So how bad is this infection?

[msa8967]

I made a Russian Imperial stout that I transfered to my secondary and for the for the 1st 5 months of conditioning everything was fine. Now I check this at month 6 and I have an infection. I would like to hear opinions about whether or not I should bottle this and if so what can I do to help avoid problems like bottle bombs.

 

[AmandaK]

What gravity are you sitting at? And how does it smell?

 

[Yooper]

I don't know. I'd let it sit until the pellicle goes away, to ensure it's actually "done" and then bottle if the SG isn't changing any more.

I'm sure that the reason for the infection is the huge amount of headspace (oxygen) but that doesn't help now.

 

[msa8967]

Yooper, thanks for letting me know the source of the infection may have come from too much headspace. I had been told by another HBT member that this would not be such a problem but I will try to avoid this in the future. I am not sure of what "the pellicle" is refering to though. Is this a common brewing term?

The beer has reached its final gravity (within 0.01) and does not smell bad but I am unsure of what an Imperial Stout should smell like. I was thinking of just trying to rack the middle 1/2 or 2/3 of the beer and bottle this portion.

 

[Yooper]

Yooper, thanks for letting me know the source of the infection may have come from too much headspace. I had been told by another HBT member that this would not be such a problem but I will try to avoid this in the future. I am not sure of what "the pellicle" is refering to though. Is this a common brewing term?

The beer has reached its final gravity (within 0.01) and does not smell bad but I am unsure of what an Imperial Stout should smell like. I was thinking of just trying to rack the middle 1/2 or 2/3 of the beer and bottle this portion.

I don't know why so many people say headspace doesn't matter. It does! Maybe not in a beer aging a couple of weeks, but for a beer that will be in a carboy for more than a few weeks, it's absolutely critical. Oxygen allows mold/bacteria/etc to grow and take hold. That's what happened here.

A pellicle is the term used to describe the "skin" or film on an infected beer. Sometimes you can recognize the infection just by the appearance, but oftentimes not.

I'd rack, but not bottle right away, because depending on the infection the beer can go much lower than the current FG. For instance, aceterobacter (vinegar bacteria) can easily go to under 1.001. I'd rack to the correctly sized carboy, and hope that it doesn't re-form. Or if you bottle, make sure you keep the bottles in a very safe place just in case the infection continues to ferment the beer and you get bottle bombs.

 

[msa8967]

I have a 3 gallon carboy that I can rack this into and let set another month to see in the infection returns. Thanks for the advice and I will definitely pay more attention to the amount of head space I give these long conditioning beers. I was told that even though I would be racking to a secondary after 6 weeks of primary fermentation that the beer would still give off some CO2 and would thus create a protective blanket to prevent further issues. I will avoid this in the future.

I really did not want to throw this out because I brewed it for my wife to have in late November after the birth of our second child in late October.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

It's damn rare that an infection tastes good. It usually tastes like feet and band aids. Take a gravity reading and give it a taste. If it tastes halfway decent, bottle it, let it carb for a couple weeks and stick it in the fridge to slow any further fermentation. If it's nasty tasting, it's probably not going away.

 

[Yooper]

It's damn rare that an infection tastes good. It usually tastes like feet and band aids. Take a gravity reading and give it a taste. If it tastes halfway decent, bottle it, let it carb for a couple weeks and stick it in the fridge to slow any further fermentation. If it's nasty tasting, it's probably not going away.

Actually, that's better advice than mine. I agree with him. If you have room in a fridge to stop it, it might work (although I don't think every infection stops by refrigeration).

 

[msa8967]

It does not" smell or taste bad" but I am not really a fan of this type of beer so it does not taste good to me either. My wife is out of town for a week and so I am thinking I will rack to a smaller secondary and then placing this in the fridge for a while in order to see what developes and to slow down any final fermentation going on. I am hoping that letting her taste this is a few weeks may indicate whether I should bottle or dump this beer.

 

[hopsalot]

potentially some tasty brett