Think they borked this first batch. Mold/Bacteria

[Clydesdale404]

Roommates been wanting to do this for a while so they got all the stuff for it at the local Brew store... but just about time to bottle the first batch and I've noticed both Mold and Bacteria, see below. Personally, even tho they used that phosphoric cleaner and everything, I don't think they were being as careful as they should have been.

So..is this normal and is this stout salvageable? Tonight is supposed to be bottling night but now I'm not so sure.

 

[djfriesen]

How do you know there's bacteria? I can't really see anything there that is a deal breaker. I can't tell what the white stuff is, but it doesn't look like a typical infection.

If you can take a picture of the surface of the beer, that will help. Also, taste a little of the beer. It won't hurt you, and if it's sour or vinegar-y, it's likely infected. Other than that, there isn't much more to be said.

 

[JonM]

That looks like hops and krausen to me. Perfectly normal.

 

[DrummerBoySeth]

That looks like hop particles and other normal "trub" to me... Taste the beer (nothing dangerous can grow in beer, even infected beer). If it tastes like warm, flat beer, then you are fine.

I bet you will be bottling after all when you taste the beer. It is most likely fine.

 

[Raenon]

Yup, looks like krausen heavily tinted by hop particulate- dollars to donuts, you used pellet hops, right? Those turn into a lovely array of little speckles.

I'd personally let it sit in the primary for a bit longer to let it settle before bottling just to make racking easier, unless it's already been in there a month (in which case, more time probably just won't help- but it certainly won't hurt it)
If you're at two weeks, leave it for two more and make your job easier. If you can get it cold, even better- a lot more of the material will drop in cold beer.

Beyond that, just try to get the racking cane under the material on the top, and keep it an inch or two above the bottom to avoid the trub down there, and rack to a bottling bucket on top of your priming sugar solution (sugar boiled in a cup or two of water). Let that settle for 30 minutes to an hour if you can (for whatever did get through) and then bottle. A few more weeks of conditioning at room temp, and then a week in the fridge will compact what material and yeast did get through down at the bottom of the bottle.

 

[bad67z]

If it smells and tastes like flat beer your good to go.

 

[H-ost]

Totallies normal

 

[amandabab]

I'm going to guess its a dry yeast batch.

the carboy neck pic:
seen that many times when some yeast sticks on its way in.


nothing looks wrong to me.

 

[klnosaj]

There's nothing wrong with it. What you're seeing is fairly normal.

 

[passedpawn]

Why did you put mustard greens in your brew?

j/k, just looks like normal fermentation chaos clinging to the carboy walls.

[ now, thinking about the greens... hmmm, sinister brewing thoughts... ]

 

[homebrewdad]

That is not infected. Mold looks like hairy green (sometimes yellow) lumps. No hair here. Most other infectionwould be a veiny white film, maybe with big bubbles.

This is standard krausen residue with some hopjunk left over. Fermentation is an ugly process, dude.

 

[Thehopguy]

I think its funny that you probably helped make this beer with your roommates but as soon as you thought it was infected, "they" weren't as careful as they should have been and "they" caused an infection.

But seriously, looks like krausen, the beer is most likely just fine. Take a sample out and taste it.

 

[Andrew5329]

In most cases it's almost hard to get a bacterial infection, while it can and does happen to the sloppy folks out there, as long as you did some form of sanitation on your equipment and you pitched your yeast at the right temp it's pretty rare.

Fermentation is a race between your yeast and the bacteria, because you have trillions of yeast cells growing and reproducing compared to only a few thousandf Bacteria left over after sanitation, they almost always finish consuming the fermentables long before the Bacteria grow to a number even close to being a problem.

That and the conditions in your beer will kill any bacteria that did grow anyway.

 

[Clydesdale404]

Turned out okay, it seems. After doing some more looking around at other peoples infections this seemed minor, if anything. There was nothing on the surface of the beer and when sampling it tasted like flat NewCastle. We racked and bottled last night, so should see how it turns out in about a week.

It's supposed to be chocolate stout I think, but didn't taste like a stout at all. It came from and ingredients kit they bought for the first time around. Not sure if the hopes were pellets or not, I wasn't around when they started boiling stuff up. But..so far so good!

Thanks,

C.D.

 

[Clydesdale404]

I didn't help with anything except the bottling. Was an amusing process, however, as one of the dropped the carboy full of sanitizer (luckily onto a thick rubber mat in the kitchen, so it didn't shatter) and it acted like a water cannon and geysered out like a water cannon and hit the other square in the chest.

I think its funny that you probably helped make this beer with your roommates but as soon as you thought it was infected, "they" weren't as careful as they should have been and "they" caused an infection.

But seriously, looks like krausen, the beer is most likely just fine. Take a sample out and taste it.

 

[Clydesdale404]

I should have pointed out that the 'green' is obviously not the mold, but white that started to take it over...right in the center of the picture. That started creeping around in several places and when you look at it from the side you can see it started to grow outward a bit. The white stuff at the top I suppose could be the yeast, just looked like bacterial colonies at first glance.

That is not infected. Mold looks like hairy green (sometimes yellow) lumps. No hair here. Most other infectionwould be a veiny white film, maybe with big bubbles.

This is standard krausen residue with some hopjunk left over. Fermentation is an ugly process, dude.

 

[Domer]

Let those bottles sit longer than a week. The longer the better. If it were mine I wouldn't touch em for at least 3...

 

[Jwood]

everyone saying not possibly infected? wtf is that white stuff? I've never had anything remotely like that in a normal batch.

i would let it sit another week and see if it spreads. You don't want to bottle on an infection.

 

[Clydesdale404]

Let those bottles sit longer than a week. The longer the better. If it were mine I wouldn't touch em for at least 3...

Well the guy who was the instigator in all this is following instructions from somewhere and he said a week but I'll let him know...but even then it will likely only be a sample. We bottled 48 bottles so it's not like we're going to plow through them in night Curious to see how the carbonation goes with the secondary fermentation in the bottles (Sugar was added before bottling)

 

[Clydesdale404]

everyone saying not possibly infected? wtf is that white stuff? I've never had anything remotely like that in a normal batch.

i would let it sit another week and see if it spreads. You don't want to bottle on an infection.

Too late there, already bottled. It was limited to those spots however, there was never any film on the brew itself and no other growth was seen. Tasting before bottling seemed fine..just like flat beer...we'll see!

 

[homebrewdad]

everyone saying not possibly infected? wtf is that white stuff? I've never had anything remotely like that in a normal batch.

i would let it sit another week and see if it spreads. You don't want to bottle on an infection.

White stuff = yeast rafts. Totally normal.

Well the guy who was the instigator in all this is following instructions from somewhere and he said a week but I'll let him know...but even then it will likely only be a sample. We bottled 48 bottles so it's not like we're going to plow through them in night Curious to see how the carbonation goes with the secondary fermentation in the bottles (Sugar was added before bottling)

Drinkable in a week? Sure, but they will almost certainly be flat. Three weeks at 70 degrees is the baseline for most beers. High graivty, lower temps, take longer.

Even then it may take a bit longer to mellow out. But hey, you still have beer.

 

[JonM]

Be sure to put a couple bottles aside. Most beers, and especially darker beers, benefit from a long conditioning process. You'll probably be amazed at how good these beers are after 2-3 MONTHS in the bottles.

 

[beerman0001]

LOL these guys are going to be through it in 2 days max.. Need to start brewing a few batches a week.

 

[Clydesdale404]

LOL these guys are going to be through it in 2 days max.. Need to start brewing a few batches a week.

We'll see! I'm pushing to let it just sit as I thought a week was pushing it. Instigator want's to sample a bottle tonight...*shrug* He thinks it'll be carbonated enough to be drinkable. But you're right....they were already talking about a "Well, we brew one week..drink the next..endless supply of beer!" Lots of excitement around it...it's like kitchen science...and science is not about Why...it's about Why not!?

 

[kasky99]

We'll see! I'm pushing to let it just sit as I thought a week was pushing it. Instigator want's to sample a bottle tonight...*shrug* He thinks it'll be carbonated enough to be drinkable. But you're right....they were already talking about a "Well, we brew one week..drink the next..endless supply of beer!" Lots of excitement around it...it's like kitchen science...and science is not about Why...it's about Why not!?

The why not in this case being that it will still be flat. Just don't let them think that there is something wrong with their beer when they open even at two weeks and it is not as carbonated as they wanted.

 

[Andrew5329]

Well the guy who was the instigator in all this is following instructions from somewhere and he said a week but I'll let him know...but even then it will likely only be a sample. We bottled 48 bottles so it's not like we're going to plow through them in night Curious to see how the carbonation goes with the secondary fermentation in the bottles (Sugar was added before bottling)

If he's following the instructions that came with your kit, remember that the company's goal is to sell you as much of their product as possible, not to gaurentee you the best beer. So it's in there interest if your beer has a quicker turnaround time. ;3

 

[Clydesdale404]

If he's following the instructions that came with your kit, remember that the company's goal is to sell you as much of their product as possible, not to gaurentee you the best beer. So it's in there interest if your beer has a quicker turnaround time. ;3

Well, it apparently turned out okay. They sampled a bottle yesterday and said it was indeed carbonated and not flat and quite good...I suspect it will be a lot better if it ages longer.