White Thing On Top Of Brew

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mchiu

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I just put in a brew today.. a coopers draught with 1 kg of dextrose... added some ice during brewing to make sure the temp is below 25 degrees..... brewed at around 4 30.. just now.. at 9 30 looked into the lid of the fermenter and there is this white round thing like foam or maybe like the white stuff u see when u make chicken or beef stock.. it is not big a small little one... is that causes of infection or is it something else? anybody expereinced this before?

it might dissappear i don't know.. but if it doesn't what should i do?

desperate help needed!
 
You are watching your yeasties at work.

Put some beers in the fridge, settle back, and watch the show for the next few days.
 
I'll jump right in.

Now I'm no expert on kits but apart from the ice you seem to be in the right track. Ice can carry bacteria.

Now this white stuff.

MMMMMMMM. Well ....

Fermentation. Your yeast are having fun making beer.

The foam is the Krausen and indicates yeast at work.

Welcome to the world of beer.

Everything to this point seems fine.


Steve.
 
yeah.. i was a bit concerned with the ice too.. but that was the only way i can think of cooling down the temp of the brew at the moment!

will see what happens in the next few days!=)
 
Some hard at it yeasties strut their stuff

Krausen.jpg
 
Yep!
Sounds like that'll be yeast starting a feeding frenzy.
If U start a yeast culure in a plastic bottle, which has 5 discrete "feet" on the bottom, then those 5 mini-conical fermenters will each produce a white spot on the top.
Sounds like U R fine.
Now back to my 15% alc party ale
 
Is it possible that you can post a pic of your white foam? it might be just krausen or it could be infected. My fingers crossed its krausen.

Scotty
 
Now I am no expert on infections (apart from repeated Saccharomyces cerevisiae invasions) but I would have thought 5 hours would be a fairly quick start for an infection.
 
well.. my brew now is bubbling away nicely... i can see the fermentation thru the lid.. ... hoping it will be good... crossing my fingers

thanks for all the replies.. i appreciate it
 
Yeh Mchiu, I have been using ice blocks [ plastic takeaway containers] for about 4 brews now to cool down my wort , no problems so far. I presume its the same water I use to top up my fermenter to 20-23 litres only frozen. I replace the plastic top that comes with the containers and freeze it.
 
Hi! looked through the lid of the fermenter.. seems like the krausen has all gone down.. bubbling has gone down too.. I don't think it is really bubbling anyways... temp is still around 22to 24 ...

what should I do next? should i just rack it to another fermenter to let it clear then keg or is there any other stuff i should do to make the beer taste nicer and clearer? any help will be appreciated.

thanks
 
If you want, you can rack it.

Easiest is to just leave it in primary for another seven days, then do some sg readings and bottle/keg.

Next brew, try to keep it around 20-22, not 24.
 
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