My last batch had a thin whitish 'membrane' on top of it and some white spots, visible on the picture bellow.
I think I saw something similar on a blog a while ago, attributed to a lactobacilus infection.
Taste was not too bad, but the smell was a bit strange, I went ahead and bottled 3 days ago.
What is that? Should I be prepared for bottle bombs?
Topic lactobacillus bacteria contamination homebrew
Category Mac
A bit tricky to tell, but it could be early stages of a lactobacillus or pediococcus contamination. The flaky white patches are typical of lactobacillus, while short segments of ropes you see are typical of pediococcus, although I would swing towards lactobacillus on this one.
Lactobacillus contamination:
Pediococcus contamination:
Either way, it's clearly a contamination of some kind, so best to be safe with the bottling and bottle with plastic soda bottles. Stored cold, any decrease in SG will take several months, and not all strains produce CO2 - but I never take chances with glass.
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