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Left a Festa Brew Altbier in secondary probably a little too long (secondary in a bucket). Opened it up to find this.



Thin white film, not fuzzy or hairy. Lumps appear to be co2 bubbles stuck under the film. Infection? Still smells great. Never had anything infected before, what do I do now?

Keg it and get it cold and on tap ASAP. About all you can do if you think it could go off.

Looks like the early stages of acetobacter maybe?

It's hard to say, i've seen lots of film-like stuff that didn't turn out to be an infection.

My gut says infection on that one. X is quite correct though, fermentations can sometimes look quite odd sometimes.

That looks like Mycoderma to me. Looks like there are even a few colonies forming (the little white blobs). I'd try X's advice about getting it kegged and cold (and drank if still tastes OK) ASAP.

I had an identical film on top of a Festa Brew Oatmeal stout. I bottled it and it never showed signs of infection (still drinking it 6 months later). BTW, I really enjoyed the FB altbier (probably the tied with the west coast IPA for the best festa brew).

Juniper Hill wrote: ... Looks like there are even a few colonies forming (the little white blobs)...

Blobs are bubbles stuck under the film, can't see them clearly in the photo.

I kegged it and put it outside (no fridge setup yet). Tried a glass, tasted great. Fingers crossed.

So I got the keg into a fridge and it's currently carbonating. Anybody have an idea about how long this stuff might last? I'm saving it for a party at the end of June. Could it spoil in the meantime?

Provided its not an infection it will last much longer then June! If it taste good your rockin you would know right away if something was wrong.