

I wasn't sure based on the pictures if the cloudy areas where a film or proteins and yeast that have not settled yet. Based on the fact there is a film this batch is most likely infected.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Based on the fact there is a film this batch is most likely infected.

I wouldn't dump it!
JMO I think that's overreaction.


Wilserbrewer
Http://biabbags.webs.com/

 

[webby45wr]

What do you do with it then? I don't want to risk contaminating any of my other plastic equipment by bottling it.

 

[andy6026]

Theoretically, if you have good sanitation practices then it shouldn't contaminate your other equipment even if you bottle it. I'd venture to guess that a high majority of infections are dealt with and don't persist into the next batches. But I've heard horror stories on here of people who get an infection in their system and struggle batch after batch to get it out. Now those would be extreme cases, but given my low budget circumstances, I couldn't afford to lose a bunch of batches and pay to replace equipment.

 

[unionrdr]

Mine wound up looking like this in the latter stages;

i took out the hop sock (which was soaked in starsan before dropping it in), & skimmed the surface gunk. Even sprayed Starsan on it. Did seem to slow it down a little. It was my Maori IPA. Bottled it & it turned out pretty darn good. What little sour it had was stopped by the Co2-rich environment of the bottles. Nasties need three things to thrive; Air, food & moisture. Warm temps as well. Here's what the finished beer looked like;

The lil sour it did have mixed well with the tropical fruit flavors of the NZ hops used. So go ahead & bottle it. When I cleaned my bottles, I used very warm water & my bottle brush. Then some Starsan in the vinator & onto the bottle tree to dry before storage. Never a single problem after that with any carry-over. I did, however, toss the BB Ale Pail. I didn't like it anyway, since it's lid had no seal in it. Just a good excuse to get the Midwest shortie bucket of 7.9G volume that has a seal in the lid. Tossed the tubing used for racking & replaced the one for the bottling wand as well. The bottling wand got soaked in PBW, rinsed & then soaked in Starsan. Here's a shot of the Midwest shorty bucket next to my Cooper's Micro Brew FV for comparative purposes...

 

[webby45wr]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I left it sit overnight and looked at it this morning. It definitely grew and really smells sour now.

 

[HexKrak]

First day back, and I see an infection post, but it's actually an infection! Big bummer that it was for an event, I wouldn't feel comfortable sending people home with it either, but I'd bottle it for myself and keep it refrigerated once it hits my preferred carb level.