[Iliff Ave]

I kegged a belgian wit today and noticed white almost flaky residue floating on top of the finished beer. Not a ton but definitely noticeable.

The smell going into the fermenter is great but the taste has me a bit worried. I feel like I am getting a slightly sour metallic taste. To be honest, I feel like my palate is shot right now so I don't know if it is off or not. I have no experience with this yeast or this style.

I fermented with T58 for 3 weeks, it stayed between 65-70F, and finished at 1.007 which is considerably lower than I expected. I added one pasteurized, pureed pineapple after one week and citra dry hops after 2 weeks. The influence of the pineapple is strong so I am wondering if any off flavors are related to that. Could the white residue be related to the pineapple as well?

[morticaixavier]

it could I suppose be related to the pineapple. pectin perhaps? how did you pasteurize? Could also be a pellicle. if so it wouldn't be the worst thing in a wit beer.

[Iliff Ave]

I pasteurized by holding the pureed pineapple at about 160F for 15 minutes. I let it cool to 100 before adding it to the fermenter which barely affected the the temp in the bucket. I wasn't sure if this was proper procedure or not but I read that pineapple can cause problems...

I just took another sample. I would describe it as astringent, phenolic, and sour but not overly so in any way. A lot of this is likely contributed by the yeast and the pineapple. If it doesn't get worse I think it will be acceptable. I am not a fan of sour beers so I am hoping it is not a pellicle...

[morticaixavier]

nothing to do but hope, and drink it fast I suppose.

[reverseapachemaster]

It definitely could be an infection starting but pineapple breaks down proteins so it's very possible the enzymes from the pineapple are doing weird things in the beer and you're getting clumps of whatever is happening floating on top. If it's the latter then I wouldn't worry about it. If it is infected then drink it while you can and hope for the best.

[Iliff Ave]

Yeah I am trying to carb it up pretty quickly. I was going to add habanero to the keg but I will wait a few days and make a judgment call. It's been a year since I have had to dump any beer so I am hoping it doesn't come to that. I will try to remember and update when I can make some conclusions.

[jeffy]

I am having a hard time imagining this beer.  T-58 yeast in a witbier would make it spicy phenolic, pineapple would add sweet tropical fruit, then habanero?  What else is in there?  Willamette hops?

[dmtaylor]

Sounds like contamination to me.  Since you pasteurized the pineapple, I don't think that was the source.  Could be from the dry hops though.  I've had that happen before.  Perfectly good beer, then dry hop it, and suddenly it's contaminated.  Maybe coincidence.  Maybe not.

[Iliff Ave]

I am having a hard time imagining this beer.  T-58 yeast in a witbier would make it spicy phenolic, pineapple would add sweet tropical fruit, then habanero?  What else is in there?  Willamette hops?

Bittered with magnum, dry hoppped with citra. One hab at the end of the boil did not impact anything so I will put a diced one in the keg and pull it when its impact is just barely noticeable. Depending on what happens with these possible off-flavors/infection it could turn out quite nice. It is an inspired by Burnside's Sweet Heat, an apricot wheat beer with scotch bonnet peppers.

I don't brew very traditionally...

[Iliff Ave]

Sounds like contamination to me.  Since you pasteurized the pineapple, I don't think that was the source.  Could be from the dry hops though.  I've had that happen before.  Perfectly good beer, then dry hop it, and suddenly it's contaminated.  Maybe coincidence.  Maybe not.

Yeah I just threw the pellets in and didn't take enough time to inspect the beer. I did open up the bucket lid a lot more than normal to smell which is always a bad idea. The other thing is I put a sanitized paint strainer in the bucket right before the pineapple. Could very well be from that...

[Iliff Ave]

Pulled yet another small sample because I am obsessive...haha. I know it will turn out how it will turn out but am just trying to confirm my suspicions. It honestly might be okay. There is so much going on and it is so young that I am not sure what I am tasting. I am not tasting the metallic or astringent thing from before.

The habanero which I thought was non-existent just might be tickling the back of the throat. Any flavor impact would likely be minimized by the pinapple and citra hops.

The mouthfeel is very thick and almost waxy which I attribute to flaked oats. I have much experience with flaked oats and I did use a lot. In my experience the mouthfeel that they contribute to will change very much over time as the beer carbs and ages.

Okay I will leave this be until the end of the week...hopefully 

[HoosierBrew]

I don't know, I think you'll just need to give it some time. A sanitized strainer bag won't affect anything. So is the sour-ish component out of line with what you would get from pineapple ( because pineapple obviously has some tart acidity in its own right) ?  I am guessing that the white residue is pectin, since you mention that you pasteurized.

 I've made a lot of fruit beers, with fresh fruit and purees. Different schools of thought, but I've never pasteurized fruit and make good beer with fruit. I subscribe to Denny's attitude that beer that is fermented has a FAR less chance of infection at that point (hell, he's 'dry mushroomed'), as opposed to pre-fermentation. I've dry hopped a very large amount of hops, and a considerable amount of fruit post fermentation and never had an infection I could attribute to it. My idea is that the T58 could be contributing some tartness as well as the pineapple. I say give the beer time and cold conditioning and let us know what you end up with.  I think you're good.  Good Luck !

[Iliff Ave]

I don't think that the beer is infected but it may still be too early to tell. I have been taking a 3 oz sample daily and I think I am in the clear...

I added one chopped habanero to the keg today. I tasted it after two hours and I am glad I did. Holy hell it worked quick! I was expecting to taste it daily and pull it after about 3 days. I just pulled it out. The heat is a bit more than I was going for but I think it will be about perfect in a couple of weeks. The heat comes on very slowly which is nice. You taste the beer and then a few seconds later the pepper kicks in.

[Iliff Ave]

The beer is not infected.

11 days in the keg and it is exactly what I was going for which doesn't happen very often for me on the first attempt. I feel like things are finally starting to 'click' for me.

I ended up leaving the hab in the keg for about 4 days and it didn't seem to be getting any hotter day by day. I assume I need more than one if I wanted more heat. It has the perfect amount of spice which is more of a sensation than anything else. I hope it doesn't fade too much with time. It doesn't come off as a pepper beer which was my goal all along. The pineapple and the citra hops are just barely noticeable but contribute to a subtle fruity character.

I am pleasantly suprised for a reasonably experimental beer.

[HoosierBrew]

The beer is not infected.

11 days in the keg and it is exactly what I was going for which doesn't happen very often for me on the first attempt. I feel like things are finally starting to 'click' for me.

I ended up leaving the hab in the keg for about 4 days and it didn't seem to be getting any hotter day by day. I assume I need more than one if I wanted more heat. It has the perfect amount of spice which is more of a sensation than anything else. I hope it doesn't fade too much with time. It doesn't come off as a pepper beer which was my goal all along. The pineapple and the citra hops are just barely noticeable but contribute to a subtle fruity character.

I am pleasantly suprised for a reasonably experimental beer.

Glad you got what you were shooting for. Enjoy !