So I did my first all grain batches a few weeks ago. I did one during one saturday (pale ale, brew #1) and two back to back the following saturday (nut brown, brew #2, and hefeweizen, brew #3).
Everything was looking good until last weekend I look at the pale ale and see a white film with whitish bubbles, some 3/8" in diameter. Looks an awful lot like the infection posts I've seen. I figured it became infected when I took a gravity sample a few days prior. But then, I look at my nut brown ale, and its getting a bit of a white film, but no bubbles.
Now, I did not sample the nut brown or the hefeweizen yet. The hefeweizen does not have this film.
I've only done 5 batches prior to these, and were either extract or partial mash, but I've never seen this type of film before. These batches are also a little over 3 gallons in a 5 gallon carboy, I've used blowoff tubes previously.
The weirdest thing here is, in the pale ale, it has actually seem to have diminished. The bubbles are smaller and fewer, and the white film has lessened.
Questions:
1) Could anything non-infection resemble this? I know about yeast rafts and krausen that could have come off the side, this looks like neither.
2) If this is an infection (seems likely to me), could my beer have somehow overcome it, therefore it lessening?
3) How did I get it and why did my hefe not get it? I'm pretty OCD about cleaning and sanitizing.
I keep hoping it isn't an infection, that would be pretty heartbreaking for my first all grain. The pre-white-film sample tasted really good! I'm scared to sample either of the others though at this point.
I've attached 2 pics, one further zoomed in with contrast/brightness tweaked to see it a bit better.
Thanks!
Kosch
Everything was looking good until last weekend I look at the pale ale and see a white film with whitish bubbles, some 3/8" in diameter. Looks an awful lot like the infection posts I've seen. I figured it became infected when I took a gravity sample a few days prior. But then, I look at my nut brown ale, and its getting a bit of a white film, but no bubbles.
Now, I did not sample the nut brown or the hefeweizen yet. The hefeweizen does not have this film.
I've only done 5 batches prior to these, and were either extract or partial mash, but I've never seen this type of film before. These batches are also a little over 3 gallons in a 5 gallon carboy, I've used blowoff tubes previously.
The weirdest thing here is, in the pale ale, it has actually seem to have diminished. The bubbles are smaller and fewer, and the white film has lessened.
Questions:
1) Could anything non-infection resemble this? I know about yeast rafts and krausen that could have come off the side, this looks like neither.
2) If this is an infection (seems likely to me), could my beer have somehow overcome it, therefore it lessening?
3) How did I get it and why did my hefe not get it? I'm pretty OCD about cleaning and sanitizing.
I keep hoping it isn't an infection, that would be pretty heartbreaking for my first all grain. The pre-white-film sample tasted really good! I'm scared to sample either of the others though at this point.
I've attached 2 pics, one further zoomed in with contrast/brightness tweaked to see it a bit better.
Thanks!
Kosch
