Post your infection

[spam_and_eggs]

Just started home brewing in July but have already brewed 8 batches. Went down to grab some Citra IPA bottles from the basement when I noticed something floating on top in the neck of the bottles. Saw that it was in the majority of IPA bottles in some form then saw it was also on some other batches. Here are pictures from the Citra IPA (bottled October 1st), extract saison (bottled September 8th), and an RIS in secondary aging on oak cubes (brewed October 16th). Everything is at ambient basement temperature, ~ 70F. I opened an unchilled bottle of IPA and it foamed over. Not a geyser but a steady foaming out for a minute or so. Never had a problem with over carbonation that I can remember with this batch. Beer tasted normal but different than I remember. Possibly thinner with less hop flavor but that could just be from age. Haven't opened other batches yet.

Could I have a systemic infection on my hands?

 

[backwardsman]

Noob here this is my second brew under my belt just looking to see if this is an infection because it looks different from my last. This was a caribou slobber kit. My fg was1.020 after I added priming sugar, which I now realize was a mistake. I sampled it nothing to stop from drinking it, but just interested in opinions if it is infected. Also this is a month after brew day

 

[unionrdr]

Spam,that could be a gusher infection that would tend to ferment the beer further than usual. Hence the thinner taste.
Backwards,that looks normal to me. Just yeast rafts,maybe some cold break & krausen leftovers.

 

[inkman15]

@Spam - I had the exact same thing happen to me with a batch of chocolate stout. All the bottles have that small white film at the top. It's definitely some kind of bottle infection as they all taste awful. I haven't had the heart to dump them but I really need to. They've been sitting like that for months. Not sure what the source of infection was but it must've been contaminated prior to bottling.

 

[ewebb]

@Spam I have had that happen to me as well, on a chocolate stout. My solution when i noticed it in the fermentor was to siphon it off from below the surface and leave behind extra waste as a result. Nothing has appeared in the bottles, but its a very bitter (Almost sour) stout. I consider myself to have gotten lucky on that one.

 

[m3n00b]

Noob here this is my second brew under my belt just looking to see if this is an infection because it looks different from my last. This was a caribou slobber kit. My fg was1.020 after I added priming sugar, which I now realize was a mistake. I sampled it nothing to stop from drinking it, but just interested in opinions if it is infected. Also this is a month after brew day

That looks normal to me.

 

[Griffin82]

Brett?

Pumpkin Ale w/ WLP002.

Drank it, served it at a party. Wasn't bad, maybe just a slightly different flavor...

Bits in the second fermenter are orange peel. Thanks for any opinions on the diagnosis!

 

[unionrdr]

Yikes! Lacto or Brett fer sher.

 

[Hello]

Totally looks infected but I am curious, is this a secondary you have the beer in? If so, that's a lot of headspace.

 

[unionrdr]

Yup. Def too much head space.

 

[twistr25]

Noob here this is my second brew under my belt just looking to see if this is an infection because it looks different from my last. This was a caribou slobber kit. My fg was1.020 after I added priming sugar, which I now realize was a mistake. I sampled it nothing to stop from drinking it, but just interested in opinions if it is infected. Also this is a month after brew day

Agreed, looks like the krausen is finishing it's fall. Did you add the priming sugar into that bucket?

 

[Griffin82]

Totally looks infected but I am curious, is this a secondary you have the beer in? If so, that's a lot of headspace.

Yep, split the batch into two fermenters when racking to secondary to try different additions... The second fermenter eventually looked the same, just a few days behind the other.

So... what's with the headspace, just too much oxygen in there? If so, can you get around this by purging with CO2?

 

[Dave37]

Yep, split the batch into two fermenters when racking to secondary to try different additions... The second fermenter eventually looked the same, just a few days behind the other.

So... what's with the headspace, just too much oxygen in there? If so, can you get around this by purging with CO2?

Having more headspace than is necessary is not a death sentence for your beer. Don't kick yourself for that too much and think you've found the answer right away with that. if you can avoid it if possible I'd always recommend putting your beer in the right size secondary fermenter, but just because you have 10" of air in your carboy doesn't mean you're going to get an infection in your beer. Your sanitary practices should always be on point and done extremely thoroughly. If you clean your carboy properly there is no reason you can't secondary for months. IMHO and IME.

secondly from what I've read, purging the air out of your carboy with co2 is a fairly common practice and a lot of people on here say it helps. Sorry about your batch man hope it still tastes good after its all said and done.

Cheers.

 

[overtonbrew]

My first infected brew 😒

[ame]http://youtu.be/7RnXC_m_AEc[/ame]

I'm pretty sure I know what caused it. But I'm worried about my equipment that came in contact with this batch along the way: wort chiller, fermenter, beer thief, tubing, auto siphon, etc.

Any recommendations on how to handle it?

 

[unionrdr]

It looks like the entire yeast cake just floated to the top. Never saw a pellicle that looked like that?...

 

[ragertom]

Noob here this is my second brew under my belt just looking to see if this is an infection because it looks different from my last. This was a caribou slobber kit. My fg was1.020 after I added priming sugar, which I now realize was a mistake. I sampled it nothing to stop from drinking it, but just interested in opinions if it is infected. Also this is a month after brew day

you already added the priming sugar? Did you bottle already?

 

[overtonbrew]

It looks like the entire yeast cake just floated to the top. Never saw a pellicle that looked like that?...

If it was the yeast cake, that beer was not going to be any good. It smelled so bad I couldn't get my mouth close enough to taste it.

 

[HopHead_32]

Hey guys, This is my second batch... All grain ESB. I was used WLP 002 and it's on day 23 of fermentation. I just happen to look at it last night and I noticed a small area in the back right of the carboy and I started to get worried about a infection. I was wondering if this looks like a infection or just normal build up on the top layer. It tasted great last week when I checked the gravity. I hope it's okay and it turns out to be a great second brew.

Any suggestions on checking the brew to see if it is infected?

Thanks! (PS... Sorry the pics aren't that great)

 

[3PegBrew]

This is a disturbing yet informative thread. Great fo anyone who has no idea what to look for and freak out over the tiniest speck of "that doesnt look normal."

 

[dx6x]

Did i get my 1st infection or im i just unused to krausen as i usually ferment in a bucket.

 

[skw]

hophead_32, dx6x, both of your fermenters look like fermented beer to me.

 

[HopHead_32]

hophead_32, dx6x, both of your fermenters look like fermented beer to me.

I'm hoping so.... I will keep a eye on it... Going to dry hop next Friday and bottle the following Friday

 

[backwardsman]

you already added the priming sugar? Did you bottle already?

I bottled right after picture. I added sugar to bottling bucket before I syphoned

 

[GV00]

My first mead. A slow fermentation (not enough to push a single bubble through the airlock that I've seen, and it's even sucked the water back in during weather shifts). I thought maybe it was just a slow and steady fermentation, but it's only dropped 1-2 points of SG in the last 4-5 days. Took a look at it, and this is what I saw. I'm worried it's a mycoderma infection, and that the yeast didn't take off well enough to really hold its own. There's a clear lair of trub at the bottom that seems to be growing, but I still have my doubts. Sorry for the crummy photos, I'll try to get some with better ambient lighting later tomorrow, but my existing thread in the mead forum hasn't really gotten any useful feedback since this developed. Infection, or just yeast? How can I be sure?

 

[Griffin82]

Having more headspace than is necessary is not a death sentence for your beer. Don't kick yourself for that too much and think you've found the answer right away with that. if you can avoid it if possible I'd always recommend putting your beer in the right size secondary fermenter, but just because you have 10" of air in your carboy doesn't mean you're going to get an infection in your beer. Your sanitary practices should always be on point and done extremely thoroughly. If you clean your carboy properly there is no reason you can't secondary for months. IMHO and IME. secondly from what I've read, purging the air out of your carboy with co2 is a fairly common practice and a lot of people on here say it helps. Sorry about your batch man hope it still tastes good after its all said and done. Cheers.

Sounds good, thanks for the info. Finished product wasn't too bad at all! Think we traced it back to a piece of wood that was newly introduced on brew day... Lesson learned there.

Cheers!

 

[Shred]

My first mead. A slow fermentation (not enough to push a single bubble through the airlock that I've seen, and it's even sucked the water back in during weather shifts). I thought maybe it was just a slow and steady fermentation, but it's only dropped 1-2 points of SG in the last 4-5 days. Took a look at it, and this is what I saw. I'm worried it's a mycoderma infection, and that the yeast didn't take off well enough to really hold its own. There's a clear lair of trub at the bottom that seems to be growing, but I still have my doubts. Sorry for the crummy photos, I'll try to get some with better ambient lighting later tomorrow, but my existing thread in the mead forum hasn't really gotten any useful feedback since this developed. Infection, or just yeast? How can I be sure?

Hard to tell from these pics but it doesn't look like an infection to me.

 

[Maso]

My first post to this awesome forum.

I've been extract brewing for few years and been all grainer (BIAB) about a year now (no looking back!). This looks like the first infection I've ever had. Whole surface is covered in this strange looking rug with one nasty looking "crater" in it. It doesn't smell bad but I have yet to taste it. Should I bother to bottle it? Its a chocolate stout that I racked into secondary 3 weeks ago.

And one close-up for the science:

 

[Dave37]

My first post to this awesome forum.

I've been extract brewing for few years and been all grainer (BIAB) about a year now (no looking back!). This looks like the first infection I've ever had. Whole surface is covered in this strange looking rug with one nasty looking "crater" in it. It doesn't smell bad but I have yet to taste it. Should I bother to bottle it? Its a chocolate stout that I racked into secondary 3 weeks ago.

And one close-up for the science:

That thing is gnarly!! Nice. Sorry about your first infection. Welcome to the forum! Hope it still tastes good.

Cheers

 

[Maso]

That thing is gnarly!! Nice. Sorry about your first infection. Welcome to the forum! Hope it still tastes good.

Cheers

Thanks for the welcome.

I just racked this gnarly stout carefully to another bucket and gave it a taste. Tasted just great! Time to bottle and hope they don't turn into bombs.

Uh and somehow I need to forget that this ever happened to this batch... hardest part I think.

 

[unionrdr]

With my recent experience with a lacto infection,racking out from under it into bottles worked. A few weeks at room temp & 2 weeks fridge time,& they're clear taste good. It seems the co2 rich environment in the bottles kills it. I used o2 barrier caps as well.