Probable infection in IPA. HELP!

[BrewDoc1518]

Hello all,

So, I went to dry hop an IPA in my fermenter today and when I opened it up I had two small white floating plaques, which look similar to what other have posted as lacto infections. This brew has been sitting untouched for 5 weeks now, and I planned on legging it this weekend. I brewed it for some family that's coming into town next weekend and now I'm wondering if it's even worth serving! This is my first known infection, and it makes me sad. Should I serve it? Will the hops cover up any sour flavor from the lacto? Any advice is welcome.

P.S. Those were the only two colonies I could see. And yes I stupidly already put the hops in.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441316813.017231.jpg

 

[LLBeanJ]

Smell it, taste it. If it smells okay and tastes okay, keg it up and get it chilled pronto.

 

[unionrdr]

So far, it looks like floating hop debris with some yeast floaters on it...

 

[wilserbrewer]

5 weeks? Why so long?

 

[Bellybuster]

lacto is very common with dry hopping. Nice thing about lacto is it needs O2 and a kegged beer has little of it. Keg'er up

 

[BrewDoc1518]

5 weeks because I was out of state for a month. Unfortunately that will be my trend as I interview for residency spots this winter.

Belly, this lacto (if that's what it is) was present before adding the hops. Would that change anything?

 

[unionrdr]

I see what y'all are lookin at now. A couple spots where the floating hops developed a bit of infection. If it's done, keg it up & get in on the gas.

 

[Bellybuster]

Belly, this lacto (if that's what it is) was present before adding the hops. Would that change anything?

nope

 

[BrewDoc1518]

So if I dry hop for another day or so then cold crash and keg do you guys think I will be ok?

 

[Yooper]

So if I dry hop for another day or so then cold crash and keg do you guys think I will be ok?

Yes, if you drink it fast. Lacto will go slowly in the fridge, but it won't stop.

Next time, if you're going to leave the beer a long time, put it in a vessel with little headspace and something more airtight than a plastic bucket. A short time, during active fermentation and just at the end of fermentation, perfectly fine but long term means some oxygen can enter and then mold can form, or other microbes like lacto can take hold.

I'd clean the **** out of that keg, the o-rings, and the lines and tap after drinking that keg, though. Then sanitize it by bleach bombing all the things you can, and sanitizing the rest. As once you have lacto in the lines, it's hard to get rid of.

 

[Bellybuster]

you'll be fine, lacto (if thats what it is) is a slow worker. have you tasted it?? I bet its just fine. you gotta really screw up to create dumpenbrau
lacto will not continue in an O2 free environment, ensure you purge your keg and fill from the bottom up

 

[andy6026]

"dumpenbrau" - haha! Never heard that before...

 

[Bellybuster]

you gotta get out more

 

[Yooper]

you'll be fine, lacto (if thats what it is) is a slow worker. have you tasted it?? I bet its just fine. you gotta really screw up to create dumpenbrau
lacto will not continue in an O2 free environment, ensure you purge your keg and fill from the bottom up

Actually, lacto can do well in an oxygen environment, but prefers oxygen-free or oxygen reduced environments to really get going. It ferments anaerobically.

 

[Bellybuster]

Lactobacilli are facultative anaerobes — they can ferment in the presence or absence of air, but prefer reduced oxygen levels. Lactobacilli are also rod-shaped. One important species to brewers is Lactobacillus delbrückii. The species name delbrückii came from Max Delbrück, a founding father of microbiology, who characterized bacteria in the sour beers of Berlin (Berliner Weisse). Besides L. delbrückii, several other Lactobacilli find their way into beer, including L. brevis, L. acidophilus, and L. lactis.


Right you are.... I stand corrected....thank you, got me reading again

 

[BrewDoc1518]

Yooper is right, it's anaerobic. Same type of bug found in the GI tract and other oxygen depleted areas of the body. I'm hoping that the cold will delay the growth enough to drink it this next weekend. It smelled great, so hopefully when I rack to the keg it tastes good too.

 

[m00ps]

BEFORE YOU KEG IT AND TAP IT:
you are aware this will infect your siphon,keg,tap lines...everything that touches it right? The keg you can take apart to soak in a cleaning solution but anything plastic is a different story. Its general accepted that once you go wild with plastic you never go back

 

[madscientist451]

Hello all,

Will the hops cover up any sour flavor from the lacto? Any advice is welcome.

I read through the whole thread and didn't see anything about the OP actually tasting the beer. Did I miss it? Why not just taste it and see what you've got?

 

[BrewDoc1518]

I read through the whole thread and didn't see anything about the OP actually tasting the beer. Did I miss it? Why not just taste it and see what you've got?

I have not tasted it yet. I will taste tomorrow morning when it is ready for the keg.

Everyone on a consensus that this is a lacto infection? Or is this a wild strain of yeast?

 

[unionrdr]

It's hard to tell just by looking at it. A microscope would help though...

 

[BrewDoc1518]

UPDATE: So I tasted it today, and it tasted ok, at least I didn't want to spit it out. The pellicle that was there was gone when I racked it. So it went into the keg, I guess we will see. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Also, while I was gone for a month, my hops got scattered throughout the fridge and today I found an ounce that was intended for dry hopping. So, this hasn't been one of my best showings. Going to drown my sorrows with a brew of mine that I have left overs of.

 

[bcltoys]

Does Lacto have a smell.

 

[Bellybuster]

Does Lacto have a smell.

not really, a brew that has been allowed to ferment lacto can be sharp to the nose, like any other thing sour and low PH. lacto can take months to appear as any actual flavour in a beer, especially when refrigerated

 

[wilserbrewer]

lacto can take months to appear as any actual flavour in a beer, especially when refrigerated

Good point, I'm not convinced this beer is even infected at all. I had a similar patch of bubbles on a batch I kegged yesterday.

I think we are a bit ahead of ourselves here, referring to this as a pellicle, then it disappears? IME an infection will be almost like a piece of Saran Wrap or wax paper floating on the surface...hard to tell from the pic, but this perhaps looks like a patch of small bubbles, like some co2 was released from the yeast cake and collected on the surface. Idk

Question to the op, did you open the bucket at the end of fermentation? Or was the bucket sealed the entire time?

Just asking, I feel the worst thing one can do is open the fermenter post fermentation, then let it sit for a few weeks.

Once you expose finished beer to air, best to package ASAP IMO.

 

[BrewDoc1518]

Good point, I'm not convinced this beer is even infected at all. I had a similar patch of bubbles on a batch I kegged yesterday.

I think we are a bit ahead of ourselves here, referring to this as a pellicle, then it disappears? IME an infection will be almost like a piece of Saran Wrap or wax paper floating on the surface...hard to tell from the pic, but this perhaps looks like a patch of small bubbles, like some co2 was released from the yeast cake and collected on the surface. Idk

Question to the op, did you open the bucket at the end of fermentation? Or was the bucket sealed the entire time?

Just asking, I feel the worst thing one can do is open the fermenter post fermentation, then let it sit for a few weeks.

Once you expose finished beer to air, best to package ASAP IMO.

Nope! The first time it was exposed to air was 2 days before it went into the keg when I threw the hops in. The white object was present when I opened it up. It sat untouched for 5 weeks while I was out of state. I would think that if it truly was an infection it would be going crazy by then. I wonder if it was something the S-05 was trying to do...

 

[unionrdr]

I think it could've just been something on top of the floating hop debris...

 

[BrewDoc1518]

UPDATE: poured from the keg today, it tastes like its previously made batch (without an ounce of hops, still frustrated about that). So hopefully we are in the clear.

 

[theseeker4]

5 weeks because I was out of state for a month. Unfortunately that will be my trend as I interview for residency spots this winter.

Belly, this lacto (if that's what it is) was present before adding the hops. Would that change anything?

Hey brewdoc, I will be on the residency interview trail the same time you are. What specialty are you applying to?

 

[IslandLizard]

Lacto doesn't like hoppy environments, it can't thrive there. So possibly you may have some lacto infection, it won't grow fast. You've got a couple months if kept cold. IPAs should be finished by then anyway.

 

[BrewDoc1518]

Hey brewdoc, I will be on the residency interview trail the same time you are. What specialty are you applying to?

Emergency Medicine, yourself??