I Got an Infection...I think....What do you think?

JohnAdam

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I so brewed some Graff late September and life and kids got in the way, so I haven't had a chance to bottle it until recently. Its been sitting on the yeast cake for almost three months (whoops).

There is something in my carboy that I've never seen before and I'm not sure if its an infection or some yeast byproduct. Nothing inside appears fuzzy.

Its been looking like this for a month with no change. Temperatures in my house fluctuate but the beer has been in storage between 64 and 72 degrees.

Here are some pictures. When I took the airlock off I took a whiff.....nothing out of the ordinary with my quick sniff. Smelt like cider.

Beer3.jpg


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Nothing in there will kill you so tasting it is the best way to know for sure. If it takes fine, bottle it up.
 
Take a sample and let your nose and tongue figure out if it's infected.
 
I so brewed some Graff late September and life and kids got in the way, so I haven't had a chance to bottle it until recently. Its been sitting on the yeast cake for almost three months (whoops).

There is something in my carboy that I've never seen before and I'm not sure if its an infection or some yeast byproduct. Nothing inside appears fuzzy.

Its been looking like this for a month with no change. Temperatures in my house fluctuate but the beer has been in storage between 64 and 72 degrees.

Here are some pictures. When I took the airlock off I took a whiff.....nothing out of the ordinary with my quick sniff. Smelt like cider.

Beer3.jpg
If it smelled like cider, it's infected. Acetobacter. Two things going on: First the infection, second, the presence of oxygen. Acetobacter can't grow without O2. As mentioned, taste it. Might be decent as a Sour. Work on your sanitation and keep oxygen - air - away from the beer to keep this from recurring.
 
I agree with the oxygen, I never open my fermenter anymore, "ever" ,if I open it up its time to transfer
 
I agree with the oxygen, I never open my fermenter anymore, "ever" ,if I open it up its time to transfer
Ozark, how do you test SG? I open a few times but I always sanitize EVERYTHING (stopper, airlock, etc.) each time.

I'll be putting a sample port on the Fast Fermenter so I shouldn't have to open that one anymore to sample and test SG.
 
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I'm sure it's the blanket of co2 that sits atop of the beer whilst sitting and waiting for transfer to bottles or keg. By opening fermentor you may disperse this co2 blanket and introduce oxygen back into fermentation vessel increasing risk of contamination and oxidation of beer.
 
Fair enough. Because science. :)
Cue Thomas Dolby.... I check gravities in two ways, depending on the fermentor in use. Checking gravity with a "thief" doesn't scare me much - the fermenting/fermented beer has a CO2 blanket atop it, the thief doesn't create too much turbulence or displace too much of the gas so I don't worry there. Some of my fermentors are ported - I take the sample from the bottom. Yes, a little air gets sucked in but that's not enough to worry about. Any time I rack, I flush the new container with CO2 so any splashing won't cause oxidation. And that's made quite a positive contribution to my beer quality as well!
 
I dumped a small batch of a really nice English bitter that had a nice layer of skunge on it. I wish I'd had more options, but we were moving shortly after and I didn't want to set up a fermenter for souring. And, I was bottling that batch so that the extra organisms would surely have over-carbed the beer and caused bottle bombs eventually.
 
If you can spare the equipment, I'd say that you leave it until whatever it's doing dies down (might be a few months), and see what you end up with! Along time ago, I pitched a similar batch that was transforming into something else, and I've kind of regretted it since. Worst case, you end up with something gross and you can toss it. Best case, you end up with a really, really dry drink which sounds kinda delicious to me. Maybe rack it off the yeast to age, though?
 
^^^^^ 2X that

I've got an incredible little sour going right now that happened when I let some wort sit out overnight. I've been cultivating it and I'm getting ready to brew a Saison and add it to the mix. I tried a little of it the other day and it's heavenly! Tart and very fruityb with no hint of harsh medicinal tang you can get from some of those "infections". :)
 
^^^^^ 2X that

I've got an incredible little sour going right now that happened when I let some wort sit out overnight. I've been cultivating it and I'm getting ready to brew a Saison and add it to the mix. I tried a little of it the other day and it's heavenly! Tart and very fruityb with no hint of harsh medicinal tang you can get from some of those "infections". :)

I'm thinking lactobacillus most likely with that tart you describe.
 
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I'm thinking lactobacillus most likely with that tart you describe.

Yeah...lacto is present in the grain and I left some un-boiled wort out where the spent grain was draining. It wasn't outside so it's not wild yeasts. It's good, whatever it is. ;)
 
Yeah...lacto is present in the grain and I left some un-boiled wort out where the spent grain was draining. It wasn't outside so it's not wild yeasts. It's good, whatever it is. ;)
You'll be able to keep it and culture it up for your next mystery sour:D
 
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Yeah...lacto is present in the grain and I left some un-boiled wort out where the spent grain was draining. It wasn't outside so it's not wild yeasts. It's good, whatever it is. ;)
I've caught a sourdough starter on my kitchen counter. There are definitely wild yeasts indoors! I don't think the un-boiled wort is the issue, it's just some random bug.
 
I've caught a sourdough starter on my kitchen counter. There are definitely wild yeasts indoors! I don't think the un-boiled wort is the issue, it's just some random bug.
That's true, for sure. In this case the wort was draining into a pot with the colander completely covering the top. I didn't remove the grain and clean up that pot for a couple of days (I know...sloppy brewing technique that I can only get away with when the weather is cool). It was completely and exposed to the grain. Could be a wild yeast, but I'll take it. :)
 

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