Pale ale problem

brownbeard · Post by **brownbeard** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:10 am

I am putting this here, because there is not a general brewing discussion area.

I have an APA in the secondary. All was going well, had a nice fast fermentation. I put it in secondary, and a day later, I added a hop bag with some cascade pellets for dry hopping. Now (2 days later) there is a white "film" forming on the top of the beer. It looks sort of like yeast. There is no foul odor coming from the carboy (like with an acetobacter infection). It was completely fermented, so most infections should be ruled out. Everything in the racking process was thoroughly sanitized. I sanitized the hop bag, marbles, and string I used for the hops. I am thinking of racking to a keg in a few days, just to see what happens. If it doesn't smell bad, I am not throwing it out, until it tastes bad.

Discuss.

Matt F · Post by **Matt F** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:55 pm

Not sure what you have but I never throw something out until I taste it. If it tastes good I'd say you have no problem. Sounds like you are headed the right direction.

brownbeard · Post by **brownbeard** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:07 pm

Looking at it tonight, it does not look like an infection. It's more like thin soap suds on top of the beer, mixed with a bunch of hop muck. I think it might just be some bubbles in hop oil. Still smells good.

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:17 am

Is the film you're seeing a continuous sheet or is it spotty?

I regularly see a dispersive/spotty white film on the surface of my beer during a secondary. I've always assumed this was composed of little clumps of yeast floating to the surface. It has yet to correlate with any noticeable off flavors.

brownbeard · Post by **brownbeard** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:48 am

DrPaulsen wrote:Is the film you're seeing a continuous sheet or is it spotty?

I regularly see a dispersive/spotty white film on the surface of my beer during a secondary. I've always assumed this was composed of little clumps of yeast floating to the surface. It has yet to correlate with any noticeable off flavors.

It's not really a film at all. Instead it looks like thin soap suds.

Post by **JimPotts** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:22 pm

On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 9:48 AM, brownbeard <brew-recipes@crbeernuts.org (brew-recipes@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

It's not really a film at all. Instead it looks like thin soap suds.

It's those Proctor & Gamble hops that you used....

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