I won't say my beer is 'infected' because yeast is an infection in itself, right? I'm concerned my beer may be contaminated with another bacteria after transferring it into a glass carboy. Every article I've read says the one thing new brewers worry about most is contamination, so... this is my obligatory post

What are some things I can do to test out my brew to find out if it is contaminated? Taking a small taste is one option I've read, but are there any other methods I might give a try?

Well actually bacteria are not the only thing that can infect your beer. Wild yeast can also be a problem. Brettanomyces sp. might be good in a Beligan beer but it has no place in a nice American Pale Ale.

At any rate, the only real practical means of telling if there is an infection is to taste and smell the final product.

You can, of course, send the beer off for analysis but that can be both time consuming and expense.

Of course, you could put a drop of beer under a microscope (if you have one) and see if there is anything present other than yeast. Bacteria would tend to be either rod or ball shaped.

Using your senses of taste and smell are probably the best means of determining whether or not you have a contamination problem, however.

The following is a great summary of possible sources of off-flavors http://www.bjcp.org/study.php#trouble.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Scott

What does it look like? If it looks foamy its ok. Even good beer tastes funky during fermentation. I have seen infected beer with white bubbly stringy looking stuff on top. Some say it smells cheesy but i have no sense of smell so i rely on looks and taste.
I would let it finish. Maybe some pics in the carboy?

The carboy is humid in this picture. I took a temperature reading and it was much hotter than it should have been. It was at nearly 95f. I saw some brownish-red, almost creamy colored scum on top of the beer. There was bubbling in the airlock every 25 seconds or so. At the bottom of the glass is a layer of white sediment.