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strange sediment

davidrgreen

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Hi guys
So my latest two batches of beer took 3 and 4 weeks to finish (using Nottingham ale yeast and a wyeast bohemian larger yeast) as they were fermented at 14c.
I bottled yesterday and found that both batched had this strange sediment floating on the top. Just wondering if anyone has seen this before and what it is?

Cheers

David
 

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I can't tell much by just looking at this. Can I have a bit of context? I've seen yeast float like that, and it's benign, but it could be a symptom of something else.

Was this in the bottling bucket?
Did you see this in your fermenter?
Do you see this in any of your bottles?
Do you see this when the head falls in a glass of beer?
How warm was fermentation?
Besides malt, what was in the beer?
How fresh were the hops?
Did you dry hop?
What was the mineral profile in your water?
How vigorous was your boil?
How swift was your chill?
Did you oxygenate the wort? How?
How fresh was the yeast?
How long did the beer sit on the yeast before you racked it?

You can see where I'm going with this. There are a lot of interrelated possibilities.

I've seen head fall and form rocky globules or small flake floaties, like this. It's almost always a result of churning and getting a lot of foam while racking. Old yeast can also affect beer appearance (as well as flavor). Changes in beer pH can cause changes to mineral ions, making them precipitate and sometimes float like a light scum.
 
It was in the fermenting bucket after it had finished.
Have only just bottled.
Hops were 6 months old but nitrogen sealed and kept in the freezer.
Fermentation was 14c
Its the same tap water as I always use but added ph stabilizer for the first time.
Used only malt, hops (and molasses in one of them and brown sugar in the other, have used brown sugar before but never had this)
Didn't dry hop
Had a rolling boil (same as I always have)
Chilled down to 18c within 25 min
Yeast was a nice fresh smack pack and the other was a dry yeast that was 6 month old (kept in the fridge)
Oxygenated just by pouring from kettle to bucket.
Didn't do secondary, left it on the yeast cake for 3 and 4 weeks until it had finished.

The only changes I did from all my other batches were

Addition of ph stabilizer
Fermented at a lower temp than I have before and for longer as it took a long time to finish.

I think it has to be one of these things because I got it on both batches..... Beer tasted great, will be even better once carbonated I hope...
 
Oh one other thing I did differently was that I added the hops direct to the wort, previously I have put them in a cloth bag before adding.
 
pH stabilizer is best used with low to no mineral water. I'm suspecting that the floaties are just yeast as effected by a differing mineral profile. Meaning, top cropping yeasts float more readily and thicker in water with higher sulfate and magnesium than when they're lower.

All yeasts can float to the top when they're spent if they're not releasing all their gas. Depending on the strain, top cropping can be a sign of more yeast budding and higher attenuation. Eventually they flocculate, though. Certainly a lower temperature keeps them from changing over into fermentation too soon.

When all is good, you should taste a cleaner, smoother and perhaps drier beer than with warmer fermentations.

 
"ph stabilizer for the first time", that's what I think may have caused the floating stuff, but without a picture its really hard to give a better answer. I have never used the Ph stabilizer but since it was the only thing you did different it makes sense. 
brewfun stated "Changes in beer pH can cause changes to mineral ions, making them precipitate and sometimes float like a light scum" and I second that possibility also.
 
all grain said:
"ph stabilizer for the first time", that's what I think may have caused the floating stuff, but without a picture its really hard to give a better answer. I have never used the Ph stabilizer but since it was the only thing you did different it makes sense. 
brewfun stated "Changes in beer pH can cause changes to mineral ions, making them precipitate and sometimes float like a light scum" and I second that possibility also.

You can't see the pic I originally posted?
 
I'm sorry I did not see that before and I see it now oops.
never seen that before but I would take a sample 2-3 oz and heat it up to 150 and see if it dissolves. this could lend a hand at determining what it is. 
 
Too late, I siphoned to bottling bucket and bottles and the sediment went down the drain... Oh well I'll remember that next time I see it.
 
All infections I have had were fuzzy. Literally. As in fuzzy rafts of mold.  I think I've seen similar to what's in your picture on my brews and they came out OK. You'll know for sure when you crack a bottle.
 
Oh one other thing I did differently was that I added the hops direct to the wort, previously I have put them in a cloth bag before adding.

Could be hop bits. They wouldn't be green anymore after the boil.
 
Maine Homebrewer said:
Could be hop bits. They wouldn't be green anymore after the boil.

I pondered that.... If they're not green, it's because the cell walls have burst and that would have made them lose buoyancy.
 
I pondered that.... If they're not green, it's because the cell walls have burst and that would have made them lose buoyancy.

Not if little CO2 bubbles from the yeast are adhering to them. The same CO2 that's forming the bubbles next to the bits.
 
I have seen this before. It is not a problem. I had a beer many years ago that had a layer of skin on the top like pudding. Freaked me out. I pulled it off the top and continued as usual. Turned out fine. Don't worry about what you cannot control. If it is a flaw in the beer it is too late to change anything. Just finish it off as usual and if it sucks, chalk it up to experience.
 
So I have now been drinking the beer from this batch and it is excellent so I certainly won't be worrying about this type of sediment again... Thanks for all your input guys.
 
As usual. Papazian (and subsequently ME!) was right. Relax. Don't worry. Have a homebrew. Seems to work (almost) every time. The lesson here is if you panic and start to do all kinds of crazy stuff you will make a bad situation worse. I'm glad it turned out fine. I could tell by the photo you were not going to have an issue. I have seen those crazy flakes and weird pudding skin and all kinds of stuff. The good thing about beer is that once it is done, you got what you got. If it sucks, don't do that again. Whatever it was that you did.
 
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