Infection Photo Thread

[mckenry]

Hey All,
This isnt really the right place to post my question as I dont have a photo. Besides, my beer doesnt look infected anyway.

Q. How early can you detect an infection?

Background: Brewed Friday, chilled, but didnt get to pitching temp until saturday. Sealed up fermenter, purged headspace with CO2. On saturday morning, wort was at 12°, so waited for it to warm up. I had to pitch at 14° as I was going out. I figured pitching cooler was better than hotter. Oxygenated as usual.
Sunday I tasted my wort when it had started fermenting. Visible blowoff action. It was back at 19°. I wanted to taste it as I had used homegrown hops in the whirlpool. It has a cider smell and taste. Ergh. Worried.

I have never bothered tasting fermenting wort that early. AND F-it - I forgot to taste and smell my yeast starter, for the first time ever - Bloody Murphy! So, if it is an infection, I dont know where it came from yet.

Still - is a cider(ish) taste possible early on in the ferment? Anyone taste test this early? Ferment was probably only 6-12 hours in. I'm hoping its normal this early. I havent had an infection for years, probably 15 years or more I reckon, so my sanitation is good from my point of view. The starter was a new vial of Cali V started as per my normal routine.

Thanks.

An update for future reference for anyone. The beer is definitely infected. Seems you can pick up the smell/taste on day one of fermentation.

 

[Ciderman]

So I couldn't get ahold of the yeast I wanted and waited 48 hours. I read of people cubing beer so thought I could just put it in the fermenter and wait. Went to pitch the yeast and found a fair bit of krausen. Gravity had dropped 10 points. Looked normal, smells slightly vegetive, like a faint celery aroma. Sounds like DMS?

I pitched the yeast anyway, figured what have I got to loose? I'm thinking its spoiled, thoughts?

All grain, rye mild beer. Hit all targets and temperatures. Cooled to 35 degrees with chiller and put in fridge at 18 degrees for 48 hours.

 

[stevemc32]

Generally people cubing wort will do it at ~90 degrees and try to remove as much air as possible from the cube to reduce the chances of that shown in your photo.

Definitely worth fermenting out though and giving it a taste. Could be your new house strain!

 

[Mardoo]

So I couldn't get ahold of the yeast I wanted and waited 48 hours. I read of people cubing beer so thought I could just put it in the fermenter and wait. Went to pitch the yeast and found a fair bit of krausen. Gravity had dropped 10 points. Looked normal, smells slightly vegetive, like a faint celery aroma. Sounds like DMS?

So was that just krausen from wild yeast? Dayum! Ferment it out. I'd love to hear what it's like.

 

[Ciderman]

So was that just krausen from wild yeast? Dayum! Ferment it out. I'd love to hear what it's like.

It would appear so. I'm clinical in cleaning so I'm a little shocked to see something amiss. I'll just leave it and see what happens, though as optimistic as you are, I'm not so sure I have something drinkable yet!

 

[stevemc32]

It's pretty hard to clean the air.

 

[phoenixdigital]

It's pretty hard to clean the air.

FIRE!!!!!

 

[Mardoo]

though as optimistic as you are, I'm not so sure I have something drinkable yet!

I think it's probably closer to morbid curiosity.

 

[hwall95]

My saison yeast cake that I left glad wrapped in a dark for two weeks. Not exactly sure how it got infected as the beer isn't and my sanitisation was as per normal (clean with oxy soap, boil, sanitise then pour yeast cake out) but it does have a decent pellicle! I'm starting to think my new house has a pretty strong wild yeast floating about (one infected starter and one infected washed yeast every since I moved in), will have to keep my starters in my cleaned fermenting fridge on my stir plate from now one incase

 

[menoetes]

Urgh, I know your pain Harry.

I've just checked on my Spiced Saison that's been fermenting at ambient under the house and it has formed a firm white pellicle over the top of the wort. No photo sorry lads but I'm guessing it's another lacto infection - just like I had last time I tried to brew a Saison at ambient temps.

I've siphoned the beer out from under pellicle into a 2ndary vessel but I don't have high hopes for this brew, if it forms again - I'm ditching the whole brew.

Why God, why won't you let me brew Saisons?!

 

[hwall95]

Argh man that's a shame, weird how a less complicated brew like a saison is more troubling! Any similarities between the previous batch and this?

I'm yet to try your previous batch, will give it a taste on the weekend with my older brother, who knows it may of turned out alright

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Yum, sour saison!

 

[technobabble66]

Thundering mutha truckas!!!!
I think I have my first infection.
I discovered this as I was dropping a bag of hops flowers into the FV:

Nooooooooooo!!!!!!
I saw it after I'd started to put the bag in, so I had already "dipped" some of it into the beer - otherwise I might've considered draining the FV in the hope the infection was just at the top.

Sodding sod!!!!

Any ideas?

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Did you dry snake skin hop that beer?

 

[technobabble66]

Hehe. It does look a bit odd, doesn't it - just the hop sock I can assure you. No snakes go near the production of my beer.

On another odd note, I had a glass or 2 or it last night straight from the FV - what the hell, I'll probably have to toss the lot soon - and the funny thing is it tastes perfectly fine. (Obviously I wouldn't have touched it if it tasted bad!).
What's with that? What sort of infection pillages the top of the FV and leaves the rest? Or is it simply a matter of time before the rest it trashed?

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

An aerobic infection does...

Keg the bottom half or so stat!!!

 

[technobabble66]

Quick update:
It continued to taste fine out of the FV, so i helped myself to a few litres out of the FV over a couple of days as it was actually tasting pretty damn good (hence the extreme disappointment that it'd become infected!)*
I then bottled it on the 22nd (3 days after dropping the columbus flowers in). I intended to just do the bottom 1/2 or 2/3rds, but it continued to taste fine all the way to the last 2-3L so i ended up only leaving maybe 2L in the FV. The rest went into (mainly plastic) bottles, which are now left outside in case they become bombs. I'll see how it goes and report later during the tasting (or exploding!).
FWIW, the FV smelt a bit vinegary after i'd drained it, so i'm guessing it was an Aceto- infection.

Also fwiw, the flowers (that i'd cut in halves to improve extraction) still had almost all of their lupulin glands intact, so i don't think i got much extraction from my flowers. However, i didn't want to leave it for much longer - i would've normally left them for ~2 weeks. I must crush the flowers a bit next time to see if that improves extraction rate.






*ok, so it was several litres h34r:

 

[froidy]

 

[froidy]

Hi guys, need desperate help! About to bottle and saw this? Could this be my first infection? I've done about thirty brews, never had a problem but just lately I have had fruit flies hanging around Should I bottle or throw it? Smells kinda strong/vinegary ^^^^^^^

Been in the fermenter 3 weeks, between 18-24 max

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Look at technobabbles recent experience above, id follow a similar path. But yes looks infected in your photo to me if the lighting/colour is accurate.