Is it my first infection, finally?

[bredstein]

Hey gurus,

I was going to bottle today, but decided to ask first, because the beer looks somehow strange. This is my 11th brew. It is a minimash AHS Ordinary Bitter ale, very fast, very light, a perfect lawn-mowing beer for a Texan summer I have made it twice already. This batch sat for twelve days in a carboy at about 65F. One strange thing that I noticed was that it kept bubbling all the time, and it still doing so, at a 1-2 bubbles per minute rate. And then I looked at the surface, and I see too much stuff there plus a little bit of foam. (The stuff itself may be fine, it's protein caused by a tsp of Irish moss.) Previous batches didn't have it, after 5-6 days the surface was almost clear. Can anybody comment?

 

[evrose]

What does it smell like?

 

[bredstein]

I've just poured a shot in a glass, and can say - it smells and tastes super-perfect! Still wondering, why would it look so different?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Looks like chunks of yeast, albeit large ones, but not an infection, IMO.

 

[paraordnance]

This is not infection. Bottle it if gravity does not change

 

[evrose]

I've just poured a shot in a glass, and can say - it smells and tastes super-perfect! Still wondering, why would it look so different?

If it smells and tastes fine, it's probably not an infection. I have no idea why it would look like that.

(although I'm new to brewing, I'm a medical doctor... I've seen and smelled (not tasted) enough bacterial overgrowth infections to know that you just don't get one without some pretty pungent odors.)

 

[kpr121]

What yeast did you use? US-04? I agree with others, NOT INFECTED!

 

[bredstein]

Thank you guys for the peace of mind! I am glad that it's not an infection As for the yeast, it was dry Munton's Premium Gold, no pre-hydration, straight from the package (I always do it this way).

 

[jkendal]

I had a batch once that looked exactly like your pic and it turned out great. Just make sure it's finished before you transfer, bottle, keg, whatever...

 

[jkendal]

Thank you guys for the peace of mind! I am glad that it's not an infection As for the yeast, it was dry Munton's Premium Gold, no pre-hydration, straight from the package (I always do it this way).

I use dry yeast these days more than liquid - Nottingham is my standard and Muntons Gold is good, too. I never rehydrate and every batch comes out great. Just remember to aerate VERY well.

 

[Raenon]

Looks like yeast rafts to me. If you fermented at a slightly warmer temperature, they may not have gone dormant and dropped yet. If you're got stable gravity, I'd cold crash if possible to make the racking easier, but I wouldn't worry about it otherwise.
It could well be outgassing CO2 from solution at 65F, which could also keep the rafts up near the surface.