White dots growing in my carboy??

[bill72080]

So I put my European Bock in a clean carboy about 2 weeks ago and now I have these little white things growing all around the beer line. Any idea if it's mold or something nasty that should concern me?

 

[bottlebomber]

It's hard to say. I will note though that that is a lot of headspace for a secondary. Just that alone is asking for infection and oxidation.

 

[WiscoMan]

Agreed that it is hard to say. Can you take some more pictures and really describe what you see?

Yeast rising to the top is very common and often leads people to believe that they have an infection.

 

[bill72080]

So how could I avoid the headspace without topping off with water?

 

[pdxbg]

So how could I avoid the headspace without topping off with water?

Use a smaller secondary.

 

[bottlebomber]

You would ferment in a 6 gallon carboy and secondary in a 5 gallon carboy. Or not secondary at all, and just work on not sucking the yeast cake up when you bottle.

 

[bill72080]

So the white dots are all over the surface. Beer is really dense and dark was hoping it would clear out but it doesn't look like it.

 

[gcdowd]

Kinda just looks like yeast rafts to me but hard to tell.

 

[Unibrow]

Doesn't look like anything to be worried about but keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't transform into mold or fuzzy bubbles

 

[bottlebomber]

What's on the top doesn't look so hot, but that they are floating around in the beer is actually somewhat encouraging. Infections tend to just stay on the top.

 

[revco]

The first thing I noticed is that you said, "clean carboy." There's a difference between clean and sanitized. Clean is thoroughly PBWed/brushed/no visible stuff in the carboy. Sanitized is using a known, reputable sanitizer according to the directions and covering all surfaces for the required contact time. Clean is not sanitary and can carry with it many invisible things that can infect beer.

It looks somewhat abnormal to me. If it's just little bubbles or the like, it's probably just yeast leftovers. If it looks more solid, it could be a potential infection. (If you didn't sanitize, it's a lot more likely it could be an infection.) If it's the latter and were me, I'd probably consider bottling quite soon. Take care to avoid touching the stuff with your racking cane, rack to your bottling bucket from close the bottom and stop about an inch or so before this stuff gets to where you're siphoning from. You can probably recover the beer if you do this, but if you notice it start back up in the bottles, it's almost a guaranteed infection.

 

[bill72080]

I cleaned the Carboy with my bottle brush and rinsed it out with a heavy dose or StarSan so I thought I was good. If it is infected and end up bottling and drinking it is it likely to make me sick you think or will it just taste bad? If I go at it and try to bottle what I can from under the surface that is.

 

[Hopper5000]

nothing pathnogenic can grow in beer because of the alcohol and the pH. if you bottle it and it's infected then it might just taste bad.

 

[bill72080]

So I checked it again and it looked like there were more white spots on top. I tilted the Carboy a bit and almost all of the dots fell straight to the bottom. Did I kill it for good? It looked more like undissolved solids falling out of suspension. If it was an infection the spots should have stayed floating up top right?

 

[Yooper]

So I checked it again and it looked like there were more white spots on top. I tilted the Carboy a bit and almost all of the dots fell straight to the bottom. Did I kill it for good? It looked more like un

No, bacteria and mold don't die like that.

 

[unionrdr]

In the one pic up close,it looks like wet popcorn. That's a dead giveaway for cold break. I remember describing it that way when I'd only been here a month or three.

 

[bill72080]

Yes it kind of did look like wet popcorn this was just before I moved it.

 

[bill72080]

No, bacteria and mold don't die like that.

I wasn't worried that I killed the bacteria. I was worried that I killed the beer!

 

[gcdowd]

I wasn't worried that I killed the bacteria. I was worried that I killed the beer!

Haha I read it the same way as Yoop. It's really hard to tell though. Have you tasted it?

 

[bill72080]

No haven't tasted it. Smelled delicious though the airlock though.

 

[gcdowd]

That's a good sign. If it tastes ok, then it's probably fine.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Did you use dry yeast?

I see yeast chunks floating in my beers all the time when i use Safale dry yeasts, eventually they settle or get left behind during kegging.

 

[freeflydude]

Bottle when you can and taste it. If it tastes good its fine. Recommend not using secondary and just keep in primary for 3-4 weeks to limit chance of contamination during transfer. Secondary is not necessary to get clear beer.

 

[bill72080]

Looks like all my white dots have turned into little pockets of bubbles! I think that's a good sign right?

 

[gcdowd]

Pic?

 

[bill72080]

So here's what it looks like there's a ring of activity and the airlock has started bubbling again about once every 2 min.

















Those wispy streaks came off some of the dots that I saw accumulating on the top when I moved the bottle around. Temp of the beer has gone up over last couple days a degree or two but its been a mild few days.

 

[whitehause]

It's fine.
The little white dots were small bits of yeast being brought up by co2 that cling to them. When you moved it, you broke the surface tension and they fell out. I've had this happen before, and almost always when I used to secondary.

 

[revco]

Yeah, now that I've seen it aged, you're looking good. It's common, especially when using carboys, to see the yeast doing some pretty interesting stuff in the beer. That's a good clean job by the yeast, IMO.

Next time, if you can stand it, just let it ride for the 3-4 weeks....that, or get a carboy and watch it all go down. Clean and sanitize everything well, every single time, and you've hardly anything to worry about. Enjoy your beer!

 

[Ogri]

*cough, cough*

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/post-your-infection-71400/index82.html#post4602062

 

[jbaysurfer]

I see people talking about a carboy brush and I think that's a glass carboy, but I wanted to post a warning:

Carboy brushes are for glass carboys only. They scratch the inside of plastic carboys/better bottles right at the spot where the Krauesen makes the most contact. Eventually that Krauesen will stick to the inside of a scratched surface and you won't be able to clean it properly anymore. I had a problem with mold in a couple batches and traced it back to a scratched plastic carboy..which is now retired.

If you use the rag in a little bit of water method to clean the Krausen off the carboy you won't risk scratching it.

Nobody told me when I bought the carboy brush that it wasn't for plastic, so I had to learn the hard way. Maybe there's a do's and don't thread I can contribute this too....