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What type of infection do I have?

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  • What type of infection do I have?

    Just pulled samples from our rye barrel aged imperial stouts and found that one barrel had a distinctly acetone/solvent, almost blue cheese kind of aroma. Tried to blend samples and was not pleased with the results. Going to keep this barrel out of the main batch. There are pieces of pellicle forming over the top of the beer, from what I can see in the barrel. When we filled this barrel, we noticed it had dried out, and stopped the leak using paraffin wax on the leaking areas. I'm guessing whatever infected the beer was living in the wood after the barrel dried out... wish it was a pleasant kind of infection, but it's really not. So what kind of infection is this and will the solvent character diminish with age?

  • #2
    It seems unlikely that you have a single contaminant in that barrel. The pellicle indicates some kind of fungus (clumps - mold; uniform white layer - brett), and the acetone and ethyl acetate profile says either brett that got warm or some sort of acetobacter. Considering the pellicle and the ethyl acetate, my guess would be a B. Clausenii got in there and is making a nice home for itself.

    Can you pull some gravity samples and see what's what? It may not be wholly helpful, but my thought is that a serious brett ferment will drop the gravity relative to the other barrels more than an aceto infection.

    Please let us know what you find.

    Cheers,
    Bill

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    • #3
      Certainly hard to tell without any micro testing. If it is acetone you likely have an acetobacter infection that turned into ethyl acetate. The pellicle is interesting and can come from a number of different organisms, acetobacter being one of them. In any case you are right to not include this in the blend, I would dump the barrel and use it to make some planters, or something else. Or just get it the hell out of the brewery and especially away from the rest of your barrels. Good catch!

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      • #4
        Originally posted by CaBrewer View Post
        Certainly hard to tell without any micro testing. If it is acetone you likely have an acetobacter infection that turned into ethyl acetate. The pellicle is interesting and can come from a number of different organisms, acetobacter being one of them. In any case you are right to not include this in the blend, I would dump the barrel and use it to make some planters, or something else. Or just get it the hell out of the brewery and especially away from the rest of your barrels. Good catch!
        Thanks for the input! We turned the barrel into post anchor for our patio ;-). The main batch turned out delicious. Glad I didn't try to mix away the defect. Cheers!

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