Possibly my first infection?

[JamesHoffman]

I think I've come across my first infection. I don't know how it happened, but the beer is overcarbonated (foams over the rim of the bottle several minutes after it's opened), looks like mud (this is after 5 weeks of bottle conditioning at about 65 degrees F), smells very yeasty and earthy, and tastes just a tiny bit sour. It's supposed to be a Red IPA.

Does anyone recognize this infection, or does it look like an error somewhere else?

 

[flars]

There are solid bits floating in the glass. If these came from a dirty bottle, then it is an infection beginning. The solid bits could also be krausen. What are some details on the fermentation. Length of time, OG, and FG.

Earthy muddy could also oxidation.

 

[joshesmusica]

Did you dry hop it? Could be hop particles. I've found when I don't worry about hop particles getting into the beer, they often give more carbonation given that it's more nucleation sites in the glass/bottle.

 

[pablosbrewing]

Look at the neck of the bottles. Infection will usually leave a ring. See if some bottles are clear and try one of those?

 

[JamesHoffman]

There are solid bits floating in the glass. If these came from a dirty bottle, then it is an infection beginning. The solid bits could also be krausen. What are some details on the fermentation. Length of time, OG, and FG.

Earthy muddy could also oxidation.

I went full amateur and did not take any gravity readings. I feel pretty dumb about it. I did two weeks in primary, racked to secondary, dry hopped (without straining the hops, that's the solid chunks you see I think), and it sat in secondary for two weeks before bottling. Temp was about 68-70 the whole time, and the yeast used was wyeast 1217.

Also, the bottles do not have any sign of film on them or rings around the top.

 

[flars]

I went full amateur and did not take any gravity readings. I feel pretty dumb about it. I did two weeks in primary, racked to secondary, dry hopped (without straining the hops, that's the solid chunks you see I think), and it sat in secondary for two weeks before bottling. Temp was about 68-70 the whole time, and the yeast used was wyeast 1217.

Also, the bottles do not have any sign of film on them or rings around the top.

Try three weeks primary, then dry hop in the primary. SG readings can eliminate a lot of worry.
Don't dry hop until the SG sample shows very little to no CO2 in solution. This will help keep all the good aroma in the beer, instead of being scrubbed as the CO2 leaves solution.

 

[flars]

I attach a 1" Dia × 6" fine mesh tube to the out flow of my siphon to catch any hop debris inside the bottling bucket.

 

[Psylocide]

How long was it in the fridge before you poured it?

Did you pour the whole bottle or did you leave the sediment at the bottom? I'm assuming you know how to pour a bottle carb'd homebrew though.

 

[JamesHoffman]

So you don't rack to secondary, just rack to a bottling bucket and use a screen around the pour faucet on the bucket.

Sounds easy enough. Thanks for the advice. Maybe I oxidized it when I racked to secondary.

 

[JamesHoffman]

Pictured is the second one I tried, so I left it in the fridge for two days before trying. And I tried to leave the sediment at the bottom, but when I opened it the CO2 release stirred some of it up, including the hop particles I didn't filter.

 

[Terek]

doesnt look like an infection. Just over carbed. You can usually see an infection before you bottle. And after you bottle, you can see kind of an oily bit around the neck just above the beer level. Kind of dances as you move it around. 2 days in the fridge is not enough to get rid of cloud. 5-10 days at least. As far as the sour taste, mabe it was a dirty bottle? Usually by this point, the infection is in full swing, and it is very noticable in the taste

 

[Terek]

I have that same glass, lol

 

[joshesmusica]

i would go back to two things for flavor:
1) your recipe.
2) was that temp you stated ambient temp, or actual temp of the beer? if it was ambient temp, you could expect the temp in the beer in the first few days of fermentation to be quite a bit higher than that, which would likely cause some off-flavors.
3) your racking procedures (includes to secondary vessel and bottling)
4) the amount of priming sugar you used (did you use a calculator?)

number 1 can also be causing some haziness. number 4 is possibly what's causing your overcarbonation. we could give you more, and better, advice if you take the time to go through all of your procedures and recipe and all that.