Post your infection

[ajbosley2015]

Lager yeast bottom ferments. It wasn’t finished attenuating. Hence rousing the yeast started a second fermentation.

look at the yeast cake in his bottle.

 

[RPh_Guy]

What about the cake indicates it wasn't done fermenting?

 

[ajbosley2015]

What about the cake indicates it wasn't done fermenting?

An unopened bottle with multiple CO2 sites.

The cake appears to have started releasing gas while in the bottle

 

[Ridenour64]

My first batch of beer was in glass, every other has been in stainless where I never really see the beer until it’s in my glass. This thread has me wondering what could potentially be floating on top of my beer! All have tasted good though, which is the important thing.

 

[ajbosley2015]

My first batch of beer was in glass, every other has been in stainless where I never really see the beer until it’s in my glass. This thread has me wondering what could potentially be floating on top of my beer! All have tasted good though, which is the important thing.

I love my 1bbl stainless fermenter, but I hate not seeing my beer. It’s one of those things...sometimes I stop and don’t worry because I can’t see it, other times I just really want to see through the stainless wall for peace of mind!

I guess seeing it has been a crutch and really allows you to over analyze!

what stainless fermenter do you use?

 

[RPh_Guy]

An unopened bottle with multiple CO2 sites.

The cake appears to have started releasing gas while in the bottle

OK, but there is always fermentation that occurs when bottle conditioning. How could you say it was due to residual extract and not just the priming sugar?

 

[ajbosley2015]

OK, but there is always fermentation that occurs when bottle conditioning. How could you say it was due to residual extract and not just the priming sugar?

I’m not going down this road again so I will close with this

If he is having excessive rousing of yeast when he opens the bottle, and we see what this bottle looks like, chances are what I said is accurate.

he provided enough information to show that he did not over prime, and there isn’t significant time for it to have overcarbonated simply from priming, ergo it appears that his yeast continued metabolizing available sugars. The aspiration sites in his yeast cake are indicative of lagering fermentation, not of priming.

If you have further input that is contrary or suggests otherwise, please address the OP as this is for recommendations and suggestions to him, not us.

cheers

 

[Ridenour64]

I love my 1bbl stainless fermenter, but I hate not seeing my beer. It’s one of those things...sometimes I stop and don’t worry because I can’t see it, other times I just really want to see through the stainless wall for peace of mind!

I guess seeing it has been a crutch and really allows you to over analyze!

what stainless fermenter do you use?

After scanning through this thread I’m kinda happy I can’t see my beer while it’s fermenting because I probably would have have a post or two “is my beer infected”.

I use a SS Brewtech 7 gallon unitank. I love using it and couldn’t imagine ever going back to glass. What kind is your 1 barrel?

 

[ajbosley2015]

After scanning through this thread I’m kinda happy I can’t see my beer while it’s fermenting because I probably would have have a post or two “is my beer infected”.

I use a SS Brewtech 7 gallon unitank. I love using it and couldn’t imagine ever going back to glass. What kind is your 1 barrel?

I use the Stout 1bbl (or actually 40gallon) conical with cooling lid. I love it!
I also have two Spike conicals, a 5 gallon flex and a CF15 (who knows what batch size I am going to do next!)

 

[lowtones84]

Thank you for your help Family!!!

The batch in question is a lager (MJ M54)
FG: 1.09
Bottled: 06/04
Priming 4,5gr\L
No days in the refrigerator jet.

How long was this fermenting? Did you check gravity to make sure that it was stable a few days apart? That amount of priming sugar should be fine if you know your volume was perfect and the temperature of your beer coming out of the fermenter was correct, so it's possible that what ajbosley2015 is saying is correct.

Lager yeast bottom ferments. It wasn’t finished attenuating. Hence rousing the yeast started a second fermentation.

look at the yeast cake in his bottle.

I'm really not sure how you can tell by looking that the yeast on the bottom of the bottle is eating residual sugar from the original wort rather than priming sugar with that kind of certainty. What you're saying is certainly possible, though, which is why I asked about stable gravity checks.

 

[ajbosley2015]

How long was this fermenting? Did you check gravity to make sure that it was stable a few days apart? That amount of priming sugar should be fine if you know your volume was perfect and the temperature of your beer coming out of the fermenter was correct, so it's possible that what ajbosley2015 is saying is correct.



I'm really not sure how you can tell by looking that the yeast on the bottom of the bottle is eating residual sugar from the original wort rather than priming sugar with that kind of certainty. What you're saying is certainly possible, though, which is why I asked about stable gravity checks.

I cant really say with any certainty...I just predict that is what is occurring because it isn't enough priming sugar to be indicative of over-priming, and in my limited experience, fully attenuated lagers don't have that aspiration evidence on the yeast cake in the bottle. It really appears to be another fermentation, it looks remarkably similar to a well-cleared lager while fermenting. If I wouldn't have seen the large aspiration sites, I would just say overpitched or overprimed...but seems like we have enough info for that to not be the case.

To the OP...there are many commercially available brews that upon opening rouse the yeast cake from purposeful overcarbonation (Deliruim Tremens is a great example)

 

[cipranif]

i belive Aj got it right...i didn't check if my primary fermentation was stable on 1.009, i took it like done but apparently wasn't.

thank you guys for help me out to make clear my mistake!!
i really appreciate.

i drunk one beer been stored for two days in the fridge and this time the yeast didn't mix up..lovely!!!

cheers guys stay home stay safe!!

 

[N4Z]

Hi everyone,

I need your help, beginner brewer and my batch looks suspicious. Is it infected? Should I dump it?

First week:

Close up:

Third week:

Thanks,
Naz

 

[RPh_Guy]

Hi everyone,

I need your help, beginner brewer and my batch looks suspicious. Is it infected? Should I dump it?

First week:

View attachment 679758

Close up:

View attachment 679760

Third week:
View attachment 679759

Thanks,
Naz

Hi, welcome to HBT!

It does look suspicious for a pellicle in my opinion. You may consider doing a "forced pellicle test".
See here:
https://modernbrewhouse.com/wiki/Pellicle
-----
BTW, my article addresses the earlier debate about whether commercial Saccharomyces can form a pellicle. I contacted the major yeast labs to get statements from them, and I hope those put any uncertainty to rest.

WLP644 can form a pellicle according to White Labs R&D although it must be a rare occurrence because brewers generally don't see pellicle formation. WLP700 is in fact S. cerevisiae and "flor"/sherry yeast are a clade that can form a pellicle. No other commercial Sacch strains form pellicles, and therefore a pellicle is a sign of contamination.

 

[N4Z]

Thank you! I will try it out.

Best,
Naz

 

[Mick458]

Hey, This is my first time brewing in quite a while and I just wanted to make sure my wort isn't contaminated. This was just a simple DIY kit called "cascade imperial voyage Pale Ale" I used an old dextrose mix I had called "Coopers Brew Enhancer 2". Unfortunately, I don't have the yeast packet anymore so I can't provide any information about that. This is day 12 of the ferment and it is very slow compared to past brews I have done. Any guidance would be great

 

[Jayjay1976]

Hey, This is my first time brewing in quite a while and I just wanted to make sure my wort isn't contaminated. This was just a simple DIY kit called "cascade imperial voyage Pale Ale" I used an old dextrose mix I had called "Coopers Brew Enhancer 2". Unfortunately, I don't have the yeast packet anymore so I can't provide any information about that. This is day 12 of the ferment and it is very slow compared to past brews I have done. Any guidance would be great View attachment 684608View attachment 684609

That looks like mold

 

[Mick458]

That looks like mold

I know :/ Everything was sanitary though and I have never had this issue before. I Assume I may have to dump it?

 

[bracconiere]

Say what...!!?? Leave beer in the fridge for two days??

Unheard of hereabouts...!!

sometimes a keg lasts more then two days for me....but it's rare!

 

[RPh_Guy]

I know :/ Everything was sanitary though and I have never had this issue before. I Assume I may have to dump it?

Yeah, sorry.

 

[IslandLizard]

I know :/ Everything was sanitary though and I have never had this issue before. I Assume I may have to dump it?

Sorry this happened!
If I had to guess the cause of your mold infection lies in insufficient or improper cleaning and sanitation of your cold side equipment, your fermenter, especially the lid and surrounding area, as well as the airlock being viable suspects. How many times have you removed the lid to check progress of your fermentation?

You need to find out what or where in your process this infection may have come from, and fix/avoid it next time, or chances are it will crop up again. Cleaning, sanitation, brewing process, how the ingredients were used, how you transferred the wort, yeast health, etc. can all play a role.

Before dumping, you could take a hydrometer reading of that beer, to see if it fermented and how far. If the gravity is high, the yeast may not have been viable enough.

On a side note, from what I've read the beer from those kind of kits is not very good. For a Pale Ale that beer looks overly dark. There are much, much better ways to brew, yielding excellent beer.

 

[danKapLu]

Hello,
I brewed this beer 10 days ago, all grain pale ale with US-05. Since then it is sitting in primary, 5.5 gallons in 6.5 gallons carboy at stable ambijent temperature 65f in my basement. Fermentation started on day one and there was ~2 inch foam composed of tiny white bubbles slowly dropping untill day 6/7, the foam dropped compleetly. One day after these bigger bubbles started to appear on clear surface. I'm a newbie, this is my 7th batch and I didn't have those before. I get 5 bubbles/min in the airlock now.
Any idea why foam dropped completly and then those bigger bubbles started to appear?
Is this infection that started after fermentation?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Hello,
I brewed this beer 10 days ago, all grain pale ale with US-05. Since then it is sitting in primary, 5.5 gallons in 6.5 gallons carboy at stable ambijent temperature 65f in my basement. Fermentation started on day one and there was ~2 inch foam composed of tiny white bubbles slowly dropping untill day 6/7, the foam dropped compleetly. One day after these bigger bubbles started to appear on clear surface. I'm a newbie, this is my 7th batch and I didn't have those before. I get 5 bubbles/min in the airlock now.
Any idea why foam dropped completly and then those bigger bubbles started to appear?
Is this infection that started after fermentation?
View attachment 686176

That's not a pellicle, so there's no reason to believe it's contaminated just looking at the photo.

If there are no off-flavors, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Any idea why foam dropped completly and then those bigger bubbles started to appear?
Is this infection that started after fermentation?

The sliminess of those bubbles surely seems to point to an infection. Any idea where that may have come from?
Dirty stopper perhaps? Have you smelled anything off through the airlock?

 

[danKapLu]

Thanks for the fast replys RPh_Guy and IslandLizard. When I pitched the yeast and added the airlock the cooling od the beer and air in the carboy sucked a bit of demineralised water from the airlock to the wort. That's one place i know that mighed caused an infection but you can never ne shure.
I didn't get any off smells in the airlock, only citric smells from citra. Now that seems to fade as bubbling in airlock ceises.
Can i rack to secondary if the Bubbles go away in a few days and if there are no off flawors?
I was planing to dry hop in secondary but I think that i might skip this time. If it is infected that would be a waste od hoops :-(

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks for the fast replys RPh_Guy and IslandLizard. When I pitched the yeast and added the airlock the cooling od the beer and air in the carboy sucked a bit of demineralised water from the airlock to the wort. That's one place i know that mighed caused an infection but you can never ne shure.
I didn't get any off smells in the airlock, only citric smells from citra. Now that seems to fade as bubbling in airlock ceises.
Can i rack to secondary if the Bubbles go away in a few days and if there are no off flawors?
I was planing to dry hop in secondary but I think that i might skip this time. If it is infected that would be a waste od hoops :-(

Why not use Starsan in your airlock?

Secondaries aren't needed, avoid them! Leaving beer where it is, is best. You can dry hop right in that (primary) fermenter.
Only in very, very few cases they offer a benefit, none for regular beers. They only cause more problems, infections, oxidation, while there's nothing they cure or need to cure.

Keep an eye on it, see how it progresses, and if it gets any worse. Hopefully it all subsides...
I would hold off on dry hopping until this is resolved.

 

[ThaddyBrews]

Hello, I'm not sure if this is an infection or not. I just opened this after 2 weeks, first time since fermentation started. Have not done a gravity reading, literally just checked it, cursed repeatedly, and then posted. Thoughts?

 

[danKapLu]

Unfortunate Starsan is temporary banned from my market. The replacement that is available foams eaven more than Starsan and when i put it in the airlock the fluid foams out and the airlock loses the functionality. I hope we get Starsan back soon. I guess that a lower concentration is needed in the airlock.
I will keep an eye on it and keep fingers crossed that iz turns out fine.

 

[IslandLizard]

Unfortunate Starsan is temporary banned from my market. The replacement that is available foams eaven more than Starsan and when i put it in the airlock the fluid foams out and the airlock loses the functionality. I hope we get Starsan back soon. I guess that a lower concentration is needed in the airlock.
I will keep an eye on it and keep fingers crossed that iz turns out fine.

Instead of Starsan, you can use cheap vodka, if there's such a thing in your country, or "grain alcohol" in the air lock. Keep an eye on it, you may need to top it up periodically.

Check the dilution instructions, a lower concentration may work better for you, at least something that protects against infection vectors better than water. Now if that water was clean, not tainted, you definitely got it elsewhere.

Definitely review your sanitation practices on everything that touches your chilled wort or beer. Maybe something got missed. Kettle valves, pumps, tubing, fittings, chiller.

 

[RPh_Guy]

@danKapLu
To me it just looks like normal kraüsen.
It's not a pellicle and therefore there's no clear sign of contamination.

@ThaddyBrews
Any idea what all those black specks are? Something in the recipe?

In my opinion, the floating stuff in your photo is probably "yeast rafts", i.e. leftover kraüsen. It's not a pellicle.

FYI it's better to use a fermenter closer to the batch size.
Welcome to HBT!