debris in bottles (not hops)

TheH2 · 06-22-2007, 04:20 PM

So, I finished brewing my fifth batch. For the most part the results have been very good.

So, on my latest brew, a Fat Tire clone, there is debris in the bottle, and this hasn't happened before. I know it is not from the bottles and the beer actually tastes good otherwise.

The wort was in primary for a little over two weeks and secondary for two weeks. Actually the whole process was probably closer to 5 weeks than 4. When I bottled, there was a ton of hops floating around still, but it had been a while so I bottled anyway. I used a paper towel to filter the beer (and it caught a ton of hops. I was out of the steeping bags so I couldn't use that. So, could that be the debris (I've used paper towels as coffee filter without problems).

My questions:
What is the debris?

Would I ruin my beer if I poured it back into the pale and re-bottled, filtering whatever the debris is out? I would probably have to add the sugars again to carbonate I would assume?

Or should I just keep the beer all to myself and somehow filter each beer as I pour into the glass?

Thanks for your help.

homebrewer_99 · 06-22-2007, 04:29 PM

It's probably hops and proteins. Nothing really to worry about, but ugly and unwanted for sure.

I use a nylon net/strainer that I pour my wort through as it goes into the primary bucket. They're at the HBS. They have an elastic band that holds them onto the rim of the bucket, but I use 6 cloths pins to hold them in place because of the weight of the water and hops. Then I sparge the hops with water, remove and wring out...into the primary.

gnets99 · 06-23-2007, 03:50 PM

Hopefully, some of it will settle out as it conditions further. I definitely wouldn't try to re-bottle. Too many possibilities of ruining the beer. Also, the whole question of re-priming is kind of hard to figure out. No sense in risking exploding bottles. You could try keeping the bottles at lower temperature for a week or so and see if anymore of the debris settles. Other than that, if it's good beer and you're happy with it other than the floaties, I say keep it to yourself and RDWHAHB!!