Can somebody tell me if I ruined my beer?

[nikkuchan]

I started a wheat beer about a month ago. I wanted to try adding fruit for the first time. After researching I decided to take a few pounds of frozen strawberries, thaw and refreeze it a couple times, then dump them in. No secondary; fermented for 2 weeks then added the strawberries and let it sit another two. I was thinking of bottling today, so I decided to open the fermenter and check it out and I see this:

As you can see, the strawberries are floating and have some white gunk on them. Whatever it is, it seems to be only on the strawberries; the beer itself looks clear. I took a sample and tasted it. Tasted fine to me, no carbonation whatsoever either. What's the prognosis? Would it be risky to bottle?

I may just bottle it in plastics to be safe, but I want some input before I proceed. Thanks.

 

[Velnerj]

I am certainly no expert but there are usually two senses that help when your eyes might detect an infection. Taste and smell.

You already said it tastes fine, therefore I imagine it doesn't smell bad either.

Obviously this isn't full proof method but I'd bottle it and see what happens.

To me that looks like yeast build up on the fruit which is what I'd guess is a natural occurrence.

As to which yeast it is, could be anyone's guess, hopefully the yeast you pitched. Since you froze it multiple times I'm guessing the other wild yeasts died off, but that's only a guess.

Perhaps wait it out a bit longer to let the yeast finish those berries and bottle it up. You may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[nikkuchan]

I am certainly no expert but there are usually two senses that help when your eyes might detect an infection. Taste and smell.

You already said it tastes fine, therefore I imagine it doesn't smell bad either.

Obviously this isn't full proof method but I'd bottle it and see what happens.

To me that looks like yeast build up on the fruit which is what I'd guess is a natural occurrence.

As to which yeast it is, could be anyone's guess, hopefully the yeast you pitched. Since you froze it multiple times I'm guessing the other wild yeasts died off, but that's only a guess.

Perhaps wait it out a bit longer to let the yeast finish those berries and bottle it up. You may be pleasantly surprised.

No, it does not smell bad. Smells like strawberries. Tastes like strawberries.

I suspected it was yeast as that's what it looks like, but I also wasn't sure if yeast buildup on top of floating fruit was normal.

Thanks for the input. I'll probably proceed with plastics just to be safe.

 

[isomerization]

Looks like krausen that couldn’t drop since it was stuck on the strawberries.

+1 to taste/smell it, if you’re bottling I’d take gravity readings maybe a week apart (or just once if you have a reading now).

 

[RyGuy77]

In my experience with strawberries is also the beer removes their color. So it looks more like the strawberries are just starting to breakdown which is normal for anything being soaked that long.

 

[day_trippr]

I bet the acidity of the beer has something to do with the appearance of the berries. I wouldn't worry about that as the beer around them appears clean.

That said, I wouldn't push my luck with all that head space. Package it soon...

Cheers!

 

[RPh_Guy]

Looks normal. I would package immediately.

 

[Toxxyc]

Looks fine. To me it looks like yeast stuck on the strawberries. Sounds like a good beer, and even pretty clear at this stage from the photo.

 

[nikkuchan]

Thanks everyone. Looks like the beer turned out fine. I was just a little surprised as it was my first time adding frozen fruit. Bottled it right away. Looking forward to drinking it.