floaty bits in my bottles

[discodave]

Hi,

I've just bottled a Brewferm 'GRAND CRU' (and it was very promising from the sly sips I took), but notice that the floaty bits from the top of the beer in the primary are present in a few of the bottles.

They look a bit like dead skin, but are sinking to the bottom thankfully.
They are only present in 6 bottles and only a few flakes per bottle.

Will they affect the beer. I had a dream that they would ruin the beer. I know I should have skimmed it, but didn't want to increase risk of infection.

Any views?

Dave

[Jim]

Did you use finings before you bottled? Also, if you could get a good pic of the offending matter it would help with ID.

[discodave]

Hi Jim,

The stuff is little flakes of dead yeast that were left on top of the brew as I siphoned from the primary.

As I said, there are only a few but I've never had them go into the bottles before. I didn't use finings, just left beer for 2 weeks.

Are they harmful, or am I worrying over nothing?

Thanks,

Dave.

[PieOPah]

It is possible that you are worrying over nothing.

I had a batch of beer where about 5 of the bottles had what appeard to be mould in them. I had poured the beer and then as I rinsed a blackish thing was washed out of the bottle. The beer tasted fine and I still have no idea what the stuff was in those few bottles.

If it is definitely dead yeast then there is nothing to worry about. If it is something worse then it is likely to be contained to the few bottles that are showing 'symptoms'. The ONLY way to know for sure is by cracking open a bottle with the floating stuff and drinking it. Then you need to open one of the bottles that looks okay. Until you have done a taste comparison you can never tell. Once you have drunk both bottles you will have to repeat the procedure just to be sure that your fist tastes were accurate!

[discodave]

Thanks for the support. It is deffo dead yeast, so I'm in the clear!

It's a Brewferm Grand Cru and after 5 days in bottle (secondary) it is already crystal clear. I've just plonked it in the shed earlier today. I'm really hopeful about this brew, the first taste from the fermenter was VERY tasty.

I love those Brewferm kits, gonna try the Wheat beer kit next. Anyone out there have experience of this kit regarding flavour?

Oh, and finally...What can I add to wheat beer to get the Hoegaarden taste? I've tasted Kronenberg? whitebeer and it was TOO citrusy. Are there any additives you can buy for wheetbear?

Thanks again, and happy brewing,

Dave.

[PieOPah]

iirc corriander seeds impart a citrus flavour. You can also added some orange zest.

Not sure how you would incorporate it into a kit though perhaps boil some in some water for 10 minutes or so and add to kit?

You could also buy some liquid yeast specially for witbier - White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale

[The Cardinal]

I've just been washing out a load of old bottles that've been sat in my garage for about 4 months. Some of 'em were from a bar, and some of 'em what I'd previously bottled my homebrew in - none of 'em has ever been washed.

When I finished soaking them in Oxy-clean and rinsed them out a load of lumps came out that were kind of like small lumps of marmite. Had the consistency of snot (I dunno if they tasted like marmite, as I didn't wanna try them!)

What d'you reckon these were then? Unless Mr Marmite's been blowing his nose on my empties, I can only assume it's some kind of mutant bacterial growth or summit?? Is it safe to to reuse these bottles or will I die of the lurgy

[PieOPah]

If you have cleaned them well enough, once sanitized they should be good enough for use

[Garth]

What d'you reckon these were then? Unless Mr Marmite's been blowing his nose on my empties, I can only assume it's some kind of mutant bacterial growth or summit?? Is it safe to to reuse these bottles or will I die of the lurgy

it's mould growing on minute bits of beer left on the inside of the bottles, I've had that before when I've left them lying around in the yard for a few weeks, as long as you give them a good scrub and sanitise they'll be ok.