Post your infection

[Dave37]

Thanks. I agree about the pellicle because the 18 month old beer never formed one when it was in primary due to the fact that there was, like you said, barely any headspace for oxygen.

 

[kiwirevo]

Hi everyone, this is only a starter (for an already fermenting beer so not urgent) but what do you think should I chuck it out? It's like a white film on top, I was trying to grow some yeast from a Wyeast vial to help finish off a beer.

View attachment 1455950564075.jpg

 

[mrgrimm101]

An oatmeal stout I was going to bottle today. 3 weeks in primary. It's a little tough to tell from my phone's flash, but the surface has a sort of whiteish film on part of it. It looks like it kind of strings across the surface. I haven't tasted it yet. I was hoping it's just something sort of common when brewing with oats..it was my first oatmeal stout.

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[JeuDeVache]

Here's mine, an Imperial Kolsch with oak sticks. Not sure it is infected, but it just appears after 37 days in secondary. Oak sticks pass 25 minutes at 300 C, so i don't think it cames from that. Bubble seems to be linear and some are bigger. Do you think it is an infection? It taste very good until now.

 

[unionrdr]

I can see a lil broken ice pack in there, so something's taking hold.

 

[mrgrimm101]

I can see a lil broken ice pack in there, so something's taking hold.

Which one? Mine or @JeuDeVache?

 

[unionrdr]

@jeudevache's.

 

[JeuDeVache]

@jeudevache's.

What you mean? Is that an expression I don't understand (i'm french canadian). The only things that are in carboy are 2 oak sticks.

 

[unionrdr]

Looking at the carboy pic, it's like looking down on a lake where the ice is breaking up. Here around the Great Lakes, it's referred to as ice pack. broken pieces/chunks of ice " packed" together. But in this case, they don't get packed up on top of each other, as in nature. The just lie there sort of together. That's an infection.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I can see a lil broken ice pack in there, so something's taking hold.

I am no expert but it looks okay to me. I usually wait for more of a layer to form before I decide as the leftover krausen/yeast rafts and what have you can be misleading.

 

[snow16]

I'm certainly no expert either, but I think it's a little too soon to condemn that beer (JeuDeVache's). There could be something developing there, but at this point I don't think it looks ominous.

 

[JeuDeVache]

Pictures of today, more bubble, there's definitely something getting out of the oat sticks, the foam is forming a line from them...

EDIT***: the things thats getting on my nerve, is that the beer was completely flat since a month before it apears...

 

[beergolf]

I am no expert but it looks okay to me. I usually wait for more of a layer to form before I decide as the leftover krausen/yeast rafts and what have you can be misleading.

Don't argue with unionrdr. He obviously is an expert on infections, since he gets so many. Look how many post he has in this thread.

 

[joshesmusica]

Pictures of today, more bubble, there's definitely something getting out of the oat sticks, the foam is forming a line from them...

EDIT***: the things thats getting on my nerve, is that the beer was completely flat since a month before it apears...

The problem for us is that the quality of the pictures are really quite poor. Very bad lighting, and not so great angle. Turn the light on in the room, and take pictures from a few different angles. Then we can help give a better assessment. It seems like you've been waiting a while anyways, so just wait another week before taking more pictures.

The problem for you, is that if those have been racked to a secondary, you've got way too much headspace in there. That much oxygen, plus throwing in the oak cubes, will give the bacteria a space to grow. Next time you want to fill it all the way to the neck.

 

[kombat]

Hi everyone, this is only a starter (for an already fermenting beer so not urgent) but what do you think should I chuck it out? It's like a white film on top, I was trying to grow some yeast from a Wyeast vial to help finish off a beer.

It's hard to tell from that picture, but the wort itself looks much too light. How did you prepare it? What was the original gravity of the starter?

An oatmeal stout I was going to bottle today. 3 weeks in primary. It's a little tough to tell from my phone's flash, but the surface has a sort of whiteish film on part of it.

Looks fine to me, but 3 weeks is a little early if you're worried about an infection. To be certain, take a gravity reading, then take another one a week later. If they're different, then something is still working in there (probably an infection). If they're identical, then you're fine to go ahead and bottle.

Also, I agree with joshesmusica, the quality of photos in this thread (in general, not picking on you two) is quite poor. The key is lighting. Take your photos during the day, with the curtains open, flood the room with light. Don't hold the camera too close (it can't focus super-close), or use a real camera, not some crappy phone camera.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Looks fine to me, but 3 weeks is a little early if you're worried about an infection. To be certain, take a gravity reading, then take another one a week later. If they're different, then something is still working in there (probably an infection). If they're identical, then you're fine to go ahead and bottle.

Also, I agree with joshesmusica, the quality of photos in this thread (in general, not picking on you two) is quite poor. The key is lighting. Take your photos during the day, with the curtains open, flood the room with light. Don't hold the camera too close (it can't focus super-close), or use a real camera, not some crappy phone camera.

I bottled it already. FG was right where it should be. If I get gushers or bottle bombs, then lesson learned. I agree the quality was poor. I don't own an actual camera, and it was a last minute photo..I was going to bottle and I looked at it and noticed, so I opened it (safely and quickly) to snap a photo. The room isn't overly bright, even with windows open. I did the best I could.. either way, I thought one could see the parts on the surface of my beer that were a concern to me.

 

[unionrdr]

Don't argue with unionrdr. He obviously is an expert on infections, since he gets so many. Look how many post he has in this thread.

Yeah, I'm downright popular. I was referring to the pic in post number 3064. right near the light glare burst you can see the broken ice pack lookin' stuff that is usually a dead giveaway for an infection. And I'd appreciate you and another person to stop being so snarky toward me. All this polite finger flippin' is getting ridiculous. And I have been fermenting stuff as long as many of you have been alive. I'm no expert, but not deserving of all this snarky, sneaky kick him in the butt when he turns around high school BS.

 

[joshesmusica]

Don't argue with unionrdr. He obviously is an expert on infections, since he gets so many. Look how many post he has in this thread.

If there's anyone on this site who absolutely does not deserve people being a dick to him, it's unionrdr. Give it a rest.

 

[bransona]

Can I just +1 unionrdr?

Yeah. +1.

 

[ritojr]

Not sure what you can tell, sorry for crappy pics. Is this the beginning of an infection? 6 days in secondary on cocoa nibs. Starting to see some bubbling around the nibs and suddenly I have activity in the airlock once a minute or so when I had nothing past few days. Infection or just oils and whatnot from the nibs?

 

[joshesmusica]

Not sure what you can tell, sorry for crappy pics. Is this the beginning of an infection? 6 days in secondary on cocoa nibs. Starting to see some bubbling around the nibs and suddenly I have activity in the airlock once a minute or so when I had nothing past few days. Infection or just oils and whatnot from the nibs?

Sorry man, can't really tell. It could just be off-gassing. Maybe the temperature changed in the room it's in, or maybe the air pressure changed. Many reasons bubbling would start up a few days after having put the nibs in. Could have just taken a while to build up the pressure again.

Try your best to get a better photo. The first one I can see the white foam, but can't really tell if it's foam, or if it's a pellicle. It's just not clear enough. The second one I see even less foam, but it looks more like foam and not a pellicle. It seems like simply just off-gassing as of right now. Only time will tell.

Did you soak the nibs in vodka or something first? Or roast them or something?

There seems to be no krausen ring, so I'm going to assume that's a secondary vessel. If you do end up with an infection, you'll be wise in the future to make sure that you can fill it all the way up to the next in a secondary. Or at least add some more fermentables in. Otherwise you're pretty much just asking for an infection.

 

[ritojr]

Sorry man, can't really tell. It could just be off-gassing. Maybe the temperature changed in the room it's in, or maybe the air pressure changed. Many reasons bubbling would start up a few days after having put the nibs in. Could have just taken a while to build up the pressure again.

Try your best to get a better photo. The first one I can see the white foam, but can't really tell if it's foam, or if it's a pellicle. It's just not clear enough. The second one I see even less foam, but it looks more like foam and not a pellicle. It seems like simply just off-gassing as of right now. Only time will tell.

Did you soak the nibs in vodka or something first? Or roast them or something?

There seems to be no krausen ring, so I'm going to assume that's a secondary vessel. If you do end up with an infection, you'll be wise in the future to make sure that you can fill it all the way up to the next in a secondary. Or at least add some more fermentables in. Otherwise you're pretty much just asking for an infection.

Sorry my daughter was going to bed and I snapped them quick. They do look more like little bubbles and they are located around the nibs in general. No I should have paid more attention I did not soak them.

It was a bit warmer here today so this has been sitting around 63-64 and it got up to almost 70 in that room today.

Lastly first time in a secondary. This was all that came out of my primary, how do I ensure its filled? Was a 5 gallon brew and this is a gal carboy but seemed to have lost a lot of liquid. Should I have brewed more than 5 gallons?

I'll prob send this off to a keg tomorrow and get it out of the secondary

 

[joshesmusica]

Sorry my daughter was going to bed and I snapped them quick. They do look more like little bubbles and they are located around the nibs in general. No I should have paid more attention I did not soak them.

It was a bit warmer here today so this has been sitting around 63-64 and it got up to almost 70 in that room today.

Lastly first time in a secondary. This was all that came out of my primary, how do I ensure its filled? Was a 5 gallon brew and this is a gal carboy but seemed to have lost a lot of liquid. Should I have brewed more than 5 gallons?

I'll prob send this off to a keg tomorrow and get it out of the secondary

What size is the carboy, it seems you may have missed a key?

If it's a 5-gallon, then you really probably want to brew 5.5 gallons if you're planning on racking to secondary. I can easily lose a .5 gallon to trub and yeast, and not wanting to rack all the way down to the yeast. It seems about how much you're missing.

Or like I said, add some kind of fermentable, even just some table sugar. I don't really have carboys, so when I rack to a secondary bucket, a big No-No around these parts, then I just add 100-150 grams of sugar. This should help get the oxygen to negligible levels. Then if you're super sanitary, that should take care of not getting any bacteria in there in the first place. Next time do something with those nibs though. Soaking them in vodka will not only help sanitize them, it should also help extract some more flavor before you're even tossing them in.

 

[ritojr]

Yup missed a key. It is a 5 gallon carboy. I dont plan on going to the secondary often unless its a stout like this. I'll be sure to brew more next time.

I'll take a look at this in the morning in better light and see what it looks like and what I can capture. For a few days now it did have an oily type look where these bubbles now are. Maybe ill try the sugar method as well.

Appreciate the help

 

[Jwin]

How but this
Yeast rafts or otherwise?

View attachment 1456703803917.jpg

 

[Jwin]

Here, zoomed in
All very uniform
Size of sesame seeds or so

View attachment 1456703992447.jpg

 

[joshesmusica]

yeast

 

[Jwin]

Moved to the edge as I racked it.
They are tough. ..
Guessing hops or grain bits.

Edit- final theory, but of the dried krausen ring that came off when I more the speidel to cold crash

View attachment 1456704733317.jpg

 

[BaylessBrewer]

Moved to the edge as I racked it.
They are tough. ..
Guessing hops or grain bits.

Edit- final theory, but of the dried krausen ring that came off when I more the speidel to cold crash

If you used whole cone hops then I would bet that they are seeds.

 

[unionrdr]

Nope, just yeast colonies. no sweat...