Hot answers tagged infection
13
...and after pitching yeast (6 hours), noticed yellow clusters of what I
think was mold
Mold isn't going to grow within 6 hours of chilling down the wort. What you saw was clumps of yeast from your pitch stuck to the sides of the fermentor or floating on top. Did you rehydrate your yeast (if using dry)?
What I'm getting at is can mold cause ...
5
Oh, if only you were 28, then I'd all be fine. Just kidding. I'd be surprised if this accident noticeably affects the beer, regardless of your age or state of health. Beer is a pretty unpleasant place for most bacteria, and that combined with the yeast activity in the bottle that scavenges any available oxygen, and the bacteriostatic nature of the beta ...
3
Botulism toxin is the only "infection" I've heard about in the brewing community that would be potentially hazardous, but it's only a concern for canning wort. If you're not growing yeast starters in home-canned wort, it's non-issue. And even if you are, the topic is often debated.
As I understand it (and I'm definitely no expert), the problem is that ...
3
In the Middle Ages, they used to do things like add chicken broth to beer, I kid you not (I ran into a few recipes at one point). Alcohol itself tends to retard pathogens and if you aren't adding this sort of thing to your beer it is unlikely that you will get the right kind of pathogens growing to make you sick anyway.
Also there are a lot of places today ...
2
It's true, the bacterial cultures in your mouth would not be "used-to" the high alcohol content, and most importantly the acidic environment of your beer. However, make no mistake about the fact that you did contaminate your beer!!!! You will most likely see no difference in taste, however you may find that the beer doesn't age as well, the storage time may ...
2
It seriously depends on what has infected your beer; but, we have a digestive system that has allowed us to eat much less sanitary food than we currently enjoy. Even if you threw a cup of dirt into your beer, you'd probably survive it. Most brewing infections lack a good "starter culture" of truly pathogenic substances.
On the other hand, life is to short ...
2
A bit tricky to tell, but it could be early stages of a lactobacillus or pediococcus contamination. The flaky white patches are typical of lactobacillus, while short segments of ropes you see are typical of pediococcus, although I would swing towards lactobacillus on this one.
Lactobacillus contamination:
Pediococcus contamination:
Either way, it's ...
1
Answering my own. Conducted a secondary fermentation with 5lbs of dried apricots (heated to 170 then cooled in some water) after every other adjunct didn't have much of an impact. The beer now has another flavor component and is a bit more enjoyable to drink, however, my wife still perceives the band-aid (and I can too, but her palette is a bit more ...
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