Noob infection w/pix

[KrayzieVanh]

Is there any smell related to a infection? I ask because I bottle in a bucket. I can't help myself from smelling the co2 from the airlock. Smells great! I wouldn't like to know of an infection before I take the lid off.

 

[CaptainCoconut]

Is there any smell related to a infection? I ask because I bottle in a bucket. I can't help myself from smelling the co2 from the airlock. Smells great! I wouldn't like to know of an infection before I take the lid off.

You wouldn't? You'd rather be surprised and wait to deal with it until bottling time?

 

[AugustDerleth]

You wouldn't? You'd rather be surprised and wait to deal with it until bottling time?

That was almost undoubtedly a typo. I believe the point of his post was that he wanted to be able to tell simply by smelling the airlock so as to not disturb the c02 blanket unecessarily. I think anyways.

 

[KrayzieVanh]

Yea.... I like smelling the CO2, smells great. I haven't had a infection yet (knocks on wood), so I don't know what one smells like- if it does like smell anything.

 

[CaptainCoconut]

That was almost undoubtedly a typo. I believe the point of his post was that he wanted to be able to tell simply by smelling the airlock so as to not disturb the c02 blanket unecessarily. I think anyways.

So I assumed, I just couldn't leave it alone. At least I amuse myself.

 

[goodwood]

wow. i would have tossed this down the drain. i love all kinds of sours, but that looked nasty. cheers for going through the whole process.

we are near completion of our all grain setup. well be kegging beer till we get a good batch. after i read all the posts, i would have kegged it. but not bottled it. too much of a risk. haha.

 

[Fantastical]

So you can actually drink this safely? You won't get sick or anything? Just looking at it gives me the heeby jeebies!

 

[fezzman]

So you can actually drink this safely? You won't get sick or anything? Just looking at it gives me the heeby jeebies!

I believe that the alcohol will keep any nasties from getting you sick. I've had a few mildly infected batches and have been just fine.

During the time when I was experiencing the infections I became paranoid and would bottle a few from each batch in clear bottles. This has now become a norm for me. I like to pick the clear bottles up and give them an inspection under a bright light now and then. Perhaps a bit paranoid but it always sets my mind at ease to see nice clear beer. I store them in the dark except for inspections.

 

[Sammy75]

No smell on this one that I noticed.

Yep, I've consumed two of them post bottling, and a bit when I was stressing out about it pre-bottling. No ill effects on me that I've ascertained. If it was indeed lacto bacteria, then that is actually a necessary component of Belgian lambic brews (http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-1.html), so I'm assuming no problems there.

Wacky huh?

 

[jfr1111]

Beer can get infected, but it cannot get you sick unless you munch directly on the mold that is in it, and even then, it's probably not harmful. Beer as been used for centuries in Europe as a way of rehydratation: small beers would be brewed (sometimes at home) because there was a serious risk of dying fromthe bacteria that lied in contaminated and polluted water sources. The process of brewing (boiling + alcohol levels) prevented the harmful bacteria from surviving. Children went straight from milk to beer in many cases, when living in urban area. Remember that rats, vermin and garbage were everywhere and that water sources were largely used as a way to dispose of them.

So drinking moldy beer can tate like used diapers (in this case, it does not) but it cannot hurt you and is actually safer than drinking from an unknown stream in the forest.

 

[johnnybrew]

Children went straight from milk to beer in many cases

Another reason to be a kid again...

 

[goodwood]

in my experience, which is extract and soon to be all grain. if it has off flavors... it wont sit right in your tummy. they will clean you out shortly after or the next day. but that was only on one batch. no visible signs of bacteria, had a faint odor though.

 

[masedigs]

I had a very similar "infection" in my 3rd batch, a couple of months ago. I lost all sorts of sleep over it, but in the end I racked from under the muck too, and found that the bounty was actually really good. I still have a growler to go on that batch and I'm looking forward to opening it with some visiting family this weekend! I did notice that there was some residual "film" in the neck of some of the bottles, but once it was poured you could hardly notice.

Like the OP, this only occurred after transferring to the secondary. I have since thrown away the tubing that I used, as I think this was the culprit in my case (still just guess, albeit after much deliberation). Someone in this thread mentioned that this may be caused in teh secondary by stirring everything up a bit too much during transfer. Is there any other conceivable explanation for this to occur only in the secondary?