what happened to my brew?!

[Hume-ulus]

I bottled 5 glns already today and opened this one to bottle/rack.
I'm terrified to consider that wet hoping caused this. I use Star san and washed out with hot water and soap every time I use this bucket before and after.

Have any of you ever seen a film like this before? Is it safe to drink?

Signed,

Worried in Kentucky

 

[Hume-ulus]

There was supposed to be a photo attached. I'll work on getting it to post properly.

 

[Hume-ulus]

here are the photos....... I hope.

 

[mrduna01]

You shouldnt rinse after star san. That may be the culprit.

 

[shecallsmeblue]

Using a sanitized turkey baster or wine thief, pull a sample from below the film. If it tastes fine, you're okay. I had a batch once like that, and almost tossed it, but the beer beneath is was fine. Very resilient stuff!!

 

[Rivenin]

looks liek it'd be fine if it tastes okay, is it a new bucket or anything?

 

[Hume-ulus]

I got this bucket a few months ago from a friend that just got back from deployment. I've used it twice and don't rinse after spraying down with star san. I'll thief it in a bit if time permits. Have to get ready for my sons scout meeting..... thanks for the responses. My wife asked if it would have anything to do with temp. It's been 80-90 + for the last month and we've not had AC that whole time, so its been really really hot in the house. I had done an ice bucket for a few days but had to go out of town and couldn't keep it going.

 

[Hume-ulus]

Update just in case anyone ever reads this thing.
If you ever have an issue like I have and your brew has the white flakes( ice drift) looking surface DONT LEAVE IT FOR ANOTHER WEEK OR TWO. Rack it out of that vessel immediatly. I didnt. I had planned on it but life is insane lately. So here's the update.
I opened it up to transfer and found a thick grey / white heavily textured surface. I attempted to skim the top off so I could put my cane in with out punching the mold junk into the brew. One scoop. Two scoop. Three scoop.......... holy crap this is a self healing skin......... four scoops.......... five scoops............. ok I give up. Punch through the thinest part. (What happened was each time I would scoop some out it would immediatly cover the opening it was creepy.

So, I bottled it. Starsan the container and everything that touched it. Washed it out with boiling water. Washed it with hot water and soap. Star san again. Oxyclean and then more star san.

So thats what happened. I'll update again in a month or so when I try the first one. It didnt taste bad but to be honest, I didnt really drink much of what I had as a sample. Just a bit weirded out buy the whole thing.

We'll see...............

 

[BeerGuy1000]

Wow that is pretty crazy never seen anything like this before hope it turns out ok keep us updated.

 

[Northcalais40]

What is the recipe? That may be the culprit.

 

[Hume-ulus]

The Bill was simple
8 lbs 2row
3 lbs Marris otter
1 oz centenial full boil
added total of four oz of wet cascade off my bines
soaked 2oz wet fresh hops in vodka for 24 hrs and tossed them in

nottingham yeast starter

 

[Hume-ulus]

sorry the hop additions weren't clear..... I added four oz during boil at 30, 15,10,5. and "dry hoped" the vodka potion in secondary. I have a prior post in another string about wet hoping. I thought the vodka would/should kill any thing.

 

[TheMan]

How long was this sitting in the bucket?

 

[Hume-ulus]

8 lbs two row
3 lbs Marris otter
one oz centennial 60 min boil
4 additions of 1 oz each wet cascade at 30,15,10,5
soaked 2 oz wet cascade in vodka for 24 hours and tossed in secondary
nottingham yeast starter ( about 12 oz of 36 starter in clean starsanned container)

I posted a q in another thread about wet hoping. this was the second batch I used wet hops in and the other was/is great. both batches born same day.

 

[kh54s10]

It almost looks like solidified fat, like what you would get on the top of a beef stew when cooled!!! It doesn't look what I would expect from an infection, but, I am a noob and have only seen infections in pictures. Oh damn! I jinxed myself again!!

 

[Hume-ulus]

It sat in primary for two weeks and was in secondary for........thinking ..... thinking........ a month. the look of what I found when I bottled and what the pictures show are night and day. the pics look like the solidified fat as describes above at bottling it looked more like a moldy oranges skin in color (grey and off white) and the visual texture was more like a morel mushroom or raisin and very viscous and clumpy when i tried to skim it off. I will likely toss it all out in a month if the first bottle opened has any suspicious character.

 

[TheMan]

Since you said you let the wet hops sit in vodka that means they are likely not the cause.

I am leaning toward the cause being that you did your secondary for a month in a BUCKET. That's too much head space for a secondary. When fermenting your beer typically forms a C02 blanket over itself. Too much headspace means it cannot protect itself properly.

 

[Bradinator]

Isn't that a lacto infection? Looks exactly like the one I had a few months ago.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/ah-infection-arg-panic-249598/

Beer turned out fine in the end, became something of a funky tasting sour ale.

 

[cimirie]

It is an infection - most likely lacto. That "fat like" surface is the pellicle.

The cause for that is an infection somewhere and I'd bet the bucket. Just as an FYI, a secondary in a bucket isn't a great idea, but the reason isn't infection: it's oxidation. It doesn't always cause a problem. Heck, it USUALLY doesn't cause a problem. But it is something to consider. there's just so much air in a 7 gallon bucket that isn't being pushed out by active fermentation.

My advice is not to dump it and let it sit in bottles. You might well like what comes of it.

 

[kev7555]

Not uncommon to find scummy things on the top of a primary fermentation (or even a secondary for that matter). Leaving the hops in there could have caused it but tough to say. The bottom line is not what it LOOKS like, it's what it TASTES like. If the sample you tasted didn't have any off flavors (band-aid like, creamed corn, vegetal, cidery, cardboard, etc) then don't start worrying. Bottle it, see how it turns out and enjoy it if it's good.

As Charlie says: "Relax, don't worry..."

On a side note, I have a lot of friend brewers who use plastic fermenters but I noticed the quality of my beer went way up when I switched to glass and even more so when I switched to using stainless fermenters. Don't get me wrong, if you treat your plastic fermenter properly (don't use scotch bright or anything else to clean the inside that will scratch it) they you should have good luck with it.

BTW, a great option to chemicals for cleaning fermenters is good old boiling water!

-Kev

 

[Hume-ulus]

The bucket could be the cause but truth be told I don't think headspace was the cause but you could well be right. The volume was just under 6 gallons. Your point however brings up a question I've often asked and never gotten an answer. If you put say 5 glns in a 15gln demijohn and added dry ice to it when racking, wouldn't that force out the oxygen and leave a blanket of co2?
maybe that should be discussed elsewhere. I hate it when I find a useful thread and some body rabbit trails the discussion.......... shame on me. By the way. I really appreciate the feedback and advice/input.

 

[Hume-ulus]

ok so this has been bottled for over a week and has the same funk on top like it did in secondary. I'm either going to dump it all or tape some thermite to them for target practice at a few hundred yards.

 

[Hume-ulus]

this is what it looks like. crazy stuff. maybe Mr. wizard can tell me what this is.

 

[thyirishmen]

that's funky! I have never seen that yet, but that is why i just said screw it from day one and used glass carboy's. best of luck!

 

[subliminalurge]

that's funky! I have never seen that yet, but that is why i just said screw it from day one and used glass carboy's. best of luck!

Yeah, I keep getting tempted to get some bucket fermenters just for the price difference, but then I see threads like this and keep going with glass.

And even with some seriously sloppy sanitation procedures at times, I've never had an infection.

And I don't "spray" with star san to sanitize my fermenters. I mix a fresh batch of star san right in the fermenter, let it sit for an hour, and then dump it into a bucket to sanitize other things with.

 

[DHaught]

Well it looks like some kind of infection but I'm no microbiologist so I can't say what strain but as far as buckets in general go I don't think they pose any problems when using them for fermenters.

Most likely there was something along the way that got in there during your process. The bucket could have been scratched and harbored bacteria or any number of things. I'd ditch that bucket and clean and sanitize all your equipment and replace any of the cheap stuff like hoses and racking cane if you use one.

I wouldn't be scared of buckets though. I have buckets and carboys and can't tell a difference in the beers from either type. I take really good care of my buckets and keep them clean and so far no problems.
Also if there is CO2 bubbling out of your airlock you won't have any O2 in the bucket regardless of the headspace because CO2 is heavier than air and will lift the air up and out of the airlock first purging the headspace.

One thing I really like about the buckets is the ease in dry hopping or adding other ingredients to the fermenters as well as the ease of cleaning them out.

 

[kev7555]

Still haven't heard what it TASTES like...

Remember, there is nothing in a beer fermentation that will kill you, it only makes the stuff taste bad. That does look like some bacterial infection however. Does it taste like s***? Or is it worth saving? You'll know within a few weeks or a month if it's going to get better. Some beers never do...

 

[Bradinator]

You know, my batch that got infected with Lacto looked exactly the same in the bottles and bucket. Chilling the bottles for a few days and very careful pouring allowed me to both drink and enjoy my accidental soured ale.

No bottle bombs, no bad flavours. Don't toss them out just yet, you may have a very tasty, if not unique, home brew.

Seriously do not dump it until you have tasted one. You may be pleasantly surprised. Or horrifically disgusted. Either way, let us know!

 

[Hume-ulus]

sorry for the excessive delay in responding back on this. I kept the batch and have enjoyed every bottle. its a very nice beer despite the floaties...... I used the bucket 6 or 7 times since this batch and haven't had any other issues in any other batch. My Uncle who home brewed due to living in a dry area many years ago said he had had the same issue in a few batches in the 60' s and 70' s. Lesson learned though....... relax and as they say have a home brew.

 

[foolify]

this is a great story...lol

 

[Hume-ulus]

to add one last bit of detail to the story, the beer tasted almost exactly like this years 2012 Sierra Nevada Summerfest. Just got some and realized how they tasted the same. that's it.