What happened?

[Hereforthebeer]

I made a near 6 gallon wort. Sanitized everything meticulously!!! I left it overnight in a glass carboy to cool down ready to pitch a starter slurry the next day. No yeast was added yet when I came back to the wort the next day it looked like a full fermentation was going on, thick thick mess on top of the beer, large globs of white stuff in the wort, looking also like curdled milk in parts. It also smelled sour. Could this be a bug in the dme? Or an air infection, acetobacter? I did syphon the wort previously a few times back and forth into a separate carboy as I dropped my beer thief (fully sanitized) into the carboy (twice!! I know, very clumsy of me). Any ideas? Thanks very much.

 

[bigbeergeek]

No way it's fermenting. You'd be happy to see fermentation the next morning if you properly cooled the wort and pitched the right volume of yeast. It's impossible that a few rogue "bugs" multiplied overnight to sufficiently kick off fermentation. Pitch your yeast. RDWHAHB.

 

[venquessa]

Until the yeast take it over it's just a big bottle of sweet nutritional bug food.

 

[irunxcjm]

Until the yeast take it over it's just a big bottle of sweet nutritional bug food.

Agreed. And you said you racked it back and forth a couple of times. That's just asking for somthing wild to be introduced. Although I know it can be done, I would never brew something and not pitch the yeast right away.

 

[unionrdr]

A pic would be more helpful,but with the sour smell,& clumps of white stuff with no yeast added,I'd say infection.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

No way it's fermenting. You'd be happy to see fermentation the next morning if you properly cooled the wort and pitched the right volume of yeast. It's impossible that a few rogue "bugs" multiplied overnight to sufficiently kick off fermentation. Pitch your yeast. RDWHAHB.

sure sounds like something got in there. wort doesn't get active if nothing inoculates it.

Agreed. And you said you racked it back and forth a couple of times. That's just asking for somthing wild to be introduced. Although I know it can be done, I would never brew something and not pitch the yeast right away.

totally agree. i know, i know, there's tons of people who 'no chill' like this and are successful. just not for me, i don't wanna take the chances and i get the yeast in as soon as the wort is aerated.

A pic would be more helpful,but with the sour smell,& clumps of white stuff with no yeast added,I'd say infection.

yeah, a pic would show for sure what it is. but activity and odors coming from a wort that wasn't yet pitched sounds like a contamination to me.

 

[wailingguitar]

I agree with all Nordeast said... sorry, I think that batch got zapped

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I agree with all Nordeast said... sorry, I think that batch got zapped

yeah, it had to have. i've waited hours before pitch, like upwards of a dozen and nothing was moving inside or looked like i'd already pitched when i went to pitch. something has to be living in wort for it to move and krausen.
i'm always one of the ones to say chances are it's not infected to 99% of these threads. when you have wort that obviously has something living in it and you haven't pitched yeast yet, it's either infected or possessed. since we know the latter isn't really possible, i'd be willing to place a bet on an infection/contamination of some sort.

 

[unionrdr]

Hmmm...depending on how sour it is,you may just have a decent Belgian ale on your hands. But I think they use a Belgian yeast inocculated with Bret. Been doing a little reading on that here & there.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Take a sip of the wort and see what it tastes like. You will get a slight idea of it's taste. If anything you'll know if there is anything super foul in the brew.

Hmmm...depending on how sour it is,you may just have a decent Belgian ale on your hands. But I think they use a Belgian yeast inocculated with Bret

I wonder if the pub people who are into Lambics have seen what they look like in the primary? When I was in Brugge I tried a fantastic lambic, but had no idea it looked so 'weird' in the fermenter... I wouldn't bring anything with Bret on it into my brew shack.. LOL I hear that stuff is just nasty. Like planting mint in your garden, it just keeps popping up...

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,I forgot that the stuff Midwest sells has other wild yeast or whatever mixed with the bret to add to Belgians for additional flavor complexities. Not real hip on that aspect yet. Gotta read some more,as I was trying to figure out what to use on an ale from the native side of the family.
So far,it sounds like real paleo stuff.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Yeah,I forgot that the stuff Midwest sells has other wild yeast or whatever mixed with the bret to add to Belgians for additional flavor complexities. Not real hip on that aspect yet. Gotta read some more,as I was trying to figure out what to use on an ale from the native side of the family.
So far,it sounds like real paleo stuff.

the big liquid yeast makers make a lambic blend. it's the yeast and bugs used to make these styles of beer. i'm pretty sure any LHBS carries them.

 

[unionrdr]

That was it. Midwest lists three from Wyeast.

 

[Hereforthebeer]

Thanks for all the replies. forgot to mention I brewed a second batch at the same time, Newcastle Brown Ale type, left it to cool overnight as well before pitching the next day. It was fine and is right now happily fermenting.

I did taste the other brew that had got infected and it tasted bad. To answer about the picture, it seriously looked like a normal beer fermenting at time equals two days I.e. Well into the fermentation stage. It was very surprising though that it wasn't even 24 hours at this stage. I think air had made it go bad, I also got lazy with all the syphoning and sucked rather than primed the tube with water. Probably didn't help.

Thanks anyway for the replies once again. Good to know there are so many helpful people on the forum! Cheers or iechyd da as we say in Welsh.

 

[AdamPag]

Oh yea that prob did it, your mouth carries an unbelievable amount of everything, its seriously disgusting, except we happen to have evolution on our side. NEVER siphon with your mouth. Anyways, love to see pictures, throw some up.

Wait it out, at least another 3 weeks, maybe you can let it ride for a year (or 3) and make a killer lambic.

 

[Hereforthebeer]

Oh yea that prob did it, your mouth carries an unbelievable amount of everything, its seriously disgusting, except we happen to have evolution on our side. NEVER siphon with your mouth. Anyways, love to see pictures, throw some up.

Wait it out, at least another 3 weeks, maybe you can let it ride for a year (or 3) and make a killer lambic.

Yes! I always used to prime the tube with water...

Sorry, I pored the stuff down the sink! If (and hopefully it won't happen again) it happens again I will take shots and post them. Off to brew a full grain tomorrow to make use of the unused yeast slurry still growing!

 

[AdamPag]

Bummer man, I'll drink one more tonite just for you(r beer)

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Yes! I always used to prime the tube with water...

Sorry, I pored the stuff down the sink! If (and hopefully it won't happen again) it happens again I will take shots and post them. Off to brew a full grain tomorrow to make use of the unused yeast slurry still growing!

man, that sucks (pun totally intended). FWIW, you can start a siphon with your mouth, but you should gargle with vodka or a high ABV mouthwash right before doing so. (still, i wouldn't, either prime with a solution of star san or use and auto siphon) human mouths are dirty, and we beer lovers definitely have all sorts of microbes in our mouths and bellies that are well equipped to ferment wort. i always keep my mouth away from the beer til its ready to drink.

sorry for your loss HFTB, like Adam, i'll drink one in honor of your beer that never was. glad the Newkie clone's doing well... all is not lost.