oops...airlock compromised

[oms1981]

A few months ago I did a batch of chocolate espresso stout. This is the first beer that I've made that I've allowed to sit in secondary for any real length of time. It's been maybe 4-5 months. At first I checked on it diligently, but after awhile the temptation to drink it was killing me and I sort of forced myself to forget about for awhile. Unfortunately, I also forgot to keep close tabs on the level in the airlock. I was downstairs the other day and I figured I'd have a look an immediately realized what I'd done, or rather forgot to do.

I immediately topped up the airlock with some vodka, but now the beer inside has a very very thin layer of "skin" on the surface. I don't know if this is infection from the compromised airlock or if maybe it is normal, like maybe it is oil from the coffee, or residuals from the chocolate, molasses, or myriad of other ingredients in this beast.

Here are some pics, sorry they aren't the best.

I'm really hoping to get some advice here. Did I screw this up? Is this nothing to worry about? What should I do? This beer is definitely ready to bottle so I'm just wondering what I should do now.

Thanks!

 

[trimpy]

Try it. If it doesn't taste bad you could salvage it. I had an IPA that I contaminated when I dry hopped it. It was a much shorter potential exposure window, but it looked pretty much the same. I racked it out from under the surface layer and hit it with sulfites and kegged it.

edit:

just saw you were bottling it. You would have to wait a couple days after using campden tablets and re-innoculate it with some fresh yeast, prime, then bottle, but I wouldn't waste my time if it was bone dry or sour.

 

[phidelt844]

I can't see the pictures at work, but I would take a gravity reading and compare it to the reading you took when you transferred to secondary. If it has dropped more than a few points, that may point to an infection.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I routinely don't even fill my airlocks.

Your film looks like oils from you plethora of oily additions.

If this were an infection, it would not be caused by simply forgetting to top off the airlock. The bug would still have to be literally sucked into the fermentor.

 

[double_e5]

It doesn't look infected to me either. I would go ahead and bottle. Just remember it may take a while to carb because it spent so much time in the secondary.

 

[fratermus]

Your film looks like oils from you plethora of oily additions.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

 

[MrWhleDr]

I had the same oily appearance on a batch that i added coffee to. It did not sit as long but I am now drinking the beer and it is my favorite yet.

 

[Joos]

I routinely don't even fill my airlocks.

Your film looks like oils from you plethora of oily additions.

If this were an infection, it would not be caused by simply forgetting to top off the airlock. The bug would still have to be literally sucked into the fermentor.

If you don't fill your airlock whats the point of using one?Not trying to start an argument but if it's not filled it doesnt lock out air.

 

[oms1981]

thanks for all the replies everyone. think i'm gonna try to cruise out to the HBS today to pick up some caps so I can get this underway

 

[bottle-o-jeff]

So what's the reason for using vodka in an airlock? I've seen that several people do it, but vodka evaporates significantly faster than water. If you're not going to be watching it, I'd recommend water. I left an ESB in a secondary for 4 months and the airlock had the same amount of water in it at the end of 4 months as it did at the beginning.

Just my $0.02.

 

[llazy_llama]

The problem with water is that as it sits there, it becomes a haven for bacteria. Many of us use vodka because bacteria can't grow in it.

Unless you're talking about water with sanitizer in it. In that case, it's fine too. Vodka is just cheaper than Star San

 

[fratermus]

If you don't fill your airlock whats the point of using one?Not trying to start an argument but if it's not filled it doesnt lock out air.

Even an unfilled airlock keeps floating/falling microbes out of the beer, as proven by Pasteur in his[ame="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pasteur+gooseneck+flask&btnG=Search"] seminal gooseneck flask experiment[/ame].

BTW, the cheapest vodka I can get is $9.00/gallon. Starsan mix in distilled water is $0.80 a gallon. Iodophor would probably not be much better than water later in the ferment as it loses effectiveness rather quickly.

 

[llazy_llama]

Fair enough. I tend to have vodka on hand anyway, and I usually use too much Star San which bubbles out of my airlock. I guess it's just a personal preference thing overall, but I like vodka.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Hey just stumbled upon this photo prior to viewing this thread. Best of both world I guess, a waterless airlock. Why aren't we all using these??

Liquid-free airlock - HomeBrewTalk Gallery

 

[oms1981]

I typically don't purchase vodka for the airlock either. However we had a huge party a while back and someone left a bottle of Skol here. I'm not a liquor drinker, and when I do drink it, it tends to be real good stuff. Drinking Skol just isn't going to happen, so yeah, in the airlock it goes. But if I didn't have that crap laying around I wouldn't be using vodka. Unnecessary expense for me personally, and I'm trying to remove those from my life at the moment...

 

[Homercidal]

I'm using some leftover vodka in my airlock. Nobody I know drinks it anyway. When that's gone I might switch to Starsan.

 

[oms1981]

Quick update here, I just bottled this. Definitely NOT infected. The "skin" must just have been oils from the coffee like some of you had suggested. This beer smells like the ambrosia of the gods. Tastes amazing and it's not even carbed yet. This will prob be the best beer I have ever made. Expectations are running high...

 

[llazy_llama]

Quick update here, I just bottled this. Definitely NOT infected. The "skin" must just have been oils from the coffee like some of you had suggested. This beer smells like the ambrosia of the gods. Tastes amazing and it's not even carbed yet. This will prob be the best beer I have ever made. Expectations are running high...

Wait a sec... it smells and tastes good at bottling time? That's a surefire sign of infection. Dump it now before it explodes!

I keed, I keed. Seriuously though, it sounds like a delicious recipe. I hope it carbs up nicely, and tastes even better come beer-thirty.