Infection Photo Thread

[TimT]

Bottled a honey-altbier brew I'd been slowly fermenting over the course of months about a fortnight ago. Now I notice each bottle has a film of something on top - not secondary ferment... (actually I decided it would be best as a still beer so I skipped the adding of sugar entirely). So looks like I've got an infection; not acquired during primary ferment (the brew looked fine through several months) but somehow acquired during bottling. Scheissen, as the Germans say, hausen. Probably acetobacteria, as others have mentioned on this thread, though maybe just a mould infection that lives on the surface. Think my plan will be to give it a taste test and if it works (ie, I don't die or anything) then I'll try and drink it fresh.

 

[Yob]

speaking of infection.. went into the shed today and saw that 2 out of 3 of my saved wort from the last brew were doing stuff.. should have froze them..







to me, they look like different infections.. thinking I might let them go and see what they turn into, I can easily put the glassware in the oven to Sterilize after..

 

[Yob]

so, a few days later, and Id have to say that these are two different populations, the first shot below is from the 500 ml flask and the second from the 1000ml flask.. anyone hazzard a guess as to what they are?





its interesting to watch these grow.. usually you dont see as much of the life cycle as we just nuke it as soon as we see it but with the fridge full Ive got the time to watch these with no ill effect.

:icon_vomit:

 

[verysupple]

Hi all,

So as usual my weissber fermentation reeked of hydrogen sulphide and the beer lacks the distinctive aroma and flavour it's supposed to have. After about 5 days in the FV it like a dull, dirty flavour/aroma going on but now (10 days in) it seems to be smelling and tasting a bit more like it should...which is good.

However, it also now looks like this...




I'm thinking acetobacter. If it is, what off flavours and aromas should I be looking for?

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

so, a few days later, and Id have to say that these are two different populations, the first shot below is from the 500 ml flask and the second from the 1000ml flask.. anyone hazzard a guess as to what they are?

500ml.jpg

1000ml.jpg

its interesting to watch these grow.. usually you dont see as much of the life cycle as we just nuke it as soon as we see it but with the fridge full Ive got the time to watch these with no ill effect.

:icon_vomit:

Can't identify those without a taste report h34r:

 

[verysupple]

Well, the samples poured from the tap weren't too bad. When I stuck my head in for a sniff after taking the photos it smelled atrocious, and not just lots of CO2, a different kind of acidic and kind of like the weird yellow mould that grew behind our bookshelf when water got in.

I took a sample and had a look under the microscope and there were lots and lots of tiny colonies that looked like mini verisons of what you can see on the surface. I zoomed in a bit and it was clear that whatever it was forming colonies wasn't yeast. So that batch went down the sink and I'm cleaning and sanitising everything in my brewery that touches the wort after the boil.

Now that I think about it, I should have just used the microscope in the first place .

 

[Dementedchook]

So I found this has grown over the last couple of days, fermenter hasn't been open since I pitched, there's a sort of flowery smell to my nose, but not really anything I can identify. doesn't smell like clean freshly fermented beer.

Was looking to bottle today, so is it salvageable or is it going to be a bin the fermenter jobbie?
I've taken a gravity reading now I've had a look, and it's sitting on about 1.002, so about where I expected for the French saison yeast. Seems to taste ok, very dry and tart, maybe slightly spicy (EKG hops coming through?).

 

[Yob]

if it tastes OK from the bottom, bottle it but leave 3-4L of the beer on the top.. wrap towels over/around the crate/storage just in case of kaboombies..

Id have to think though that at 1.002, you arent likely to see explosions..

those BIG bubbles dont look great... does look like yeast though

 

[GundyBrewer]

I went to do a gravity check on a stout I've had fermenting for a bit over a week this afternoon and found what looks like an infection.

It's not a great photo but I think all those little white chunks originated on the krausen stuck to the sides of the fermenter. It looks a bit like verysupple's example above actually. This has smelt like dark chocolate all through fermentation and tastes pretty good at the moment as well, so I don't really want to turf it.

My original idea was to put it in glass bottles and let it sit until the cooler months, but I'm now thinking of putting it in plastic bottles, force carbing and getting through it smartly. I'd look at applying Yob's suggestion to leave the top 3-4L out if I do bottle it.

SG is 1.019 at the moment down from 1.071. The recipe predicted it to finish at 1.014 but it has only gone down one point in the last five days and tastes really dry so I think it's done. I turned the temperature down to cold crash this afternoon.

Could someone please give me some advice on what to do next?

 

[verysupple]

I went to do a gravity check on a stout I've had fermenting for a bit over a week this afternoon and found what looks like an infection. It's not a great photo but I think all those little white chunks originated on the krausen stuck to the sides of the fermenter. It looks a bit like verysupple's example above actually. This has smelt like dark chocolate all through fermentation and tastes pretty good at the moment as well, so I don't really want to turf it. My original idea was to put it in glass bottles and let it sit until the cooler months, but I'm now thinking of putting it in plastic bottles, force carbing and getting through it smartly. I'd look at applying Yob's suggestion to leave the top 3-4L out if I do bottle it. SG is 1.019 at the moment down from 1.071. The recipe predicted it to finish at 1.014 but it has only gone down one point in the last five days and tastes really dry so I think it's done. I turned the temperature down to cold crash this afternoon. Could someone please give me some advice on what to do next?

You can't really tell from my pics but mine also had a thin film over the surface. That and the crud growing on top made me think it was acetobacter. It should be pretty easy to find out if it is though because it needs O2 to multiply. Take a small sample and put it in a sanitised container but don't seal it. Just put foil or something over the top to stop any new infections from getting in but still let the O2 get in to feed the acetobacter (if it's there). After a few days at a nice warm temp those clumps should grow noticeably if it's not just yeast or trub or anything that's supposed to be there.

 

[GundyBrewer]

I haven't got the thin film on the surface of mine, but I have got a couple of small milky white bubbles and those white chunks floating on top and sitting on the krausen at the sides that don't look great. I'll definitely take a sample of this white stuff like you suggested and see what it does though.

I'm looking into pasteurising the batch too actually. I've filled up a stubbie and put it in 90 degree water for 10 minutes. Depending on how that tastes, I'm thinking about bottling the lot of it and pasteurising the bottles in my urn. After that I'd obviously add a bit of priming solution and yeast with a syringe, recap and condition from there.

I was also looking at the reboiling method on this page here:
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/41056-killing-infections/page-3

Has anyone tried any methods like these with success?

 

[Dunkelbrau]

Hi all,

So as usual my weissber fermentation reeked of hydrogen sulphide and the beer lacks the distinctive aroma and flavour it's supposed to have. After about 5 days in the FV it like a dull, dirty flavour/aroma going on but now (10 days in) it seems to be smelling and tasting a bit more like it should...which is good.

However, it also now looks like this...

IMAG0294.jpg IMAG0296.jpg


I'm thinking acetobacter. If it is, what off flavours and aromas should I be looking for?

Acetobacter convert ethanol into acetic acid, basically it should smell and taste of vinager depending on how far its gone.

If it is, let it fully ferment out and save it - malt vinager!

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Hi guys,
Been a while since I've been on here. I've just been out to the garage to keg a Brown Ale, cracked the top of the fermenter and found this..... I've never had an infection before but this is definitely not normal. Do I just tip it and walk away?
It still smells ok, but I'm thinking I'd be better off erring on the side of caution.
Cheers,

Look very similar to what I got in my brewery. Iv'e lost a lot of gear because of it. I tried caustic in my 2 60L ferms and all plastic gear but its still there so Iv'e just chucked everything plastic. 200L of beer and probably $800 worth of gear. You don't want that shit in your brewery. Still waiting to see if its actually gone with this next batch in a new fermenter.

****. Think I've got this in my current brew. Mustering up the courage to taste the sample from the bottom but the top looks the same. I pitched a yeast starter of some old harvested yeast for this that was built over a few steps. Tasted slightly apple/sour come to think of it but I attributed it to the wort I used for the starters because they were highly hopped worts. So perhaps I've simply built an infected yeast up and pitched that. It smells fruity in the FV, but the sample from the bottom has that apple/sour smell to it that the yeast starters did, so I'm guessing it's game over for this batch?

From now on I think I will build my starters from plain LDME so that it is as neutral a flavour as possible...

 

[damoninja]

Acetobacter convert ethanol into acetic acid, basically it should smell and taste of vinager depending on how far its gone.

If it is, let it fully ferment out and save it - malt vinager!

Indeed! It will take like, 6+ months to become vinegar though right?

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

****. Think I've got this in my current brew. Mustering up the courage to taste the sample from the bottom but the top looks the same. I pitched a yeast starter of some old harvested yeast for this that was built over a few steps. Tasted slightly apple/sour come to think of it but I attributed it to the wort I used for the starters because they were highly hopped worts. So perhaps I've simply built an infected yeast up and pitched that. It smells fruity in the FV, but the sample from the bottom has that apple/sour smell to it that the yeast starters did, so I'm guessing it's game over for this batch?

From now on I think I will build my starters from plain LDME so that it is as neutral a flavour as possible...

Kegged the bottom 16L or so, will gas it up and chill then tastes between kegs for educational purposes. It was a fat yak clone and the sample definitely had no cascade flavour/bitterness which speaks volumes against whether it was partially infected or fully.

Hoping a good hot PBW soak of the FV and another tonight with some sponge rubbing of walls will help. Will use a different FV and cleanout fridgewith bleach for next batch as want to confirm its not airborne mold in the house. We have mold in our pantry from a water flood waiting to be treated, should have known better and not brewed until it was treated!

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Sorry the links to my photos were broken, have fixed up the images in my above post. Anybody able to identify?

Edit: Further to add, the OG was 1.049 (Fat Yak Clone) and the measured (two samples one from bottom and one from after transferring to keg I tested some of the remainder towards the top) a FG of 1.006. There was still visible yeast popping up to the surface and dropping down, it was the 1768 London ESB yeast which is supposed to only attenuate around 70%? Not 87%?!?!?! This suggests a bacterial infection of some sort am I correct?

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Hmm, adding again to this in hope of someone able to identify visually what it was/is.

Also checked the keg in the fridge and popping the PRV the smell is normal beer, so might have gotten away with kegging the bottom half. I also after filling the keg took a sample in my hydrometer tube and have covered it with foil and left it out in the kitchen, so far nothing appears to be growing in there, in fact if anything appears to be very small amount of yeast activity from the bottom, strange though for a 1.006 beer that's already overattenuated for the strain?!

 

[verysupple]

I still can't see the pics...if nobody else can either that may be why nobody's chimed in with diagnosis.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Hmm, thanks for pointing that out. I have since uploaded them onto AHB. So you can't see these?

 

[verysupple]

Yup, can see those. Unfortunately I can't help a lot because that doesn't look like any infections I'm familiar with. Is the colour accurate? The stuff on top is slightly yellow and not white? It kinda looks like fat, but I'm sure it's not. It looks like there's a skin (pellicle) on top suggesting bacteria rather than wild yeast or something. I can't be more specific though.

EDIT: My bad, mental fart. Some wild yeast inculding Brett can form a pellicle, but the colour still looks wrong for that.