Lgaddy44 said:Went to keg a Strawberry Wheat today, and found my first infected batch. We'll see how it works as a sour.
sparksanthony said:Alright here goes..had a very ambitious brewday on July 3rd, these are after a 18 day primary and a little over a week in the secondary., but obviously didn't work out the way I wanted. I brewed 3 batches, 5 buckets total.
The first was a Gumballhead Clone (not shown) that is has the thin whitish film shown on these other 3 images, but no other signs of what I think is Lacto on those two buckets (even though I am thinkin it is just a matter of time).
The top and bottom images are of a Red Rye (see recipe db) and the center image is of a Jamils Evil Twin kit my bro had sittn around for 6 months.
Hopefully I am just trippin..but I think not. I am bummed about the time and $$ I went with these. Definitely gonna give 'em a go in the bottle......we'll see though..
Would you folks concur that this is likely Lacto infection?? Should I bottle?? Coldcrash/bottle?? Let it ride?? Dump??
What should I do right now?? 20 + gallons of beer that smells good (albeit strong in some cases) but don't look good...
Signed....disappointed that I did something terrible wrong.
They show up horizontally on my phone but the first might be OK, the second a bit iffy, third definitely something. I'd bottle the first before the others in case it isn't Infected. Otherwise if you put it in a bottling bucket after one of those, might catch it. You use the same hose to siphon each? Likely the culprit if so.
Cat_man_0 said:Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.
Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.
Alphabet beer?
Also, for the people who accidentally infected their beer, maybe some of you should stop trying to secondary in plastic buckets, particularly with small volumes.
Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.
You poured Alphabits cereal in there. But only the Y's.
Got one. First time I have seen this one. Looks like bright white capital Y's. Primary for a week, secondary for 2. Still smells good.
That's one of the coolest things I've seen.
Bottle a sample with a Y and send it my way I wanna look at it in the lab.
espresso vanilla stout 3 weeks into secondary
Just checked my buckets again (haven't looked at it in a week) and they all look about the same. Looks like everything is contaminated with the brett/lactic bacteria.
Everything smelled good and tasted fine (albeit the beer was pretty cloudy), so I think I am going to dry hop the one batch (2 buckets)of Gumballhead and bottle everything (5 buckets total) next weekend.
Maybe a question for another forum/thread but....
What is the best way to handle it in terms of clarity and carbonation? Will the bacteria hurt any of the residual yeast that will be used for carbonation in the bottles? Will a cold crash help anything? Cold condition in the bottles longer help with clarity? Should I just carry on with my normal routine??
Yes the bacteria will likely kill off your yeast, however:
The bacteria will carbonate your beer, but if it is actually brett, you certainly want to make sure you have reached final gravity before bottling because if you're at say 1.010, brett can keep going to 1.000 or lower , over carbing and bottle bombing are a very real issue with brett beer, just make very sure that it is done fermenting. It can sometimes take a lot of time to reach FG
Brett also will clear it up beautifully if you give it time.
NOt truly sure what it is, but based on the pictures it is brett, lacto, or something like that.
I just checked the FG again and it is pretty well the same as when I transferred them to secondary over two weeks at this point (also with a 3 week primary). One thing I did notice is that some of the hydrometer samples seemed t almost be carbonated?? Maybe that is a sign of the bacteria working and doing its thing. Will read up on this stuff..don't know much about it. At any rate, I will check the FG before I bottle and hopefully the fizz I am seeing right now will die off. I would be a little hesitant to bottle with that still present.
When I do bottle, I assume that I can prime with corn sugar as a normal beer?? How does that work??
Think of bacteria just as you would yeast. It is a little different in the sense that it will finish lower because it can consume more complex sugars than yeast can, it's harder to kill etc. But they eat the same food, and produce the same product albeit with different flavor.
So yes in short, corn sugar is fine.
BallisticGourd said:Note to self...boil the erlenmeyer after a big brett starter. Doh!
Wouldn't you boil the starter in the erlenmeyer while making a starter?
Must have scratched the inside of my better bottle while cleaning it, because this is the first infection I've ever had. I had to use a carboy brush on it a couple of times because oxyclean didn't cut it. Super bummed.
Seems there are some varying opinions about how to handle the equipment once an infection has been inside of it. Once you get an infection in a better bottle or plastic bucket...are they now best thrown away? Can they simply be bleached or sanitized using some other means to use again for future? Same for racking canes/tubes? I have read a little about how these "microscratches" (if present?) can harbor bacterias.
mux said:Wouldn't you boil the starter in the erlenmeyer while making a starter?
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