Normal? Infected?

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the_city_of_homebrew

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Hi guys, wondered if anyone has seen anything like this before as I haven't? This was my first all grain batch, used yeast that called for it to be put into 100ml of warm water for ten minutes.

It seems like there is a large "thing" just under the surface of the brew. It's been kept at 13 degrees as the yeast calls for 12-15 degrees, this is a Stella clone.

Thanks again for any input and advice. View attachment ImageUploadedByTapatalk1427571737.122767.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByTapatalk1427571753.305617.jpg
 
Can't see any problem there. At 13C everything about the brewing cycle will just slow down. The yeasts that give "clean" tasting beer like lager do seem to have this slow drop out. Have noticed this with Safale O5.

As ferments go, yours looks fine. Gravity will be a good friend on this one.
 
3 days in now and looks the and it looks the same, no movement whatsoever. Tested the gravity and it's still the same as SG.

Anything I can do?
 
You are probably already thinking this, but that does not look normal. It reminds me of the last true lager I tried (20 odd years ago now) and that got binned (that's why it was the last..).

If it does not taste rank then you could try syphoning it into another FV and re-pitching with a normal ale yeast.

You can do a very good lager clone using US05 yeast, with the benefit that it ferments at normal temp.

Good luck.
 
Yeah never seen anything like this in my 6/7 months of brewing. Think I'll take your advice and re pitch some yeast after taking it into another FV.

I was hoping for a true lager, so using and ale yeast @ 20 degrees, what kind of impact will this have on the overall final taste?

Thanks agajn
 
Could that just be break protein? I had lots of similar stuff floating around on my last brew and I think it was protein (myQul suggested this to me)

It could be that and krausen mixed perhaps. Theif a bit and sample it
 
Has a smell and a taste tonight and it smells fine. It tastes fine too, just sweet. So I took another gravity reading and initial Gravity was 1.049, same 3 days later, and today (5 days) it's dropped to 1.038. Not a massive drop but a drop, so I'm thinking of leaving it to go? The trub you see in the picture has started to drop somewhat also.

Thoughts guys?
 
Hi. If the gravity is on the move, I'd be tempted to leave it be. There is of course a chance that, if the yeast you pitched has died, then it is a wild yeast that is now active! See how it develops. Others will tell you different i.e. transfer and repitch. It's your call.

Also, I think the "protein break material" answer above is a decent shout... but haven't seen that happen before. Did you transfer to your FV while the wort was still hot? Did you use protfoloc or another copper fining? Did you add hops to the copper? and if so, were they loose or in a muslin bag?

Reason for asking, is that if you did use copper finings, then the break material forms as the wort cools down; which then drops out of suspension and is usually kept behind in the copper when you transfer to your FV. It usually stays behind because the hops, and other break materials all stick together and can't pass through the hop strainer. If that makes sense. If you transferred while the wort was hot, then you will have taken the break material into the FV, which could account for the massive floater :)
 
Hi. If the gravity is on the move, I'd be tempted to leave it be. There is of course a chance that, if the yeast you pitched has died, then it is a wild yeast that is now active! See how it develops. Others will tell you different i.e. transfer and repitch. It's your call.

Also, I think the "protein break material" answer above is a decent shout... but haven't seen that happen before. Did you transfer to your FV while the wort was still hot? Did you use protfoloc or another copper fining? Did you add hops to the copper? and if so, were they loose or in a muslin bag?

Reason for asking, is that if you did use copper finings, then the break material forms as the wort cools down; which then drops out of suspension and is usually kept behind in the copper when you transfer to your FV. It usually stays behind because the hops, and other break materials all stick together and can't pass through the hop strainer. If that makes sense. If you transferred while the wort was hot, then you will have taken the break material into the FV, which could account for the massive floater :)


Thanks for the input.

I transferred to the FV at around 25 degrees as it was taking too long to cool as the wort chiller was out of action; probably 35 minutes to get from boiling to pitching temperature.

Added leaf hops in a bag, and added worfloc tablet at 15 minutes left of the boil.
 
Thanks for the input.

I transferred to the FV at around 25 degrees as it was taking too long to cool as the wort chiller was out of action; probably 35 minutes to get from boiling to pitching temperature.

Added leaf hops in a bag, and added worfloc tablet at 15 minutes left of the boil.
 
Ok, so probably not to do with the temp you transferred, as the break material will have formed and dropped. It could then be because the hops weren't loose in the copper, and therefore no natural filter to stop the break material being transferred to the FV? I can't think what else it could be....it doesn't look like a typical infection tbh....so you're probably going to be fine. Let us know how it turns out
 
Had a look tonight and it seem the weird floater has all but dropped to the bottom. Brew is a lot more cloudy now, and the beginnings of a krausen are starting. Hopefully all is well.
 
I don't think it's a normal ferment as i've not seen it before. I can't see how an infection can produce this though.

Could it be something as straight forward as your brewing liquor being really low in Calcium? This can stop you having a proper break when cooling, so the proteins still in wort when you rack it for some reason coagulated and this is the result? (total guess)

God knows, but I would not be dumping it. I would personally let it go and see how it gets on, have a taste & smell after 3 weeks and then decide what to do.
 
My 5 litre AG batch had the same floating raft of stuff just below the surface after transfer into the FV. As it's my first attempt I just presumed it was normal for all grain:wha:. It's been on the go now for 4 days and looks like it's close to finishing. A sample taken for measuring SG showed no off smells or flavours so I think it'll be ok and I'm sticking with it.

As an aside I thought my batch of Evil Dog had got the same thing in it yesterday as there appeared to be a white shadowy floating mass near the top. Panicked a bit until I remembered that I'd added the hop teabags to it the day before. Serious blonde moment.:whistle::doh:
 
My 5 litre AG batch had the same floating raft of stuff just below the surface after transfer into the FV. As it's my first attempt I just presumed it was normal for all grain:wha:. It's been on the go now for 4 days and looks like it's close to finishing. A sample taken for measuring SG showed no off smells or flavours so I think it'll be ok and I'm sticking with it.

As an aside I thought my batch of Evil Dog had got the same thing in it yesterday as there appeared to be a white shadowy floating mass near the top. Panicked a bit until I remembered that I'd added the hop teabags to it the day before. Serious blonde moment.:whistle::doh:

I suspect you had what I had.. protean break material.. When I Mashed for the first time I didn't strain this out before transferring to the FV..
 
I suspect you had what I had.. protean break material.. When I Mashed for the first time I didn't strain this out before transferring to the FV..

Apart from this being extra sediment, are there any other issues with not straining it out? I did strain the wort through a hop bag- lined colander but I suppose this is not a fine enough mesh.
 
So after much deliberation, worry and hope...my first all grain is here. It needs going in the fridge so it's a little warmer than I wanted but this is the first pour from the keg tonight. Needs slight more carbonation but I'll be leaving it another day on the co2 @ 20psi. Happy days!

The taste is good, really happy with it. Doesn't seem to have that home brew taste I have associated with kits; any reason for that? Not aure it taste super Stella like, but could that be down to my efficiency? Still at roughly 40p a pint, tasting as good as it does, it's a wonder everyone isn't at it!

Cheers for the help and advice all.

View attachment ImageUploadedByTapatalk1428696881.433609.jpg
 
Excellent news. Well done... you're now hooked, so cancel any plans of marriage/children/friends... you're doomed haha.

Seriously though, it's great you're happy with your first all grain. You've attempted a really hard beer. There's no where to hide off flavours/imperfections so the fact that you're happy with it speaks volumes. All grain beer (imo) ****s on kits because it's fresh. With kits, you're using old, concentrated, canned wort and hop extract. Yes you can make beer, but its homebrew beer. All grain just makes "beer" (done right) so congrats, and here's to AG#2 *raises glass :)
 
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