Possible contamination

[AlanJones]

Hi guys,

Brewed a mild using my same equipment and BIAB method, only difference is that i pitched some more dry yeast after about 10 days as it seemed stuck at 1.024 ish. Checked it today and there is quite a strong smell (hard to describe maybe like spray paint??) and a strange white film covering the wort. Tastes ok so was going to bottle after work, is this the right thing to do? Picture attached. Cheers in advance Alan

 

[wheazy_joe]

Did the additional yeast help move it along or is it still stuck at 1.024? Would be wary of bottling at that gravity.

Hard to say from the image but I would be bottling it rather than throw it down the drain.

Good luck.

 

[terrym]

Bottle in PET then you can monitor whether it's got going again.
If you haven't got PET bottles buy some 17p 2 litre bottles of sparkling water from Tesco or the like and use them. Also that way you aren't tying up your normal bottles while you wait to find out if it has got poorly.
And if all good use a serving jug as you empty the bottles. Beer will keep fine for a few days once opened, that's what I do.

 

[Leon103]

I have had this on a brew. Beer was fine. Try not to get it in the bottles though.

 

[Sandimas]

Checked it today and there is quite a strong smell (hard to describe maybe like spray paint??) and a strange white film covering the wort.

The smell and what looks like cultures growing on the top in the photo suggest to me that it's infected. That's how my infections have been in the past, so surprised it tastes OK.

My last infection occured in the keg. Beer tasted fine initially then started to taste off. Opened it up and got a huge phenol-like smell, looked inside and saw lots of white spots on top of the beer - yuk!

I'd wait before bottling - healthy beer will be OK in the FV a few more days. If you bottle infected beer you risk exploding bottles, because the infection will keep feasting on the non-fermentables and produce CO2, and the bottles will eventually explode. This happened to me and I was thankful I'd stored the bottles in plastic crates, because it produced quite a mess of broken glass.

 

[AlanJones]

It's down to 1.016 so think i'm going to use terrym's suggestion and bottle it in some water bottles. The sample tastes fine and smells quite normal. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the replies. Alan

 

[AlanJones]

Quick update. Nothing sinister developed in the bottles and its tasting ok so can't have been infected. Left fermenter full of strong bleach / water solution for a few weeks, to make sure, and just bottled next batch which seemed fine. Cheers all Alan

 

[Covrich]

Quick update. Nothing sinister developed in the bottles and its tasting ok so can't have been infected. Left fermenter full of strong bleach / water solution for a few weeks, to make sure, and just bottled next batch which seemed fine. Cheers all Alan

I would def be very belt and braces, beer may taste fine but on that picture it def looks like a wild yeast contamination / Brett yeast got in there.. Beers okay but that yeast could contaminate and sour future ones..

SOme people like to brew with Brettanomyces but keep it seperate euipment as it can be very contagious.. Some even culture and try and modify the yeast to how they want..I think its a ballsy way to brew

 

[AlanJones]

Yes, think i might have jinxed it as just opened a 2 litre bottle and it was definetly on the way off; same smell and slight sour taste has developed. Never had this before, where does it normally come from and do you think i will have got rid of it?

 

[MyQul]

A sour taste/smell is almost defiantley an infection

 

[Hoppyland]

I definitely reckon you had an infection. If I'm guessing correctly it used to be called Mycoderma candida - might have changed it's name recently (to avoid detection??? :lol:)

Anyway - a thin white film. Flaky - breaks up easily, but still prefers to float and not sink into the beer - but does sink if you stir it. A smell of amyl acetate - OK you might not know this, maybe the sweets known as pear drops? That would be a Mycoderma infection.

How to get rid of it? Your bleach treatment will definitely do the trick. Plus, this particular spoilage organism needs oxygen. So, to avoid a recurrence, keep your beer away from air - CO2 wil protect it :thumb:

 

[Sandimas]

Quick update. Nothing sinister developed in the bottles and its tasting ok so can't have been infected.

Don't count your chickens...some of my infections have taken months to get hold. Just had to bin a load of beer I brewed in Oct that was conditioning in the garage as, upon opening the bottle, I had a serious amount of CO2 and that horrid pungent smell. There was so much head it took 2 pint glasses to get an inch of beer, was lucky I didn't have exploding bottles (been there).

If infected, the infection will continue to eat the non-fermentables and produce more and more CO2. So suggest keep sampling your bottles every few weeks to see if there's more andmore CO2 build-up: the beer can be quite drinkable when young, but it gets worse and worse.

 

[Covrich]

Touch wood I haven't had one yet but I am guessing the best advice is drink it young.

Wild infections and brett yeasts can carry from a dust particle for example..

 

[Sandimas]

Last summer I took a short video of opening a contaminated bottle, here it is:
https://youtu.be/tML3k0sr308

 

[Covrich]

Last summer I took a short video of opening a contaminated bottle, here it is:
https://youtu.be/tML3k0sr308

Wow thats a gusher alright!! :lol: what did you do leave it to escape for a bit then take the cap off??

 

[Sandimas]

Wow thats a gusher alright!! :lol: what did you do leave it to escape for a bit then take the cap off??

That was the second one - the first decorated the kitchen ceiling

It actually tasted OK at that stage (summer 15), so I let the gas out and re-capped them all. Continued to drink them and put a few aside in the garage. Brought them back into the house just before Xmas just as I was driving the wife out to her Xmas do, by the time I got back they'd warmed up a bit and 3 bottles exploded - thankfully they were in a plastic crate.

 

[Cwrw666]

Currently drinking a batch of `gusher' Northern Brown. Tastes ok but impossible to pour into a glass. Simple remedy is to whip the cap off quickly and before it has a chance to foam - which will pull the yeast up from the bottom - tip it quickly into a plastic 2 litre jug. I'm getting a full 2 litres of foam plus about a half inch of beer, but it settles in a couple of minutes so I can pour it into a glass. Reason it's a gusher I think is because the previous brew seemed too flat for my taste so I upped the priming sugar. Oops.:lol: