Possible Contamination Help!

[TahoePowderHound]

Hey guys,

I'm new here, and loving this GF brew community. I found Igliashon's No Nonsense Stout recipe here and it's currently on the 7th day of primary.

I just checked and noticed floating blobs in the beer, take a look at the pictures and please let me know if you know what this is. I sanitized like normal but I guess there's always a chance of contamination. Here's a bit more info in case it helps...

For those unfamiliar with the recipe its:
1lb Toasted oats
2lbs D-180
4oz Maltodextrin
3lbs Liquid sorghum extract
Columbus hops
safeale S-04

OG 1.060
My Current Gravity is 1.055
Final should be around 1.012

The lack of air-lock action caught my attention so I opened the bucket and the reading showed a slow fermentation. I've never used oatmeal or tried any type of stout so i'm not exactly sure what to expect. But my gut/common sense is telling me that fluffy/snotty blobs floating around in my beer is not a good/normal thing.

Anything helps, thanks in advance.

 

[cubalz]

It looks like protein clumps. If I were you, I would taste one of the globs. If it tastes bad, go from there. Legal disclaimer, I do not brew gluten-free but all grain.

 

[Legume]

Your blobs do not look unusual to me.
The look of the giant blobs of cold break that end up in my fermentor often remind me of large biological specimins preserved in formaldehyde.

It is odd that your gravity on day 7 is so high, S-04 is normally a fast worker and your wort is highly fermentable.

I would...
Add another packet of yeast.
Not worry.
Not keep opening the fermentor.
Check FG and taste the beer on botteling/keging day.
If its good, package and drink it.
If its bad, dump it, think hard about what may have gone wrong, try again.

 

[TahoePowderHound]

Your blobs do not look unusual to me.
The look of the giant blobs of cold break that end up in my fermentor often remind me of large biological specimins preserved in formaldehyde.

It is odd that your gravity on day 7 is so high, S-04 is normally a fast worker and your wort is highly fermentable.

I would...
Add another packet of yeast.
Not worry.
Not keep opening the fermentor.
Check FG and taste the beer on botteling/keging day.
If its good, package and drink it.
If its bad, dump it, think hard about what may have gone wrong, try again.

Thanks, I'll give this a shot!

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I echo the gravity comments - going from 1.060 to 1.055 in seven days means zero fermentation is happening. I suspect that difference is from wort measurement temperatures. The fact that your gravity hasn't changed in a week and you also don't have any sort of film or mold on the top of the wort means that you do not have an infection. After opening it now though, there is a risk of contamination. Pitch more yeast ASAP. You should also look over your notes to figure out why your first yeast pitch did not succeed.

To put it in perspective, I had some left over wort and left it in a bucket uncovered next to my fermentation fridge, and 12 hours later there was a noticeable white pellicle already forming.

S-O4 works pretty, almost a blink-and-you'll-miss it kind of thing. Something is afoot.

 

[TahoePowderHound]

I echo the gravity comments - going form 1.060 to 1.055 in seven days means zero fermentation is happening. I suspect that difference is from wort measurement temperatures. The fact that your gravity hasn't changed in a week and you also don't have any sort of film or mold on the top of the wort means that you do not have an infection. After opening it now though, there is a risk of contamination. Pitch more yeast ASAP. You should also look over your notes to figure out why your first yeast pitch did not succeed.

To put it in perspective, I had some left over wort and left it in a bucket uncovered next to my fermentation fridge, and 12 hours later there was a noticeable white pellicle already forming.

S-O4 works pretty, almost a blink-and-you'll-miss it kind of thing. Something is afoot.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree, something strange going on. So here's the update. Yesterday I dumped another pack of S-04. Figured screw it let's see what happens. Woke up this morning to my airlock glugging away. I'm going to keep it air tight and monitor the bubbler. Will update once things slow down and I take another reading.

 

[TahoePowderHound]

So, I pitched another packet of S-04 on Friday before leaving town. Came back Sunday night to the airlock goin off. Took a quick refractor reading and we're now down to 1.042 so the yeast is workin away.

However, I'm still concerned about the "blobs". I've added new photos of what the beer looked like when I opened the lid last night. They have the texture of cotton balls.

Please let me know if this still looks normal to you. Full disclosure, this is my first beer that isn't 100% extract, as I'm using the toasted oats. Do proteins build up like this when using grains? Would explain why I've never experienced anything like this before...

Any advice is helpful. As a newbie brewer I appreciate any and all feedback from this knowledgable community!

 

[Silly Yak]

I'm a noob as well but I would think only bad things can happen to your beer if you continually open your fermenter. For my last batch I used one of those plastic buckets and it killed me not to see what was going on inside. I'm going to stick to clear plastic or glass carboys from here on out.

As to whether you've got a contamination issue it definitely doesn't look nasty like the "Post your infection" thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/post-your-infection.71400/. Just look through that thread for awhile to make yourself feel better.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Took a quick refractor reading and we're now down to 1.042 so the yeast is workin away.

Refractometers require an alcohol correction factor to account for the reflectivity of the alcohol in a fermented product. They are fine for pre-fermentation SG, but a hydrometer is really necessary to check SG once alcohol is present in solution. Going from 1.055 to 1.042 in four days would otherwise indicate a problem somewhere.

In any event, if there is airlock activity, then leave it alone for a ten days or two weeks and then check it with a hydrometer. If there is a problem of some sort (infection, protein clumps), it is too late to fix it now. If is not infected and there is no issue, then leaving it alone to finish is fine either way. Relax, don't worry, and soon you will be having homebrew.

 

[TahoePowderHound]

Refractometers require an alcohol correction factor to account for the reflectivity of the alcohol in a fermented product. They are fine for pre-fermentation SG, but a hydrometer is really necessary to check SG once alcohol is present in solution. Going from 1.055 to 1.042 in four days would otherwise indicate a problem somewhere.

In any event, if there is airlock activity, then leave it alone for a ten days or two weeks and then check it with a hydrometer. If there is a problem of some sort (infection, protein clumps), it is too late to fix it now. If is not infected and there is no issue, then leaving it alone to finish is fine either way. Relax, don't worry, and soon you will be having homebrew.

Thanks for the info. I just purchased the Refractometer recently and was unaware of the problems once alcohol is introduced. I'll take your advice and let it do it's thing for a while and then get a reading with my hydrometer.

 

[TahoePowderHound]

I'm a noob as well but I would think only bad things can happen to your beer if you continually open your fermenter. For my last batch I used one of those plastic buckets and it killed me not to see what was going on inside. I'm going to stick to clear plastic or glass carboys from here on out.

As to whether you've got a contamination issue it definitely doesn't look nasty like the "Post your infection" thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/post-your-infection.71400/. Just look through that thread for awhile to make yourself feel better.

Haha wow, I took a look at the thread and you're right. It doesn't look as intense as any of those posts and I somehow feel a bit safer now. Cheers