Is my beer infected?

[GingerBeerNewbie]

I recently bottled my first ever home brew and checked on it after about a week and found a sort of black sediment floating on top of it. This being my first brew I have no idea if this is normal or if it some sort of bacteria. I cleaned and sterilized everything before fermentation and bottling and cant think of any reason why there would be an infection. The beer is Coopers Ginger Beer and it is in Coopers PET bottles. The black substance appears as a black line at the top of the bottles, but when disturbed it begins to sink down the bottle and disappear. I have tried to take some pictures but due to the colour of the bottles and the size of the sediment/bacteria they aren't very clear. I would really appreciate and advice on whether this is normal, and if not if the beer is salvageable.
Thanks

here are some pictures of the bottles
http://imgur.com/a/nA2bx

 

[stratslinger]

After only a week? I wouldn't worry, just yet. Could just be signs of the mini-fermentation that's going on inside there (which is what will carbonate your beer). If that's all that it is, it'll settle down in the next couple weeks and you'll be fine. If it's something else, it'll continue to develop. But in the meantime, leave that beer in a dark closet around 70F for a full 3 weeks before you draw any conclusions about it.

In short, step away from the beer and relax.

 

[woozy]

The photos look like normal yeast sediment to me.

As for whether the beer will be salvageable... well, a beer can't be salvaged unless it's damaged first. Either it will taste good or it won't. If it tastes good (whether or not it has an infection) you drink it. If it tastes bad (whether or not it has an infection) you don't.

 

[SoonerDoc]

I don't have anything at the top of my bottles. Sediment (cloudy beer or at the bottom)? Yes, but not at the top. What was your FG before bottling?

 

[GingerBeerNewbie]

Thanks for the advice guys, I was really starting to worry and was on the verge of tipping it all down the drain. I have them stored in cardboard boxes in my bedroom so they are in a dark place, I will check on them again in a week to see if they are improving or getting worse.
As for the FG, I can't quite remember the value, I think it was about 1.005, but it was definitely the same over two days.

 

[woozy]

I don't have anything at the top of my bottles. Sediment (cloudy beer or at the bottom)? Yes, but not at the top. What was your FG before bottling?

The description sounds weird but take a look at the photos. Normal looking, right?

I .. was on the verge of tipping it all down the drain.

Always tip it down your mouth before you tip it down the drain.

 

[SoonerDoc]

The description sounds weird but take a look at the photos. Normal looking, right?

I was convincing myself that the first photo looks like krausen.....but the other look like floating sediment. I still don't think I've ever had sediment rise in the bottle like that but I can't say it looks infected from those pictures.
The FG doesn't seem to be the problem.

 

[GingerBeerNewbie]

I was convincing myself that the first photo looks like krausen...

Forgive me but this is my first ever brew, what is krausen?

 

[woozy]

I was convincing myself that the first photo looks like krausen.....but the other look like floating sediment. I still don't think I've ever had sediment rise in the bottle like that but I can't say it looks infected from those pictures.
The FG doesn't seem to be the problem.

Yes, I think the first looks like krausen too. And I've had sediment kick up in bottles, especially in the early stages. But it settles down. There's nothing there that didn't look normal.

Krausen is the foamy layer that froths up during fermentation. It lasts a few days, then deteriates and sinks leaving a gunky krausen ring on your fermenter.

Krausen doesn't really happen during carbonation but carbonation is a mini-fermentation so it's not impossible.
---d'oh---
brain-fart

what soonerDoc said below about fermentation being over by bottling time and krausen in bottles.

*but* I don't think that's what's happening in the OPs photos. I think it's just debris and sediment.

 

[SoonerDoc]

Krausen is foamy stuff that forms as the result of yeast fermenting. Since you are supposed to be done with fermentation by the time you bottle, active fermentation after bottling is bad. You tend to get bottles that explode.

 

[GingerBeerNewbie]

Another thing that it might help to add is that in the bottles I inspected, when disturbed, the mystery sediment sank and mixed in to the beer. It's been about 10 hours and it has not reappeared. Also, I used carbonation drops to prime the bottles, but due to the size of the bottles had to split some of them in half, which wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do accurately, could this have caused additional fermentation due to inaccurate measurements?
As for the bottles exploding, is this as likely with me using PET bottles instead of glass? I'm guessing they can hold a fair bit of pressure before fracturing.

 

[SoonerDoc]

If your FG was 1.005 and it was consistent for 2 days, you're fine.

 

[GingerBeerNewbie]

Another thing that it might help to add is that in the bottles I inspected, when disturbed, the mystery sediment sank and mixed in to the beer. It's been about 10 hours and it has not reappeared. Also, I used carbonation drops to prime the bottles, but due to the size of the bottles had to split some of them in half, which wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do accurately, could this have caused additional fermentation due to inaccurate measurements?
As for the bottles exploding, is this as likely with me using PET bottles instead of glass? I'm guessing they can hold a fair bit of pressure before fracturing.