Another ruined batch !!?

[Kamikazio]

Hi Guys,

I am very new to home brewing, I’ve just thrown in my dry hops to my latest Batch and what I saw in the fermenter hasn’t filled me with much confidence about the condition of my brew!! I’m hoping somebody could look at the photographs and advise their opinion on wether or not my brew looks infected.

This is my fourth brew. Brew #1 turned out great, brew #2 tasted chemically, brew #3 fermentation stalled and on this, my 4th brew, my final gravity only reached 1022 when the recipe suggests it should be 1009 (original 1043). I’m starting to loose hope with hope my hone brewing skills

Would an infected beer cause the fermentation process to stall ?

 

[Clint]

How are you measuring gravity?

 

[Kamikazio]

Hi Clint,

I’m using a refractometer. Maybe rightly or wrongly

 

[Clint]

I'm not expert....you need to use a calculation with your refractometer reading post boil/fermentation.

 

[phildo79]

It doesn't look great. But then fermented beer can look all sorts of hideousness. Are you fermenting in an airtight vessel? As for the gravity, refractometers only work before fermentation has started. You need a hydrometer.

 

[Kamikazio]

Hi Phildo, yes I’m using a Brew Monk conical fermenter.
I didn't realise the refractometer can’t be used after fermentation, lesson learned!

as for how the beer looks, it’s a session IPA I’m making, using Safeale US-05

 

[foxy]

Hi Guys,

I am very new to home brewing, I’ve just thrown in my dry hops to my latest Batch and what I saw in the fermenter hasn’t filled me with much confidence about the condition of my brew!! I’m hoping somebody could look at the photographs and advise their opinion on wether or not my brew looks infected.

This is my fourth brew. Brew #1 turned out great, brew #2 tasted chemically, brew #3 fermentation stalled and on this, my 4th brew, my final gravity only reached 1022 when the recipe suggests it should be 1009 (original 1043). I’m starting to loose hope with hope my hone brewing skills

Would an infected beer cause the fermentation process to stall ?

Infected beer generally takes the FG right down, I think the first thing you should do is change your name.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Thats not nice Foxy asking to change their name, it's a serious question

 

[foxy]

Thats not nice Foxy asking to change their name, it's a serious question

I think his question was answered above, there is nothing wrong in the pic's looks perfectly healthy ferment. The measuring of the gravity was wrong so using a bit of light banter to ease the mind of the OP.

 

[FirebladeAdam]

I think that looks ok. Cover it up, stop the air from getting to it, leave it for a full two weeks altogether (primary and secondary) and then see. If you've picked up a contaminant you can normally smell it in my experience... They can really honk!
Keep going with it, assume it's all ok because it quite probably is.
The only thing better than my own beer is one I've brought back from the brink of destruction! Stick with it, good luck

 

[Kamikazio]

Thanks for the input fireblade, it’s been in the fermenter for 9 days, I’m planning keeping it in the fermenter for a further 4-5 days with dry hops. Then I was going to try and chill it down for a day before bottling directly from the fermenter (I do not use a secondary).

What do you think the brown stuff on the surface is ?

 

[FirebladeAdam]

Krausen. It might ordinarily have flocculated to the bottom but maybe not! Not all yeasts do. What yeast is it? Was it fresh or harvested from a previous brew? What temperature is the fermenter at? Is that temperature constant?

 

[DocAnna]

Thanks for the input fireblade, it’s been in the fermenter for 9 days, I’m planning keeping it in the fermenter for a further 4-5 days with dry hops. Then I was going to try and chill it down for a day before bottling directly from the fermenter (I do not use a secondary).

What do you think the brown stuff on the surface is ?

I'm with several of the views above, dinnae fiddle wi' it ..ie leave it well alone for a full 2 weeks and I strongly recommend buying a decent hydrometer to measure final gravity. The brown stuff is yeast remnant, or protein, or well it really doesn't matter. Brews really can look decidedly odd while fermenting. If you have the option try to chill it down after the 2 weeks to let it all settles out.

 

[Kamikazio]

Krausen. It might ordinarily have flocculated to the bottom but maybe not! Not all yeasts do. What yeast is it? Was it fresh or harvested from a previous brew? What temperature is the fermenter at? Is that temperature constant?

The yeast is safeale US-05, it came as packets of dry yeast, there was a good ferment showing in the airlock for about 3-4 days, I’ll get a hydrometer and check the final gravity, hopefully this will show that my final gravity was reached and I’ll continue to bottle as normal.

 

[Sadfield]

I'm in the possibly camp. There's evidence in this and previous brews that it could be. Best to step away from it for 4-5 days and see what happens.

In the meantime it may be best to outline your cleaning and sanitising process. Getting that on point will give you more confidence in your fermentations.

 

[Cwrw666]

Clumpy brown stuff floating on the top is yeast - as fermentation dies off the yeast clumps together and sticks to the bottom of the fermenter but you often get clumps with gas trapped in it so it floats instead.
The thing to watch out for (and make your heart sink) is a thin white film spreading over the top. That's bad news.
But your photos look fine to me.

 

[foxbat]

Everything except the large white bubbles look fine to me. Pellicles have large white bubbles but yours isn't obviously a pellicle yet.

 

[Sadfield]

Everything except the large white bubbles look fine to me. Pellicles have large white bubbles but yours isn't obviously a pellicle yet.

The hazy nature of them, too. Around 7-8 o'clock on the first two photos looks like broken up biofilm, although it's all a bit blurry.

 

[Madhouse]

Another advantage of using a hydrometer to check your FG is you get 100ml of beer to taste as that's a definite way to know if it's gone bad or not. As others have said, stick with it and see.

As for the dry-hop, 3-4 days will be fine, but I see you're planning on chilling/cold crashing - my tip would be to learn from my experience and make sure you don't suck the contents of your bubbler/blow off into your brew.

 

[Kamikazio]

The hazy nature of them, too. Around 7-8 o'clock on the first two photos looks like broken up biofilm, although it's all a bit blurry.

I think those white areas may actually be my camera flash reflection. I hope they are anyway…. I’m going to leave the hops in and leave it be for a few days. If it is infected and I sample some when I check gravity with the hygrometer … am I going to die or will it just taste yuk ?