Pellicle Photo Collection

[Lgaddy44]

Found I had an infected batch, when I went to keg my Strawberry Wheat. Looks like I'll ride it out for a while, and see how it works as a sour.

 

[kaips1]

Found I had an infected batch, when I went to keg my Strawberry Wheat. Looks like I'll ride it out for a while, and see how it works as a sour.

Hit it with a Brett culture and it help out along the way.

 

[sweetcell]

i was going to suggest the same thing - unless you're really intent on keeping your "infection" pure, why not add some known bugs to improve the chances that the end product is tasty? some wild infections are awesome, others not so much...

 

[Lgaddy44]

Sounds like a plan to me, I'll see if I can pick up a batch of Brett, this week. Do you think I'd need any oak to help the Brett along? I doubt I'd really want to impart any oak flavor to a strawberry, sour or not. I'd prefer to keep the yeasties happy, though.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Sounds like a plan to me, I'll see if I can pick up a batch of Brett, this week. Do you think I'd need any oak to help the Brett along? I doubt I'd really want to impart any oak flavor to a strawberry, sour or not. I'd prefer to keep the yeasties happy, though.

I think a roasty woody oak character would clash with the strawberry but if you could find something that would impart cleaner vanilla flavors it might complement. The bugs or brett don't need oak to be happy though.

 

[sweetcell]

yup, oak not needed. it doesn't fit your recipe so skip it.

 

[kaips1]

I do wanna add, even though the oak isn't needed and doesn't match the style. If you add some flavor stripped oak, I'm talking an oz or two, you can essentially store the bugs and Brett in the oak. I've added 1 piece of oak to some of my starters and then isolated them in a very low gravity starter to allow them to reproduce. Then you have a back up of your bugs and Brett that can just be pitched into a secondary for that long slow fermentation. Picked that trick up from vinnie from RR.

 

[JediJoel]

Berliner Weisse, ECY06 2 months. Intensely sour.

Nice! I've been looking to get a hold of some ECY but they are never in stock. I check less than 15 min after they tweet about their stock and most strains I'm looking for a sold out.

How did you get yours?

 

[Rivenin]

oud bruin - about 60 ish days old

 

[SarcasticHorse]

sorry to potentially go off track on this post but I have a oatmeal stout that had been in primary almost a month that I just noticied some huge bubbles yesterday and transferred it to secondary to get it off the yeast cake. its been less than 12 hours and bubbles are slowly returning....does this look like Pellicle?

when I transferred it smelled like a delicious oatmeal stout. the only funky thing was a small fruit fly had managed to get into the airlock and die in the vodka at the top of the primary and was floating in it, not sure if that is a clear sign.

 

[TNGabe]

sorry to potentially go off track on this post but I have a oatmeal stout that had been in primary almost a month that I just noticied some huge bubbles yesterday and transferred it to secondary to get it off the yeast cake. its been less than 12 hours and bubbles are slowly returning....does this look like Pellicle?

when I transferred it smelled like a delicious oatmeal stout. the only funky thing was a small fruit fly had managed to get into the airlock and die in the vodka at the top of the primary and was floating in it, not sure if that is a clear sign.

Looks like a pellicle/krausen mix. Whatever is in there is very active.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

sorry to potentially go off track on this post but I have a oatmeal stout that had been in primary almost a month that I just noticied some huge bubbles yesterday and transferred it to secondary to get it off the yeast cake. its been less than 12 hours and bubbles are slowly returning....does this look like Pellicle?

when I transferred it smelled like a delicious oatmeal stout. the only funky thing was a small fruit fly had managed to get into the airlock and die in the vodka at the top of the primary and was floating in it, not sure if that is a clear sign.

That just looks like krausen and normal fermentation to me. What were the temps like over that month? Any chance the yeasty beasties fell asleep and a change in temp or moving the carboy woke em up?

 

[SarcasticHorse]

Yeast pitched and run about 64 for first 36 hours or so of fermentation a month ago, then a heat wave came through and our place got up to 69-70 so the yeast was pretty aggressive then stopped for a solid month. Temperature has been pretty consistently at 65-70 in our place in this period. Now that I've transferred it it definitely looks more krausen than pellicle and it smelled fine so I'll wait it out a bit and keep an eye it.

Sorry to hijack this, keep posting the sexy pellicle pics.

 

[sweetcell]

IMHO: oatmeal stouts contain a lot of "gunky" material (beta glucans, etc) that form long-lasting bubbles. in any other beer, those bubbles would have burst and you'd have a clear surface. with your stout, thick & sticky beer = the bubbles last.

we now return you to your regularly-scheduled images of surface rot.

 

[Thnikkaman]

Here are our first sours. Wizenbeir with Brett.

 

[brendan65]

My first lambic. 6 months into fermentation. Anybody know if this pellicle is good or bad? There are some grey and dark bits of stuff under. Just curious as to what experienced lambic/wild ale homebrewers have to say.

 

[TNGabe]

My first lambic. 6 months into fermentation. Anybody know if this pellicle is good or bad? There are some grey and dark bits of stuff under. Just curious as to what experienced lambic/wild ale homebrewers have to say.

I'd suggest transfering it to something less permeable than a bucket. Some folks use them for up to 6 months to get some extra o2 transfer, but longer than that and you'll probably have some issues with acetobacter, autolysis, and other off flavors.

 

[TNGabe]

sorry to potentially go off track on this post but I have a oatmeal stout that had been in primary almost a month that I just noticied some huge bubbles yesterday and transferred it to secondary to get it off the yeast cake. its been less than 12 hours and bubbles are slowly returning....does this look like Pellicle?

when I transferred it smelled like a delicious oatmeal stout. the only funky thing was a small fruit fly had managed to get into the airlock and die in the vodka at the top of the primary and was floating in it, not sure if that is a clear sign.

Have an update for us?

 

[brendan65]

I'd suggest transfering it to something less permeable than a bucket. Some folks use them for up to 6 months to get some extra o2 transfer, but longer than that and you'll probably have some issues with acetobacter, autolysis, and other off flavors.

So when I transfer to a better bucket or glass carboy should I try to get all the sediment back in suspension before racking it? I would want to get all the bugs to go in with the liquid right?

 

[TNGabe]

So when I transfer to a better bucket or glass carboy should I try to get all the sediment back in suspension before racking it? I would want to get all the bugs to go in with the liquid right?

I wouldn't. There are plenty in suspension already. Most of the stuff on the bottom is protein and dead yeast. Although lambic is left of the lees, most other wild beers are not.

 

[brendan65]

I wouldn't. There are plenty in suspension already. Most of the stuff on the bottom is protein and dead yeast. Although lambic is left of the lees, most other wild beers are not.

Are any of the bugs that would be left after racking be worth harvesting and washing?

 

[milldoggy]

I am sure there are plenty of critters in the trub

 

[TNGabe]

Are any of the bugs that would be left after racking be worth harvesting and washing?

I don't even rinse it. I just save it in a mason jar at room temp.

Have you tasted your beer? If there is even a hint of acetic acid (vinegar), I wouldn't save the trub. That's just me, but I don't like much more than trace amounts of acetic acid. Some brett will make very low levels of acetic, but higher amounts are indicative of acetobacter. Acetobacter is only active with oxygen, part of the reason long term storage in a bucket isn't ideal.

 

[brendan65]

I don't even rinse it. I just save it in a mason jar at room temp.

Have you tasted your beer? If there is even a hint of acetic acid (vinegar), I wouldn't save the trub. That's just me, but I don't like much more than trace amounts of acetic acid. Some brett will make very low levels of acetic, but higher amounts are indicative of acetobacter. Acetobacter is only active with oxygen, part of the reason long term storage in a bucket isn't ideal.

No signs of acetobacter thankfully. Its nice and tart. Almost like a young Cascade Apricot without the Apricot. So I am going to transfer this evening to a glass carboy. Thanks for all the tips.

 

[andrewcoopergt]

From a tad of Wyeast 3278 (Belgian Lambic Blend) and dregs from Jolly Pumpkin Luciernaga, Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus, and Cantillion 100% Lambic.

Was only present for about 2 days...now gone.

 

[Kob]

Here's my "pre-pellicle pellicle". First lacto starter and it looks awful, smells awful, and it's hopefully gonna taste awful. Pitched 16 hours ago and i have a begining pellicle.

 

[marvaden]

This is the first day of the pellicle forming on my Mint Stout with brettanomyces bruxellensis added to secondary.

 

[Kob]

Here's what i have so far. No activity for the first 72 hours, then i opened it up for a taste. Nothing really present ither than hot wort so i put the airlick on. The next morning these were taken. I'm gonna boil today for a minute to kill the lacto then pitch the 05.

 

[Cincy17]

Week old pellicle on my saison with Brett brux added to finish the slow DuPont yeast fermentation.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Week old pellicle on my saison with Brett brux added to finish the slow DuPont yeast fermentation.

I did something similar and it was one of the best beers I have made to date. Give it time to age in the bottle before you drink it up. At first it was pretty terrible and after about 3 months something magical happened!