Is this IPA infected? Photos included

[Jel91]

Hi, I'm new at the forum and also new to brewing. This was our second batch ever, and I'm not sure what's going on. We were planning to leave the beer in the fermenter for 10 days, but when the time came to bottle it the airlock was still bubbling, and we had to leave for a vacation. It was becoming clear and it looked like it was gonna be a great beer. Ten days later we came back to this (see the photo). I'm not sure how, but it seems it got infected in the meantime. My question is: would you bottle this? I'm not sure if waiting would do it any good, and if it would clear or just go bad.
(sorry if my English is off, it's not my native lg)

 

[JohnSand]

Hi Jel, welcome. I'm sorry to say that does look infected. Infected beer isn't unsafe, but it won't taste as intended. You might clear that stuff off the top and taste a bit to see if you want to bottle it. Another consideration is that infection might continue to eat sugars and create CO2 causing your bottles to burst.
Your English is excellent.

 

[IslandLizard]

+1 ^ Definitely a sign of an infection. Something got in there.

Did you use a secondary? If so they're not needed, even unwanted for most beer. There is a large headspace above the beer, that could contribute to problems.

How did you sanitize your equipment, especially the fermentor and anything else that touched your chilled wort?

 

[amotostuff]

It looks like a pelicle possibly from Bret. What yeast did you use?

 

[RPh_Guy]

It looks like a pelicle possibly from Bret.

Lots of different yeast and bacteria can form a pellicle.

 

[Jel91]

It looks like a pelicle possibly from Bret. What yeast did you use?

I used Safale US-05

 

[Jel91]

+1 ^ Definitely a sign of an infection. Something got in there.

Did you use a secondary? If so they're not needed, even unwanted for most beer. There is a large headspace above the beer, that could contribute to problems.

How did you sanitize your equipment, especially the fermentor and anything else that touched your chilled wort?

It was in primary (longer than I would like, though). I wondered if a lot of headspace could have contributed. I sanitized using some wine equipment sanitizer (threw away the bottle, so I don't remember the ingredients), and it seemed like some strong stuff. However since I'm still new at this, it's not impossible that something slipped my attention..

Anyways, I actually skimmed the top layer, tried the beer and the taste was great. I bottled it last week and now I wait. Is it actually safe to drink it if it was infected?

 

[Jel91]

Hi Jel, welcome. I'm sorry to say that does look infected. Infected beer isn't unsafe, but it won't taste as intended. You might clear that stuff off the top and taste a bit to see if you want to bottle it. Another consideration is that infection might continue to eat sugars and create CO2 causing your bottles to burst.
Your English is excellent.

Thank you for your reply. I tried it and the taste was great, so I bottled it. I did it a week ago, and no explosions for now.. So now I'm waiting to see how it turns out.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Is it actually safe to drink it if it was infected?

Absolutely. I would put them in the fridge after they're carbonated.

I wondered if a lot of headspace could have contributed.

The wild microbe(s) in your beer came from somewhere. They'd be there regardless of the headspace volume (and they are still in there).