Ghost Fungus! Photo!

[galapagos2k7]

I am in the secondary fermentation stage of my American Pale Ale extract. All has gone well so far and beer tasted great two days ago when I racked to secondary after 2.5 weeks. All general sanitation procedures have been upheld as usual, as in all my previous batches.
I went to look in today by taking off the wet towel rap off the bucket and noticed THIS on top of the beer (see through bucket).
After reading some forums I took a quick whiff of the beer. Smells like very ripe fruit, but still smells like beer too. Temperature has been at a room temp constant of 71 degrees F. Any ideas if this is normal stuff or possibly a fungus or mold? Check out this pic. I hope it just "standard brewing panic." Let me know what you think please. Much appreciated. Thanks!
AlfredDaniel in Shanghai, China

 

[bikesandbrews]

this is how a lacto sour should look prior to pitching a yeast. You have a lacto infection my friend. I suggest racking to a keg or letting it ride depending on how heavily hopped it is. If the IBU's are low it will likely turn out pretty good however, Sour and bitterness aren't pals.

 

[Wahoo]

Wet towel rap? what is that?

 

[galapagos2k7]

Thanks B&B - IBU's are relatively low. I'll ride it out. Is the infection only on top or throughout? Should I siphon it out through the spigot into another secondary bucket and leave the top inch of beer in the existing bucket? I can only hope its a surface infection.....

Towel wet rap? LOL - since the bucket is clear, I wrap it in a dark wet towel to keep the temp low and to keep light out while it sits and clears in the secondary.

Thanks to you two for your replies!

 

[bikesandbrews]

completely infected, it can't really be infected in just one spot. One issue you may run into is your yeast stalling out because of low PH so maybe pitch some more yeast if you can. I always overpitch when i do this on purpose.

 

[passedpawn]

when I racked to secondary ... All general sanitation procedures have been upheld

Does not compute.

Racking to a secondary is part of the problem here. Don't do that anymore. It introduces a lot of oxygen and unnecessarily exposes the beer to airborne bacteria, and bacteria on the equipment used to move it from one vessel to the other. Secondaries can aid in clearing the beer faster, but the risk is definitely not worth this minor advantage.

Your beer has a infection for sure. If the flavor isn't affected yet, it will be. The only way to save it is to get it in a keg and keep it cold, and drink fast.

 

[cobrem]

Not a bug expert, but I think if you get more air on the lacto (by moving to secondary) may generate some acetic acid (vinegar) or some other undesirable nonsense.

If you rack it out, you'll probably need to replace all your tubing, etc... But given that you have the infection already, that may be a good idea anyway.

You may want to hold onto the bucket for future sours, for what it's worth.

I'd say let it ride. It's either bad now, and will sour nice, or it's just bad now.

 

[Tutsbrew]

...Looks like the pic of my retina the eye doc took! Maybe your beer's infection is very aggressive and is looking at YOU!

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

I agree with "passed pawn." I quit racking to secondary a long time ago to prevent more chances of contamination and the beer has been fine. As I got better at brewing, I've learned to mess with the beer as little as possible to keep chances of contamination low. Taking a gravity reading, rehydrating dry yeast, agitating wort while chilling....there are lots of chances to screw up and contaminate. I would like a completely sealed system someday but for now care and simplicity keep oxygen and bugs out.

 

[Bobcatbrewing42]

I don't trust brewing buckets. It seems like most postings with contaminated beer are in brewing buckets. I also try not to have the beer in contact with plastic at any point (except the tubing for a brief period). Carboys work well and I am fermenting 10-14 gal at a time in a Sanke keg some of the time.

 

[unionrdr]

It has nothing whatsoever to do with the plastic. If it were that porous or easily infected, none of us would use it. That's paranoia. I've gotten only one infection since I started & that was because I got lazy & didn't remove, clean & sanitize the spigot once. There are pics of infected carboys on here frequently as well.