http://s5.postimg.org/bnoyxql53/unnamed.jpg
What horror is this? I tried my normal pale ale with a variance of Vermont Ale Yeast ordered from the yeast bay. Fermentation seemed pretty mellow by airlock activity/krausen but gravity was dropping so I let it be. I went to dry hop and discovered this. Think it’s safe to drink? Think I should ditch the bucket after?
Looks like a lactic infection. Might be drinkable. It’s better than mold.
Give the bucket a good cleaning followed by a soak with a bleach solution. Triple rinse.
The infection could be brett or even mold. It’s difficult to tell from the photograph. Is the infection fuzzy?
By the way, have you been playing with non-Saccharomyces cultures such a Brett, Pedio, or Lacto?
Not really fuzzy and no, I haven’t been messing with any Brett/Lacto/Pedio. I wonder how much effect a but of Lacto will have on a hoppy pale ale.
Since it is hoppy, I think it probably is not Lacto. It could be brett, but you’ll really need to taste it and report back. By the way, I think it looks awesome because I just got into making sours over a year ago, however, I intended for them to look that way.
Hmm, lacto doesn’t like hops? I haven’t tried any sours so unfamiliar.
that picture looks like a new planet :o
Yea… sigh… hahah.
I would guess brett or possibly acetobacter.
NASA introduces planet Brett…
Which Yeast Bay yeast did you use? I have used several of their sour blends and that is exactly what it looked like. I wonder if they sent you the wrong yeast, or maybe it was mislabeled. Let it ride and maybe it will turn out pretty good!
Vermont, the Conan one. Yea we’ll see how it rolls - I bought 2 vials. Was planning on reusing this one but will scrap it with the infection and brew the same beer with the second one for comparison.
That’s odd. Considering manufacturing is handled by whitelabs, I imagine the quality control is high. Very strange.
What does it smell like?
Looks like a wild yeast pellicle. Likely Brett, but that’d depend on your IBU. Lacto doesn’t like IBUs upward of 20. Pedio I’m not sure about, but wil yeast & Bretts form pellicles just like yours. Leave it alone for a couple of months or until it subsides. Smell and taste, and you’ll probably not notice anything wrong with it.
There’s a lot of different bacteria or wild yeast that could be. You can’t look at a pellicle and make any kind of reasoned guess at what has infected your beer. Weird flavors can come from bacteria or yeast. Same with sourness but sourness is more likely to come from bacteria than yeast.
What does Brett smell and/or taste like?
If you had active fermentation that yielded an ABV higher than 2% or so, its safe to drink.
I wouldn’t toss the other yeast pack. The infection source is MUCH more likely to happen on the homebrewer side than the yeast lab side, no matter how sophisticated your setup.
You can’t determine the type of yeast/bacteria from the pellicle. As stated by others, lacto/pedio and most other bacteria are less likely because of the APA hop load and short time frame. Wild yeast (brett, etc.) is the most probable source.
Acetobacter is another possibility if you have too much oxygen pickup after fermentation starts. Excessive headspace in the fermentor or frequent sampling can introduce acetobacter and oxygen. I’d consider it a distant second, though.
Given the above, taste it. If the beer is sour, its most likely bacteria. If its not sour, it is most likely Brett/wild yeast.
In either case, its a risk to future batches to keep the old plastic parts around. However if you’re on a budget, you can still keep them and minimize risk.
Give your bucket, lid, airlock, and any other cold side soft parts a good soak in PBW, then rinse well and soak with Star San. No need for high concentrations of either. DO NOT USE BLEACH. Its unnecessary and permeates plastic. Bad news. IMO bleach has no place in any brewery.
Appreciate all the input:
Yea, I got down to 1.010 with ~5% abv.
Agreed - I’d assume White Labs QC is a lot better than mine.
I estimated 30IBU’s + massive steeped hops at 170f
I’ll rack into the keg in a few days (after dry hopping), crash it, and let everyone know how it tastes.
I do have some extra carboys around so maybe I’ll delegate this one to other, non fermentation, tasks.
The bleach idea scares me a bit too but definitely PBW/Star San
