Unintended infection with a clean looking pellicle. Should I bother?

[Silentdrinker]

I’ve been brewing for years, and I’m very educated and experienced. I simply don’t like sours, so I never intended on making one. Until maybe now?

So I have my opinion and thoughts, but I’m looking for experienced and educated insight.

Thanks.

Here’s some info:

I’ll spare the details but this was an experimental beer that almost ended my brewing hobby due to a horrible brew day filled with disaster after disaster from malfunctioning equipment. This was the last beer I brewed because I wasn’t going to brew again until I had everything fixed on my brewery.

This was originally brewed 1 year ago. It’s best described as a “wee heavy inspired pumpkin like beer,” and was to be 9%. I used WLP380 attempting to coach out the spicy/clove notes.

All fern controlled, after fermentation was to be complete, I sampled it. It was fine but very sweet. It was only ~ 40% attenuated. I did the usual stuff and put it back to hopefully finish.

I came back a month or so later and sampled again. Still fine, but I did question a subtle tang and thought maybe it got infected with Lactobacillus, but there were no signs and there was some but very little change in gravity. I think, after the long exhausting brew day, I neglected to turn the O2 on as it exited the chiller into the fermenter.

I sealed it back and planned on getting some Nottingham packets to at least finish it up, but that never happened. I just got some Nottingham packets and went down stairs to check on it and maybe toss one or two packets in.... and here we are.

It’s a 10 gal batch fermented in 15.5g a sealed snake keg converted to a “corny keg” so it uses a corny lid and a spunding valve. I expected it to be fine since it’s sealed and I’ve never experienced an infection due to my strict sanitation regimen when dealing with my beers.

But.... after popping the lid, there was no pressure, so it clearly had a small leak. I looked inside and saw the pellicle along with a few dead fruit flies on top. How the hell they managed to find a large enough space is beyond me, but they did.

So that’s the story. I haven’t tasted it yet but it does smell fine. I don’t get any offensive odors such as garbage, vomit or even vinegar. There’s no black, blue or green mold. It’s just a velvety pellicle with a solid creamy color to it and then there are a few spots of white. The color is off in the photo due to crappy flash on my phone.

Does it look to be Lactobacillus and/or Brett? Insight by the wild ferment/sour aficionados would be appreciated:

Thanks again

 

[probablynotnick]

Looks like a typical lacto(ish) pellicle to me, however I would have expected it to have SOME kind of acid in the nose. Definitely worth sampling, though if you don't like sours at all, maybe have another brewer over who does and see if they think it's worth keeping.

Either way, break out the Iodine and give your rig a good cleaning/sani process.

Wish you better luck on the next batch!

 

[RPh_Guy]

If it tastes fine, carbonate and drink
If not, I'd say cut your loss at this point and dump it.

It's impossible to tell what organism(s) is/are present. Lots can make pellicles.

Obviously thoroughly clean the equipment before using it again.

Sorry to hear about the horrible brew day. I've had a couple where nothing seems to go right but I still love brewing.

 

[TechFanMD]

If it tastes fine, carbonate and drink
If not, I'd say cut your loss at this point and dump it.

It's impossible to tell what organism(s) is/are present. Lots can make pellicles.

Obviously thoroughly clean the equipment before using it again.

Sorry to hear about the horrible brew day. I've had a couple where nothing seems to go right but I still love brewing.

Not impossible....you just have to have a microbiologist who works in a lab as a friend - or in my case a spouse....or money for testing Impossible is a strong word.

I wouldn't blame this on failure to hit the O2. Also, fruit flies are nasty.....I am pretty sure the Mars rover was greeted by fruit flies. They get everywhere.

People say that the 'proof is in the pudding'......but the actual phrase is that the proof in the pudding is in the eating. You can look at it, test it, smell it, but until you taste it there is no way to know if it is worth it. I do like the suggestion of getting someone who likes sours (if that isn't you) to try it. I like sours, and have also had some well liked sours (by others) that I don't care for......this may be delicious to someone.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Fair enough. I meant it's impossible for us to tell what's in there by looking at the photo.

It's not necessarily Lacto and it's not necessarily sour.

 

[Silentdrinker]

I plan on pulling a sample to taste. I just haven’t gotten to it yet. And I actually contemplated putting a sample under my lab microscope to see if I can determine what’s going on, just for shits and giggles.

But I know the smell and visuals can provide some insight so that’s why I asked about the look of the pellicle. But as stated, I have very little interest in sours so my knowledge on that is limited.

It’s definitely not a loss at this point considering it smells fine. I’ll pull a sample later tonight and see if it tastes ok. I’ve sampled plenty of sours at Cascade Barrel House here in Portland, so I can definitly appreciate a good sour. I just wouldn’t order a pint.

I guess it comes down to the, “If it doesn’t taste offensive and I don’t wake up dead tomorrow morning,” test. Never had to do this, but there’s always a first for everything.

Thanks guys.