Contaminated porter?

[rwischer]

I brewed a porter about 6 weeks ago and its been in secondary fermentation now for about 4 weeks. I checked on it the other day and was surprised to see a really thin layer of head on top. It doesn't look like any krausen I've seen before but I suppose that's likely what it is. I'm supposed to add bourbon and oak cubes in a few days and would hate to waste 16oz of bourbon on a bad batch. I'm still in newbie phase and would just like another set of more experienced eyes to allay my concern.

 

[mrboz]

Looks fine - just a bit of residual fermentation. Perhaps the temperature in your room went up a bit and kickstarted the yeast, or perhaps they got roused from moving the carboy. In any case ... don't sweat it. Maybe pull a sample and have a taste ... if its infected, you'll know, but it doesn't look like it. Bacteria pellicles tend to be crusty (check google images for some examples).

 

[mrboz]

PS - make sure you got that carboy handle cinched on there tight ... those things can slip off pretty easy, especially with an application of Star-San. Google images of gruesome carboy injuries (not to mention a big mess and a lot of wasted beer). Don't get into the habit of lifting full carboys just by the handle ... rather use it for maneuvering in your ferm chamber and stabilizing as you handle the carboy for cleaning. The necks on carboys can stress after a while and simply break if you are lifting that way.

Just sayin'

 

[BierGut]

Also, 16 oz. of bourbon sure seems like a lot. I've used oak cubes and bourbon a few times in porters and stouts and typically I use only a few oz. to soak the cubes in while the beer is in the primary fermenter. I also recommend aging that beer on the oak for 1-3 months.