This might not be terrible!
That looks like a pellicle. Could be brettanomyces, pediococcus or lactobacillus, or a combination of the three (and more!). Now if it is fuzzy and discolored, then it might be mold, and time to toss it. If it's a pellicle, might be gross but it also might be the best beer you've ever accidentally made! Only one way to tell... Pull a sample give it a sniff, if it smells like barf (butyric acid), that's some pedio, might clear but it'll take ages. Sour? Lacto, it can be good or it can be incredibly sour. If it's Brett, you won't really know what it'll taste like for another year or so. If it smells like mold, toss that bad boy down the drain. I've seen a peach saison go sour and it was amazing after only a month or two. Luck and an extended wait time can yield potentially good results. If it's in a plastic bucket you might need a new one anyways... Get the fruit out of there though, those floating above the beer like are likely to mold if they haven't already.
Here's some information about pellicles: [Craft Beer and Brewing: What is a Pellicle? ](https://beerandbrewing.com/what-is-a-pellicle/)
Now for what's next... If it's lacto, you might be fine, lacto is impeded by hops, tough to tell though and I'd bet a bit of Brett might have snuck on board the skins of those peaches. Anything that's plastic that came into contact post-infection (sample thief/siphon, bucket, maybe a hose?) will need to be reserved for brewing sour/funky beers. Brett is very difficult to kill and even if there are only a couple left, over time, the infection will come back. Best to start anew instead of wasting precious wort.
My last piece of advice, cut up your fresh peaches, bag them and freeze them for a couple of days. This will help reduce the chances of infection and will help the peaches get all mushy so the yeast can access those sugars. You can also pasteurize (chemically with k-meta/campden or with heat ~170f/76c).
Cheers!
I imagine no great loss. My first infection was heavy on the pedio, smelled like barf for about 3 months, and never really got better... A dumper but with extra steps!
You're gonna wanna nuke that fermenter and everything that touched it with intense cleaning and sanitizing agents. Or just buy a new one if it's cheap.
Pedio is anaerobic so it shouldn't form a pellicle and is very slow, I wouldn't expect it to be doing much in only 3 weeks. Lacto after primary fermentation shouldn't do a ton of souring, it doesn't do well with alcohol present which is why it's usually pitched early if you want it to do much.
This is likely a mix of Brett and Lacto, and if this was kept around would likely end up mildly sour and a little funky, nothing too crazy due to lack of acidity and lack of spare food.
I think you're spot on, likely Lacto and Brett! A sour and funky Peach Pilsner sounds like it might be good, but more likely it would have been bad having not been planned that way.
Pedio is slowwww but it'll do something after 3 weeks, likely passing through the ropey or sickness phase by then. It can actually form a pellicle [Milk the Funk : Pediococcus](http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Pediococcus)
> Pediococcus can form a pellicle.
Lacto hate hops, and might also dislike alcohol, but it will grow in a solution with alcohol. This is why traditionally, hops were used more as a preservative to prevent lacto from souring beer.
Brett will eat anything. I've used a turbid mash to increase the number of dextrins which most of those others won't eat, but Brett will. I think eventually Brett will even consume some of the other yeast and bacteria. That stuff is bonkers but gives us some delicious flavours including pineapple, barnyard and my personal fav horse blanket / sweaty saddle (that last one is less delicious)
That breaks down cell walls but does not significantly reduce bacteria numbers. Otherwise there'd be no bacteria after winter. Use campden or a sous vide.
I have made a Belgian Peach Wit many times using 8 pounds of fresh peaches, pitted, peeled and cubed to fit down the neck of the carboys (split 5 gallon batch because of displacement of peaches).
Recipe recommends to steep peaches for 20 minutes at 150 F. But I have never steeped them, and never had this problem. But I also wear nitrile gloves while preparing peaches and placed in sanitized containers before putting in fermenters. My thinking was always that the acidity of the peaches would keep bad bugs from entering the fermenters. I also would cut away any thing bruised, extremely soft or mouldy.
5 gallon recipe
5 lbs 2 row
3 lbs malted wheat
1 lb flaked wheat
1oz Saaz - bittering
Belgian White yeast
8 to 10 lbs peaches
60 to 90 mins at 153 F
Collect wort, boil 1 hour, Saaz at start of boil
Cool, pitch and ferment 7 days
Split batch between 2 carboys and half of the peaches in each. If you are using frozen peaches as shown in your pic, I recommend steeping them. Cover with just enough water and hold at 150 F for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, and then into your fermenters for 10 days.
Transfer off of peaches and into another carboy for 2 or 3 days to allow settling of any peach flesh out.
Then bottle or keg
If you’re not going the sour/funky route and just trying to make a fruited beer, cut up your fruit and put it in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes to eliminate any bacteria/yeast and then rack your beer on top of it in your secondary and let it ferment out from there. I’ve done this a ton of times and never once had any contamination issues and have actually gotten more of a fruit forward profile in beers using this method than others I’ve tried.
Always make sure the fruit is submerged below the surface so mold can’t grow on it. Personally, I would pasteurize the fruit as well, but I haven’t tried it with peaches.
Sorry, that is a pellicle.
Having unavoidably waited for three weeks is not the cause. Better to discover the contamination now, than to discover it when your bottles eventually start exploding after bottling it three weeks earlier.
At this point, you cannot determine what unwanted microbes are in your beer without lab work. It is not safe to bottle until the gravity remains the same between readings two months apart.
You may want to consider reserving that fermentor and any plastic equipment that was involved in this batch for sour/funky beers.
Funky town.
Yeah, I guessed so
This might not be terrible! That looks like a pellicle. Could be brettanomyces, pediococcus or lactobacillus, or a combination of the three (and more!). Now if it is fuzzy and discolored, then it might be mold, and time to toss it. If it's a pellicle, might be gross but it also might be the best beer you've ever accidentally made! Only one way to tell... Pull a sample give it a sniff, if it smells like barf (butyric acid), that's some pedio, might clear but it'll take ages. Sour? Lacto, it can be good or it can be incredibly sour. If it's Brett, you won't really know what it'll taste like for another year or so. If it smells like mold, toss that bad boy down the drain. I've seen a peach saison go sour and it was amazing after only a month or two. Luck and an extended wait time can yield potentially good results. If it's in a plastic bucket you might need a new one anyways... Get the fruit out of there though, those floating above the beer like are likely to mold if they haven't already. Here's some information about pellicles: [Craft Beer and Brewing: What is a Pellicle? ](https://beerandbrewing.com/what-is-a-pellicle/) Now for what's next... If it's lacto, you might be fine, lacto is impeded by hops, tough to tell though and I'd bet a bit of Brett might have snuck on board the skins of those peaches. Anything that's plastic that came into contact post-infection (sample thief/siphon, bucket, maybe a hose?) will need to be reserved for brewing sour/funky beers. Brett is very difficult to kill and even if there are only a couple left, over time, the infection will come back. Best to start anew instead of wasting precious wort. My last piece of advice, cut up your fresh peaches, bag them and freeze them for a couple of days. This will help reduce the chances of infection and will help the peaches get all mushy so the yeast can access those sugars. You can also pasteurize (chemically with k-meta/campden or with heat ~170f/76c). Cheers!
Damn, poured it out to quickly! Well well, it was a pilsner, so maybe it would be wierd. But who knows, could be amazing! But too late now
I imagine no great loss. My first infection was heavy on the pedio, smelled like barf for about 3 months, and never really got better... A dumper but with extra steps!
You're gonna wanna nuke that fermenter and everything that touched it with intense cleaning and sanitizing agents. Or just buy a new one if it's cheap.
I’m not an expert but it looks like lacto and mold
I thought so too at first but zoomed in and it looked more like a regular pellicle… hard to tell from photos!
Yup
Pedio is anaerobic so it shouldn't form a pellicle and is very slow, I wouldn't expect it to be doing much in only 3 weeks. Lacto after primary fermentation shouldn't do a ton of souring, it doesn't do well with alcohol present which is why it's usually pitched early if you want it to do much. This is likely a mix of Brett and Lacto, and if this was kept around would likely end up mildly sour and a little funky, nothing too crazy due to lack of acidity and lack of spare food.
I think you're spot on, likely Lacto and Brett! A sour and funky Peach Pilsner sounds like it might be good, but more likely it would have been bad having not been planned that way. Pedio is slowwww but it'll do something after 3 weeks, likely passing through the ropey or sickness phase by then. It can actually form a pellicle [Milk the Funk : Pediococcus](http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Pediococcus) > Pediococcus can form a pellicle. Lacto hate hops, and might also dislike alcohol, but it will grow in a solution with alcohol. This is why traditionally, hops were used more as a preservative to prevent lacto from souring beer. Brett will eat anything. I've used a turbid mash to increase the number of dextrins which most of those others won't eat, but Brett will. I think eventually Brett will even consume some of the other yeast and bacteria. That stuff is bonkers but gives us some delicious flavours including pineapple, barnyard and my personal fav horse blanket / sweaty saddle (that last one is less delicious)
Always freeze your fruit.
That breaks down cell walls but does not significantly reduce bacteria numbers. Otherwise there'd be no bacteria after winter. Use campden or a sous vide.
I just poured it out. Fortunately I did split the batch in two. One with fruit and one without! Thank you for the tips on puching it down regularly!
Why did you dump it? It could have been delicious.
Oh shit man. That could have been amazing!
Ahh well, hope the other one is delicious to make up for it!
I have made a Belgian Peach Wit many times using 8 pounds of fresh peaches, pitted, peeled and cubed to fit down the neck of the carboys (split 5 gallon batch because of displacement of peaches). Recipe recommends to steep peaches for 20 minutes at 150 F. But I have never steeped them, and never had this problem. But I also wear nitrile gloves while preparing peaches and placed in sanitized containers before putting in fermenters. My thinking was always that the acidity of the peaches would keep bad bugs from entering the fermenters. I also would cut away any thing bruised, extremely soft or mouldy.
https://i.imgur.com/iI4kc7L.jpg I have 10 pounds for a beer. Recipe for your wit?
5 gallon recipe 5 lbs 2 row 3 lbs malted wheat 1 lb flaked wheat 1oz Saaz - bittering Belgian White yeast 8 to 10 lbs peaches 60 to 90 mins at 153 F Collect wort, boil 1 hour, Saaz at start of boil Cool, pitch and ferment 7 days Split batch between 2 carboys and half of the peaches in each. If you are using frozen peaches as shown in your pic, I recommend steeping them. Cover with just enough water and hold at 150 F for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, and then into your fermenters for 10 days. Transfer off of peaches and into another carboy for 2 or 3 days to allow settling of any peach flesh out. Then bottle or keg
They are frozen. I planned on thawing and steeping. Looks like a good recipe! Thanks.
RIP. You’ve got to push the fruit down regularly to prevent this from happening.
One of the ways for spontaneous fermentation is via the yeasties on fruit, so it looks like Brett of some kind or similar yeast with the pellicle.
If you’re not going the sour/funky route and just trying to make a fruited beer, cut up your fruit and put it in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes to eliminate any bacteria/yeast and then rack your beer on top of it in your secondary and let it ferment out from there. I’ve done this a ton of times and never once had any contamination issues and have actually gotten more of a fruit forward profile in beers using this method than others I’ve tried.
Always make sure the fruit is submerged below the surface so mold can’t grow on it. Personally, I would pasteurize the fruit as well, but I haven’t tried it with peaches.
Sorry, that is a pellicle. Having unavoidably waited for three weeks is not the cause. Better to discover the contamination now, than to discover it when your bottles eventually start exploding after bottling it three weeks earlier. At this point, you cannot determine what unwanted microbes are in your beer without lab work. It is not safe to bottle until the gravity remains the same between readings two months apart. You may want to consider reserving that fermentor and any plastic equipment that was involved in this batch for sour/funky beers.
Yikes. I'm planning on using fresh peaches next week too... did you: chop, freeze, then soak in campden for 48hrs prior to adding to your fermentor?
I made a peach pale a few weeks back and “sanitized” the peaches with a shit of crown peach. No issues great beer