advice

[Stinky2013]

I did my first mash with white corn meal 9 pds,6 row 3 pds, rye 1 pd. Let it work and ran behind at my job so couldnt check it. The next morning had nice conversion after i got home it looked like it was working ? I guess the yeast iin the barley or rye started it. Im wondering what to do next its still in the cooler and a cap has formed. But i read that the yeast prob isnt strong enough to finish. Punch the cap and test or skim and and test or leave alone. Thanks for any input

[Squattingcoyote]

Stinky,
How does it smell? Some folks have good luck with wild yeast but every time this has happened to me it didn't turn out well at all. If its fermenting furiously with a good cap but smells like......well pretty much barf/shit then it a bacterial infection you got going on. When this happened to me last, I was told I could skim the cap then heat it all back up to pasturization temps, cool and pitch yeast again. I tried this on a 20 gal mash of bourbon fixins and it smelled like hot crap filled diapers. Dumped the mash and cleaned the hell out of everything. I've quit leaving mashes all night and now use a wort chiller. Haven't had another infection. Knock on wood.

[Stinky2013]

It def smells wierd but not as bad as you say. I'm gonna check it in 2 days and see i have a feeling its exactly what you say! Thanks for the reply

[Stinky2013]

Ok checked it today,mold growing on the side of the cooler and smelled like cheesy feet. Cracked corn for me!:-)

[MitchyBourbon]

Be sure to clean and disinfect all your equipment. You should also disinfect all the surfaces in your work area. You should also keep your grains stored in a manner that reduces the spread of any wild yeast that they might be carrying. If you do nothin g you will like get more of the same.