Is My Brew Infected?

[hughman666]

Hi all,

I brewed an AG pilsner on Saturday (single batch) but because i have a slow fermenting kolsch taking up my 100 can cooler, i stuck this one in a 20L jerry (and expelled 95% of headspace) to wait until this weekend to pitch the wyeast 2000 budvar yeast.

all sounds good right? well i came home from work on monday to find the 20L jerry puffed up like a rice bubble. i released the pressure and then expelled the headspace again. 2 hours later it was puffed up again. i then transferred it to a fermenter because it has an airlock and decided to leave it these until this weekend to pitch the yeast.

i came home from work today and found there was a layer of foam on top of the wort (like a krausen) with some solidified bits in there (may have been hops residue, this pilsner had a lot of czech saaz in it).

is this an infection? i've never had a brew infected before as i'm meticulous with my hygiene, but i do realise it can happen once in a while.

should i waste my budvar yeast on this or cut my losses and do another one this weekend?

cheers,

hugh

 

[Adamt]

Doesn't sound that flash.

Take a hydro reading, compare it to your first reading (if you have one), then smell and taste it. If it tastes at all fermented/funky it's dead.

 

[Ross]

It's infected without any doubt at all... I'd have tipped it before it even got near one of my fermenters. Bad luck....

Cheers Ross

 

[Darren]

I am surprised that this is not happening to more of you "wort storers"
cheers

Darren

 

[DJR]

I am surprised that this is not happening to more of you "wort storers"
cheers

Darren

Here we go again, don't start Darren.

For a start, it doesn't sound like it was stored hot into the cube.

Doesn't sound like the cube was sterilised.

Didn't purge all the headspace (10% headspace is too much)

I've now done almost 20 no-chill batches with only 1 infection from a pretty poor set of methods, i didn't put the wort into the cube when it was hot enough (and plenty of them have done pretty well in comps).

Anyway to the OP, bad luck, that's an infection.

 

[Lukes]

Hugh,
This happened to me with a wheat.
It was a cleaning problem with so now they get a rinse, soak in nappy sam for at least 2 days and at least 20 mins of phos acid before filling.

If the cube was clean, check ( clean ) your kettle tap and hose's.

- Luke

 

[berapnopod]

You're fermenting an authentic lambic!!!

Sorry it wasn't your intention.

Probably won't turn out good if you're fermenting above 17C though.

But if you are fermenting at lower temps, just be patient (about a year or so), and you just might have a nice geuze.

Otherwise chuck it. If you ever make a wort, chill it and don't pitch the yeast within 24 hours or less, depending on sanitation, the wild yeast and bacteria will take over.

Berp.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Hughman666

Can you advise if you transfered the wort into the cube while it was hot?

How did you sanitise the cube?

Have you used the no chiller method before?

Cheers

 

[berazafi]

You're fermenting an authentic lambic!!!

Sorry it wasn't your intention.

Probably won't turn out good if you're fermenting above 17C though.

But if you are fermenting at lower temps, just be patient (about a year or so), and you just might have a nice geuze.

Otherwise chuck it. If you ever make a wort, chill it and don't pitch the yeast within 24 hours or less, depending on sanitation, the wild yeast and bacteria will take over.

Berp.

mmm a bolulism (sp) lambic, that may have a decent kick to it

 

[Tony M]

If you have used this container for storing fermented brews, i.e. for cold conditioning, if you are lucky, you may have just got an early start with a good yeast (it has happened to me).I would give it a sniff and and a taste before you spread it on the turf.

 

[kook]

You're fermenting an authentic lambic!!!

Probably won't turn out good if you're fermenting above 17C though.

But if you are fermenting at lower temps, just be patient (about a year or so), and you just might have a nice geuze.

I doubt that there will be enough unique organisms to provide an authentic lambic character present, most probably only a few that survived the cleaning.

I'm curious as to why you think it must be fermented below 17C? Several lambic brewers have no temperature control, and their cellar spaces definately exceed this during the summer months.

Also, Gueuze is a blended beverage (usually of varying vintages), so he'd actually just end up with a unblended plambic like beer.

 

[Jazzafish]

I give you the benifit of the doubt about cleaning, and racking at next to boiling temps, so I guess it could have been windy that day and some wild yeast blew it... or a fly or some insect made its way into the brew while your back was turned?

Either way it is fermenting via some unintended method. I'd get ready to bleach bomb some gear... or culture up some slurry that has defied the odds and produced a new world class beer? Ok unlikely, but it would be nice

 

[hughman666]

thanks for the replies everybody. it's already down the sink and onward we go....

as for the replies, it was no-chilled first, filtered out any remaining trub and then transferred to the cube for storage at room temps. for the record, i've done this numerous times without incident but i have recently changed sanitizing solution (won't name names) and i think this is where infection may have crept in. from now on i will return to my 2 days bleach & 2 days napisan combo, as this seems to kill anything that may pose a threat.

i'll move towards 0% headspace in the cube for safety sake and go from there.

thanks again everyone!

 

[Finite]

:unsure: Ummm....i havnt been squeezing out any of the headspace before when no chill didnt know i need to.... add that to the list hehehe.

4 beers done with no chill without squeezing and no infection though.

 

[PostModern]

transferred to the cube for storage at room temps.

There's your problem.

 

[pint of lager]

hughman, just to clarify, you no chilled, then strained when cool?

Best results with no chill are transfer above 80 degrees to a very well cleaned and sanitised cube, squeeze all the headspace out and seal. Tip cube on its side so that the hot wort sanitises the lid seal. Do not crack the seal till you have an active yeast ready to pitch.

 

[hughman666]

There's your problem.

um, no because as i said, having done this numerous times, i have had no infection. i'm putting this down to a change in sanitizing product.

unless of course you're making the bold call that wort cannot be stored long-term at room temps?!

 

[Screwtop]

There's your problem.

Yep, there IS your problem! Relying on No Chill or hot wort to sanitise vessels. How many times does it need to be said, SANITISE YOUR FERMENTERS/CUBES/WHATEVER. And the best method - a cheap non-perfumed BLEACH SOLUTION, whether you are transferring hot or cooled wort you should sanitise whatever container you are transferring to. Good simple effective brewing procedures.

 

[geoffi]

transferred to the cube for storage at room temps.


There's your problem."



I really don't see how this could be a problem in itself. All those commercial fresh wort kits seem to sit around at room temps with no probs.

I fill cubes shortly after flameout and whirlpooling, and keep headspace to a minimum in the cube. This also eliminates extra oxygen. The temp is high enough to pasteurise, so I don't believe infection at this point is a serious risk.

I also ferment undiluted (with a good starter to kick things off quickly), and dilute on bottling. I figure the extra alcohol will guard against infections.

 

[hughman666]

Relying on No Chill or hot wort to sanitise vessels.

i cant see where i said that i was trying to achieve this. i have sanitized the cube each time with no issue, however upon changing sanitizing solution this has seemed to have a different result (read: infection).

please don't try to turn this into a cheap-shot argument against the no-chiller method.

thanks,

hugh