White film and bubbles on beer in carboy

[pdonati1]

I am making my 2nd batch of beer, the first was excellent, this batch has fermented for 2 weeks, been transferred to the carboy and now, after 10 days there is a white film with bubbles over the top. It looks awful and i can send a picture to anyone curious. So, should i proceed to bottling or dump it?

 

[Face Eater]

Sounds like an infection but only way to tell would be with a picture.

 

[LoneWolfPR]

yep. sounds like a pellicle from bacteria or wild yeast. Check out the pellicle photos thread in the Lambics and Wild Brewing forum.

 

[Brulosopher]

I am making my 2nd batch of beer, the first was excellent, this batch has fermented for 2 weeks, been transferred to the carboy and now, after 10 days there is a white film with bubbles over the top. It looks awful and i can send a picture to anyone curious. So, should i proceed to bottling or dump it?

Pellicle. Hell, let it sour for a few more weeks, taste it then, and decide at that time what you wanna do.

 

[pdonati1]

Sounds like an infection but only way to tell would be with a picture.

Can I send a pic? I have one.

 

[LoneWolfPR]

Compare it to photos in this thread. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/pellicle-photo-collection-174033/
I bet anything it's a pellicle.

 

[djfriesen]

Can I send a pic? I have one.

you should be able to upload it in a post.

 

[pdonati1]

Is this batch ruined?

 

[unionrdr]

Yup,that's an infection. Bubbles on film with stringy things connecting them. loks like lactobacillus. Something wasn't sanitized that touched the beer going into the FV. Did you sanitize everything 1st?

 

[MedicMang]

I had the same problem twice in a row. Had to replace everything that was plastic (wine thief, tubing, auto siphon). I was also told that if you transfer to a secondary fermenter, you need as little air space as possible. Because the beer is done fermenting, oxygen doesn't get constantly pushed out by co2, in which the o2 feeds the infection. If it tastes ok, bottle it and drink it quick. If you don't watch lacto, it will continue to ferment in the bottle, which means bottle bombs if left too long. Don't let it get you down. Your next brew will be bangin.

 

[BrewinBigD]

Is this batch ruined?

id say let it ride a few months and see what comes of it!! i had a whaet beer go lacto on me and it was the best berliner ive ever had. alll that from a little carelesness!

 

[Brulosopher]

id say let it ride a few months and see what comes of it!! i had a whaet beer go lacto on me and it was the best berliner ive ever had. alll that from a little carelesness!

Amen.

 

[buttcord]

Please don't dump the batch without at least trying it! Some of my best wild ales were unintentional...

I had the same problem twice in a row. Had to replace everything that was plastic (wine thief, tubing, auto siphon). I was also told that if you transfer to a secondary fermenter, you need as little air space as possible. Because the beer is done fermenting, oxygen doesn't get constantly pushed out by co2, in which the o2 feeds the infection. If it tastes ok, bottle it and drink it quick. If you don't watch lacto, it will continue to ferment in the bottle, which means bottle bombs if left too long. Don't let it get you down. Your next brew will be bangin.

Lactobacillus doesn't produce c02. Brettanomyces was probably to blame for the bottle bombs.

 

[Yooper]

I had the same problem twice in a row. Had to replace everything that was plastic (wine thief, tubing, auto siphon). I was also told that if you transfer to a secondary fermenter, you need as little air space as possible. Because the beer is done fermenting, oxygen doesn't get constantly pushed out by co2, in which the o2 feeds the infection. If it tastes ok, bottle it and drink it quick. If you don't watch lacto, it will continue to ferment in the bottle, which means bottle bombs if left too long. Don't let it get you down. Your next brew will be bangin.

Yep, totally true. A beer can stay in primary for quite a while without growing lacto, mold, or pedio, but once it gets transferred any oxygen can allow that stuff to grow.

If someone is going to transfer a finished beer to age a bit, headspace should be reduced and/or the carboy topped up with co2.

 

[pdonati1]

So should I bottle it now or wait and if I should wait how long? It looks awful so I have concerns it is safe to drink. Should I have concerns? Thanks for the help.

 

[BrewerBear]

It will be safe to drink. Opinions differ as to wether to let it for several more months or bottle in now and drink it young.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

wheres your bung and airlock?

like many have said o2 will ruin your beer and headspace is the devil
if you dont have the option of purging it with co2 then frequent gravity checks will cause this problem

 

[MedicMang]

Nothing can live inside of the beer that will harm you. It's too alcoholic for anything really bad to live in that environment. If you are a fan of sours, you should wait it out. If not, bottle it and drink it before it turns. I bottled my infected pumpkin ale and have been drinking it for a couple days now. Still tastes great, but I can tell its starting to sour. Up to you homie.

 

[JLem]

wheres your bung and airlock?

like many have said o2 will ruin your beer and headspace is the devil
if you dont have the option of purging it with co2 then frequent gravity checks will cause this problem

Good catch...it doesn't look like there's a bung in the carboy. Is it open and exposed to the air?

 

[pdonati1]

Yes, there is an airlock the photo just doesn't show it. I'm just wrestling with the notion that something that looks so crappy can be worth drinking.

 

[DoubleAught]

Looks delicious to me...I'd let it ride, buy a new carboy and just use that one for sours

 

[dwarven_stout]

Please don't dump the batch without at least trying it! Some of my best wild ales were unintentional...


Lactobacillus doesn't produce c02. Brettanomyces was probably to blame for the bottle bombs.

Depends on the lacto. Commercial homebrewing strains are homofermentive, but plenty of wild strains will produce CO2 and alcohol as well as lactic acid.