WTF bubbles

[SudsyPaul]

So... wtf is going on, here? This is WLP830, 3rd generation.

This is a Vienna Lager which looks to me like it's wildly infected.

It's been at 50f since it was cooled. Starsan'd the carboy, starsan'd the tinfoil. Yeast was from another beer that had no infection, just poured the cake onto this beer (kegged other beer 2hrs before reusing the cake - and other carboy was covered while it waited).

Looks like an infection, but I'm not aware of any infection that goes that crazy at 50ºF.

Thoughts?

 

[kombat]

Definitely looks infected; how's it smell?

 

[SudsyPaul]

Smells malty and grainy... nothing offputting.

 

[guidos858]

That's an infection. It's Lacto, believe me I've had it and I KNOW what it looks like !!!

 

[SudsyPaul]

I would have thought that, but I've seen lacto, and it's way more white than those bubbles... those are the color of the wort. And lacto has a noticeable stench, which this wort doesn't have.

And the fermentation chamber is at 50ºF, which is below the comfort range of Lactobacillus. Growth of lacto is seriously stunted when you go below 60ºF, so I would have thought the yeast would have crushed any lacto growth at these temps :S

 

[BigPerm]

It's too early to tell anything. Funky bubbles can come from all kinds of sources eg yeast strain/behavior, ingredients, protein content etc, and are generally a poor indicator of contamination. If you have no reason to suspect contamination other than odd bubbles, I'd say you have nothing to worry about.

Also, in my experience, that looks nothing like lacto. I assume in a vienna lager you'll have IBUs in the 20s, at least? That alone will keep lacto at bay. Let it finish and taste after the diacetyl rest. I'd bet you're probably fine.

 

[SudsyPaul]

Now that's the kind of info I wanna hear

And yeah, it's 23IBU. This is the first lager I make, so I'm just not sure how the yeast looks/reacts. I'll let it go and then report back in 15-16 days, or so, whenever bubbles subside and it's done a d-rest.