yeast cake question

Hey guys,

I just bottled my first brew this AM. An Irish Red Ale kit using LME. I see the term yeast cake thrown around a lot on here. When I racked to my bottling bucket, I expected a pretty dense cake-like "cake" on the bottom of the fermenter. Instead, I was greeted with a whole lot of loose crap floating all over around the bottom. I actually had to dump a decent amount of beer because so much was in suspension.

Is this normal, or was there an issue somewhere? If it matters, I used Muntun's dry yeast and pitched by just sprinkling on top if the wort. Also, at the end of the boil, I added a whirlfloc tab. I didn't secondary, but it was in the primary for three and a half weeks.

Thanks in advance!

some yeasts form a more compacted cake then others. I haven't used Munton's yeast much, so I'm not too familiar with it's flocculation properties. Fermentis s-04 and Danstar Nottingham both clump up pretty good, and form a nice solid cake. Also, if you cool the fermenter to fridge temp after the yeast have fermented everything, it will help the yeast settle to the bottom.

as it is, I don't think you have anything to worry about. that sounds perfectly normal, for a yeast that isn't extremely flocculant.

Yup, I agree with Hogarthe. I've had all sorts of yeast cakes: dense, loose, in between. I always figured it varied depending on the type of yeast, the length of time it was in primary, and the temperature. May even be other factors too. No worries!

Thanks.

Just read up on that yeast, and it does have a low flocculation. I'm brewing an IPA with a White Labs WLP007 vial later today. That's supposed to have very high flocculation. I can compare and contrast in 3-4 weeks when I bottle that one.


Thanks!!!

If you crash cool it, it will floculate more.