yeast in bottles

Hi,

I bottled a batch 4 days ago. I checked a bottle up against the light and noticed some scum on top of the beer, is this the yeast floating on the top eating up the priming sugar - and will it sink to the bottom after a few weeks.

Usually...Some yeasts and also priming with DME sometimes form bottle krausens while the beer is priming, and they will fall through to the bottom as the beer conditions. Since the beer is fermenting again like it did in your bucket or carboy, and ale yeasts are top fermenting...You should be OK.

But if it doesn't fall after 3 weeks then you MAY have an infection, though that is rare. There's really nothing you can do until the time is up. Most likely everything will be fine, so RDWHAHB until the beer has run it's process...

If it doesn't fall, and your beer is infected, it may be limited to that bottle, or you may have to re-visit you sanitization process.

I'm sorry I can't give you a definitive answer....you won't really know for 3 weeks....but most people who have reported bottle krausens have come back and said their beer is fine....So I'm betting it is.

jeez revvy, you ever sleep?

+1, RDWHAHB! You are probably fine, but it is going to be a few weeks before you will know for sure.

deathweed said:

jeez revvy, you ever sleep?

+1, RDWHAHB! You are probably fine, but it is going to be a few weeks before you will know for sure.

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Unfortunately the last few nights, no!! I've had some bad insomnia the last couple of nights...Stressed out about money and needing a car repair, and waiting for my tax refund....

But the car's in the shop now, the money is in my account to cover it, and HOPEFULLY I'll sleep tonight....

I have a theory about bottle krauzens...That they happen all the time, happen quite quickly, and we don't notice it, that is the people with a few batches under our belts don't notice it...We just bottle our beers, stick them in boxes and shove them in the back of the closet for 3 weeks. Most of the people who post that they see them are new brewers who are still at the "obsessively worry and stare at their beer stage." (Like most of the "is my beer ruined?" thread creators.) If you or Edwort or Orfy, or me started a thread about gunk in their beer then we'd go into "troubleshoot" mode....Because it's likely that we at least waited the requisite 3 weeks before panicking.

If I can ever figure out how to do time release pictures with my webcam, someday I'll set a couple of clear bottles on a shady shelf to condition and see if I can capture one of those elusive buggers...Granted it probably isn't as exciting as a carboy going at full blown fermentation, but at least we'll know that the happen with semi regularity.

Thanks for your replies - it looks like the krausens are on all of them. This is my fourth bottled batch, but I don't usually check after a few days, maybe it happens all the time!

I was a little worried as I heard on Basic Brewing Radio that if you get a rim inside the bottles (by the level of the beer) it may be an infection.

Not to panic you, and infection IS a possibility, but if it is inside ALL your bottles, it is more likley a small krausen. Either way, you won't know for sure for a couple more weeks. In the meantime, RDWH(another)HB!!!

strangecarr said:

Thanks for your replies - it looks like the krausens are on all of them. This is my fourth bottled batch, but I don't usually check after a few days, maybe it happens all the time!

I was a little worried as I heard on Basic Brewing Radio that if you get a rim inside the bottles (by the level of the beer) it may be an infection.

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Emphasis on the word MAY, there's really no way to tell at this time. Just let us know in 3 weeks when you pop one if they're ok or not.

Haha Revvy, I am going to fight you for this thread

deathweed said:

Haha Revvy, I am going to fight you for this thread

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This thread's big enough for the both of us!

Revvy said:

This thread's big enough for the both of us!

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Prost!!!


(Goes to pour another beer )