Beer Infected
So this kills me, but it's our own damn fault, so there's nothing to do but suck it up. We brewed up this porter Sunday night, only to find, as we got ready to pitch the yeast, that the smack pack probably wasn't smacked. To be on the safe side, we smacked it again and gave it a few hours while we went out and had a couple of drinks at Barcade (Porter's favorite bar, for sure).
Waiting a few extra hours is far from optimal, but in this case we figured it was worth the risk. Plus, the wort was in a clean carboy with the top on. It should have been fine.
And it probably would have been fine, except that we got home, watched a movie, and went to sleep, never giving the 5 gallons of wort a second thought as it sat on our kitchen floor.
I woke up around 11am with a start, immediately realizing what we'd done. I rushed in bleary-eyed, cut the yeast open. Not only were we around 14 hours from brewing to pitching, but the wort had sat in the sun for at least 6 hours. I hoped against hope and put it back to ferment, covered.
Here's what it looks like as of last night. It doesn't really look any different this morning. I thought it might possibly be the starting scum of yeast near to blooming, but nope. It's infection of some sort. I'm not sure exactly what sort of creature is living on top of our now-ruined porter, but I'm sure that I'll be taking more care to give our yeast in the future.
And not getting so drunk during the brewing process might not be a bad idea, either.
Waiting a few extra hours is far from optimal, but in this case we figured it was worth the risk. Plus, the wort was in a clean carboy with the top on. It should have been fine.
And it probably would have been fine, except that we got home, watched a movie, and went to sleep, never giving the 5 gallons of wort a second thought as it sat on our kitchen floor.
I woke up around 11am with a start, immediately realizing what we'd done. I rushed in bleary-eyed, cut the yeast open. Not only were we around 14 hours from brewing to pitching, but the wort had sat in the sun for at least 6 hours. I hoped against hope and put it back to ferment, covered.
Here's what it looks like as of last night. It doesn't really look any different this morning. I thought it might possibly be the starting scum of yeast near to blooming, but nope. It's infection of some sort. I'm not sure exactly what sort of creature is living on top of our now-ruined porter, but I'm sure that I'll be taking more care to give our yeast in the future.
And not getting so drunk during the brewing process might not be a bad idea, either.
