Black Deposits Inside Bottle Necks

My recent batch of beer (an imperial India pale ale) has given me some black specks inside the necks of several bottles. Some are small, some are a little larger, but any bottle with specks has them located on the neck of the bottle only. Has anyone seen this before? What could it be?

i assume you used a crap load of hops in this recipe and dry hopped. could those black specks be hop bits? a pic if you can would be helpful.

maybe something growing in the neck out of the beer; possible bottle infection maybe... or it could be some normal beer debris.
how long have they been in the bottles for? if they have been conditioned for long enough, pour one and see how it tastes.

Did you use extract? if so did you pour it right into the middle of the pot while it was boiling, scorching the wort, even a little?

maybe a mini kraussen?

I did use extract, and I did use a crap-load of hops. I don’t think the problem is coming from either of those things, though. The black specks aren’t ‘floaters’ or anything like that. They are stuck to the side of the bottle necks. I honestly think they look like spots of mold, but I refuse to believe it… The beer has been bottled for about a month and a half now. I’ve tried a couple that did not have the spots, and they tasted fine, despite a little ‘green’ beer flavor. I tried to take a photo, but the lighting was impossible to get right.

Moldy bottles are sometimes hard to spot before bottling, especially on dark bottles.

That would be my guess, although mold is usually in the bottom.

Black Mold is BAD.

Well, I guess I'll try a bottle with specks this evening and see if it lands me in the emergency room.

Ty1erC said:

Well, I guess I'll try a bottle with specks this evening and see if it lands me in the emergency room.

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I don't think you should worry about that! Like mentioned before it could be a little mini kraussen in the neck...if it tastes fine...drink it!

I'm happy to say that the beer tasted fine, and I survived through the night. After pouring, I wiped the spots from the inside of the neck with my finger, and strangely they left no mark or residue on my hand. Just disappeared. Weird.

Nothing in beer could send you to the emergency room.....except maybe in Kenya (or wherever that crazy homebrew cut with rat poison was)


At worst the beer would become vinegar or gush uncontrollably.

cheezydemon3 said:

Nothing in beer could send you to the emergency room.....except maybe in Kenya (or wherever that crazy homebrew cut with rat poison was)


At worst the beer would become vinegar or gush uncontrollably.

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Good to know.

UPDATE: The spots were certainly an infection. They continued to grow in size, and looked nasty. Had to dump half of my batch. I will be sterilizing my ass off from now on.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!1!1!!!!1!!!1111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hate to say, but I guessed that.

Hops don't disintegrate between your fingers.

Don't overcorrect and leave sanitizer in the fermenter!