Infection

[drtom]

Wheat beers generally have considerable amounts of Krausen more than your usual ales or lagers.

FWIW, I believe this is at least partially due to their higher protein content.

Tom

[Dogger Dan]

WSC

It will be Ok

Dogger

[WSC]

So does that mean bottle it if the hydrometer is steady for a couple of days.

An explosion would definately shut down my brewery!!!!!! My health and safety manager already thinks it takes up too much room in the garage!!!

[WSC]

Just bottled this last night.

The stuff on top of the brew in the fermenter vanished.

It looks good in the bottles, just a bit of white stuff on the neck from where the beer meets the neck at the top of the stubby. I've had this before and it goes after you shake the bottle and let settle.

My big lesson from this whole episode is never post with an infection question until at least 2 weeks in the fermenter, as most things seem to work themselves out.

Thanks for the replies.

Cheers and happy days!

[Beerdrinker32]

hi,on the infection issue,would filling the second fermenter with co2 prior to racking cut down on oxidation and chance of infection?

[Oliver]

hi,on the infection issue,would filling the second fermenter with co2 prior to racking cut down on oxidation and chance of infection?

I'd say yes. But in any case, it certainly couldn't hurt.

Cheers,
Oliver

[lethaldog]

My brews are all infected, they have something in them that makes me keep drinking more and more, whats this infection called

[rwh]

Alcoholism?

[Boonie]

Alcoholism?

[gaggymoon]

My observation is that most home brewers do not have the time/expertise to produce the perfect brew but end up most of the time with a quite acceptable drop. I find that people who sample my brews prefer them to the commercial Vic bitter what most drink in this state. Each time the brew will be different due to factors such as temperature etc but generally they taste good and who would know what degree of infection (if any) has occurred. Obviously I would not offer any of them to Kurtz but they are fine for most people. It is good to keep trying to make improvements but it would be the end of the home brew market if it all became too hard.

[Boonie]

My observation is that most home brewers do not have the time/expertise to produce the perfect brew but end up most of the time with a quite acceptable drop. I find that people who sample my brews prefer them to the commercial Vic bitter what most drink in this state. Each time the brew will be different due to factors such as temperature etc but generally they taste good and who would know what degree of infection (if any) has occurred. Obviously I would not offer any of them to Kurtz but they are fine for most people. It is good to keep trying to make improvements but it would be the end of the home brew market if it all became too hard.

I finally had the time to go back to original post given that Gaggy mentioned Kurtz...

Kurtz, you have issues . Mate, and I use that term very lightly given the reponse you have given to my fellow brewers, we enjoy brewing and no doubt, they may have some kind of "infection" in them.

But Fair Dinkum (email me if you do not understand Aussie slang) compared to Commercial beers, I would prefer an infected brew over VB any day.

I have had one infection in over 18 Months of brewing , with the white film on top. Racked in to about 19 litres to avoid the shite going through and guess what?????????? My friends the "Commercial Drinkers" loved it......go figure.

Just wish I had joined earlier to enter your "debate" or would you call it your Mass Debate

I have nothing further to say..........Kurtz

[lethaldog]

My observation is that most home brewers do not have the time/expertise to produce the perfect brew but end up most of the time with a quite acceptable drop. I find that people who sample my brews prefer them to the commercial Vic bitter what most drink in this state. Each time the brew will be different due to factors such as temperature etc but generally they taste good and who would know what degree of infection (if any) has occurred. Obviously I would not offer any of them to Kurtz but they are fine for most people. It is good to keep trying to make improvements but it would be the end of the home brew market if it all became too hard.

I finally had the time to go back to original post given that Gaggy mentioned Kurtz...

Kurtz, you have issues . Mate, and I use that term very lightly given the reponse you have given to my fellow brewers, we enjoy brewing and no doubt, they may have some kind of "infection" in them.

But Fair Dinkum (email me if you do not understand Aussie slang) compared to Commercial beers, I would prefer an infected brew over VB any day.

I have had one infection in over 18 Months of brewing , with the white film on top. Racked in to about 19 litres to avoid the shite going through and guess what?????????? My friends the "Commercial Drinkers" loved it......go figure.

Just wish I had joined earlier to enter your "debate" or would you call it your Mass Debate

I have nothing further to say..........Kurtz

[Biggles]

While sorting out my storage area last night, I noticed to my horror that 2 of my batches, a Coopers Pale Ale and a Coopers Draught have a visible white-ish ring around the inside neck of the bottle at the liquid level.

Is this an infection ? I dont see it on any other bottles of mine.

[BierMeister]

Well according to some then yes. Kurz is probably right in a way. All our beers that are not brewed in an absolute sterile (not sanitized) way will have some degree of outside bacteria(s) etc... I too have had some film at the top of my beer bottles and this is most probably an "infection" although I have been told (and I think read somewhere) that using malt to prime does also cause some krausen material to be deposited at the waterline. Most of those beers have tasted fine though. Well a couple were only just drinkable

Just to add to the arguement started over a year ago. What do we class as an "infection"? Just because there is some foreign bacteria in the beer does not mean it has taken over from the yeast. Surely we have viruses/bacteria in our bodies all the time and they are dorment. Are we sick or infectious. No. not until all the conditions are right and the bacteria take hold. There fore what we define as infection really is important.

My suggestion is taste the beer and see if you can drink it. If it tastes fine then who cares? If not then find out where you went wrong and learn from it. We will never get perfection (especially in the homebrewing scene) as there is many opinions on what makes a good beer. Ask a belgian and he might want an infected beer (ie sour).

Advise is. sanitise well. good quality ingredients and practises = good quality beer. Don't be paranoid and end up with a complex because some bloke who calls himself a beer judge tells you you're not doing it right.

[Ed]

While sorting out my storage area last night, I noticed to my horror that 2 of my batches, a Coopers Pale Ale and a Coopers Draught have a visible white-ish ring around the inside neck of the bottle at the liquid level.

Is this an infection ? I dont see it on any other bottles of mine.

I've had this just recently in a couple of bottles and yes they would have been infected. In my case it was something in the few bottles that was the cause. To me, they tasted like crap. Thin, complex flavours gone, slightly sour, and a slight tendency to foam. If I see it again in any other bottles, I'll be chucking them. But see what you reckon about yours first.

Cheers, Ed

[Biggles]

I checked more of the bottles today. These showed no signs of any ring at all.
I have odd bottles from my bottling batches stored at home in mixed cartons, the full cartons go to my work for long term storage. It is possible the bottels at home have been exposed to higher temps than those at work.
In any case theres nout to be done bout it now. Ill just have to wait and try them.

[rwh]

If they are mildly infected, you should drink them now, as any ill effects will only get worse over time. Drink em cold and young!