Newbie Belgian Wit (100% infected)

[bcrosby]

This is my second beer and the first one was infected with lacto. I didn't know the first one was infected until a few days after I opened the first bottle and noticed it tasting more sour. I took it to the local home brew shop and they told me of the infection. I had also already threw this batch into the fermenter before knowing of the first infection. I found out that my water ph was above 6.4 and I was using StarSan to sanitize. The ph caused the StarSan to be ineffective.

Anyway, after 2 weeks the krausen was still present:

After 3 weeks the krausen dropped, but I still see this:

Still being new to this and knowing it's infected, I can smell it now, is this normal yeasty islands or is that the lacto?

I did taste it and it tastes good, for being uncarbonated, but I don't want to rack too soon.

I am also prepared to drink this batch very quickly.

 

[kanddr]

That looks normal to me, and if you used a Belgian yeast it's going to smell funky anyway. I wouldnt be so quick assuming this batch is infected, especially if it tastes good as you indicate. Check the gravity and bottle it if it has dropped to the final gravity for that brew. Be sure to let it age if if is a complex recipe and dont rush it.

 

[issekremaaa]

Get some PH test strips (cheap and readily available at pharmacies etc.) and check your Star San solution's PH with it. Your PH should always remain under 3.5 to be as effective as you want it to be. Even when it looks cloudy after having it standing around for a few weeks, it remains effective if the PH strips show a value of 3.5 or less.

In regards to the "infection", I have never had one but from photos of lacto infections I have seen around here, I would assume that this is just a healthy Krausen.

 

[bcrosby]

Thanks

I do know it's infected as I can smell it in the overtones. It smells the same as the infected bottles from my last batch. I also did get the ph strips and my tap water is way high; much too high for Starsan.

I'm more curious of what the floaties are on top of the wort now and do I wait for them to go away. Since this is my second batch I can't tell what the wort should look like. The gravity appears to be stable.

 

[CityOChampBrew]

from what I can see the "floaties" as you refer to them as, are most likely yeast rafts

 

[billl]

"I do know it's infected as I can smell it in the overtones. It smells the same as the infected bottles from my last batch. I also did get the ph strips and my tap water is way high; much too high for Starsan.
"

I don't know who is telling you this nonsense, but that is 100% wrong. Ph of 6.4 is acidic! It's lower than most of the US water supply. Even a high water ph would have basically zero impact on starsan.

Quit opening your beer. Just leave it alone for several weeks. 99% of new brewer problems are from people just trying to rush the process.

And honestly, you don't "know it's infected". You don't know what it is supposed to smell like, so you obviously can't know if it smells "infected".

 

[Clonefan94]

It doesn't look infected to me, it looks like a normal Krausen to me. Smelling a beer in the fermenter gives you all kinds of odd wiffs. With that many big yeast rafts still floating, you are probably smelling that belgian yeast. It's probably going to give you some sour notes, just because it's belgian.

 

[bcrosby]

Do the yeast rafts drop out of suspension?

As far as ph goes, the ph of my tap water is definitely 6.4. I thought acid was 0 and pure water was 7? I could be doing that wrong also.
In these forums I read that fivestar says it should be used around 3.3. My water turns cloudy immediately when I add starsan, that is what tipped me off.

The off smell is very sour, but I can't taste it. It has the same exact smell as my infected bottles, which I can definitely taste. It turned my porter to undrinkable levels. I had 3 different people at my local home brew shop taste it and they were the ones that said it got infected to begin with.

Either way I'll invite a few friends over and drink these fast.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[twistr25]

Just to reiterate the fact, doesn't look infected to me either. Wait it out and bottle it up. Make sure your bottles are properly sanitized.

 

[twistr25]

Your first one may have been infected, but this one is not, yet.... Leave it alone and let it finish up.

pH scale goes from 0 to 14 last I knew, 7 is neutral

Your bottles may have been infected on the first batch as well and not the brew itself.

 

[bcrosby]

Thanks all!

 

[Clonefan94]

Do the yeast rafts drop out of suspension?

Thanks for all the replies.

Usually they do, if you let it sit long enough. Not always though. I've had 2 that even after 3 weeks still had the floaties in it. You just have to be a little more cautious when racking to make sure and keep them out.

 

[thejuanald]

Do the yeast rafts drop out of suspension?

As far as ph goes, the ph of my tap water is definitely 6.4. I thought acid was 0 and pure water was 7? I could be doing that wrong also.
In these forums I read that fivestar says it should be used around 3.3. My water turns cloudy immediately when I add starsan, that is what tipped me off.

The off smell is very sour, but I can't taste it. It has the same exact smell as my infected bottles, which I can definitely taste. It turned my porter to undrinkable levels. I had 3 different people at my local home brew shop taste it and they were the ones that said it got infected to begin with.

Either way I'll invite a few friends over and drink these fast.

Thanks for all the replies.

The pH scale is a logarithmic scale of free hydrogen ions in a system and "normally" ranges from 0 to 14. You can get below 0 but that's in incredibly acidic industrial acids. The pH of tap water ranges from 6.0-8.0. pH 7 is neutral, anything below that is acidic, anything above is basic. A pH of 6.4 is slightly acidic and well within the range of tap water.

What you should do is test the pH of a starsan solution you make, the pH of your tap water is pretty irrelevant when making the solution as long as you use correct proportions.

Starsan is a mixture of concentrated phosphoric acid:dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid:isopropyl alcohol in a 5:1.5:1 ratio. The cloudiness you're seeing could be from a mineral or impurity in your water precipitating out of solution when adding the starsan.

 

[Desvio]

Quit opening your beer. Just leave it alone for several weeks. 99% of new brewer problems are from people just trying to rush the process.

And honestly, you don't "know it's infected". You don't know what it is supposed to smell like, so you obviously can't know if it smells "infected".

^this! Quit obsessing and opening it up to check on it or to stick your nose in there!!!

Once you toss in the yeast close it up, walk away and leave it alone for a minimum of 3-weeks.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

First off, that's not a lacto infection, it's a sacch krausen. Lacto is big, slimy looking bubbles or a filmy, milky slick. Second off, Bill is spot on, whoever told you that a pH of 6.4 will make starsan ineffective pulled that out of their arse. 6.4 is slightly acidic and would thus make starsan MORE effective, if anything. Also, stop opening your active fermenter and breathing in it, or you'll be posting pics of an actual infection soon. RDWHAHB homes, it's beer, it's hard to bless up beer man.

 

[xjmox14x]

What everyone else is saying... gotta leave it alone. I fear that you'll be coming back here after throwing out 3 more batches say they were all infected when in reality, they were just fermenting as they should.

 

[solbes]

Agreed, tap water pH should not effect your StarSan's ability to sanitize at all. 6.4 is perfectly fine. Its almost impossible to screw up Starsan.

If thats what your fermenter looked like last time and you are convinced that your bottled beer is infected, I would look at your bottling equipment and bottles as a potential source.

 

[Unibrow]

The beer looks fine!

 

[bcrosby]

lol

Thanks, of course I'm obsessing, it's beer!

I only opened it twice, once after 2 weeks and then another time a week later to check the gravity. The first batch was done in a week.

The next batch is going in the carboy so I can see wtf is going on and leave it alone. Damn noobs and their "I think my beer is infected" questions.