secondary infection

[emenzer]

was curious if any more experienced brewers out there would be able to identify the little tiny white crystals that i have floating in my secondary. There aren't that many of them in the secondary because I did a pretty good job of racking and it has been sitting in the secondary for over a week and a half. Could this be spent yeast that has crystalized and not settled out?

[bigmf]

It's almost certainly not an infection. Since you can't tell if their hard or soft they look like crystals, but it is most likely some proteins that grabbed ahold on a CO2 bubble and floated up to the top. I see them all the time in mine.

But just to be safe you should send me a bottle so I can test it for infection. :D

M.

[hemogoblin]

In the secondary you will often see clumps of very tiny bubbles, which are simply the result of ongoing fermentation. They are REALLY TINY, to the point where they can look like clumps of mold. There have been about three times when I thought I had mold, but it was just these bubbles. I bet you have nothing to worry about.

[emenzer]

they are definitely large enough to be noticed and are not bubbles. they are also congregating towards one side of the carboy.