Should I dump it?

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I already know the answer - heck, no! I'm really just looking for some confirmation of what I already know (or think that I know).

The situation: my big Irish red ale sat in primary for four weeks. I planned to rack it to secondary for two weeks and then bottle. Life and the holidays got in the way, I'm now at five (six?) weeks in seconday. Meh, whatever.

Back when I was racking, I noticed that my moving the primary had kicked up some nice, snotlike lumps of gunk from the trub. Most of these settled out prior to me racking, but I did grab a small amount of this.

This morning, I took a peek at my secondary (I use glass carboys, and keep them wrapped in a sheet to block light). What I see is an attractive, dark ale... with maybe a couple dozen little odd spots around the top edge of the liquid.

The spots/clumps are bright white in color, and are irregularly shaped. None of them are out in the middle, they are all spaced around the edge of the beer, against the glass. Sizewize, none of them are larger than a pencil eraser (many are smaller).

I suspect that these are simply yeast rafts. The only other thing I can think of would be mold; either way, I intend to rack out from under them and bottle as usual. Yeast used is WLP004 (Irish ale yeast), if that helps.

I see no indication of a pellicile formation, or of the "hard" bubbly crust that often goes with the classic infection threads. I'm not worried, per se, just curious if my judgement is correct. Your input is appreciated.

Most likely and without a picture your assumption is correct. Did you take a sample to taste and smell. If it smells like beer and tastes like beer it is most likely fine.

duboman said:

Most likely and without a picture your assumption is correct. Did you take a sample to taste and smell. If it smells like beer and tastes like beer it is most likely fine.

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Nah, I haven't taken a sample. I figure that I will leave the carboy sealed until I do actually bottle, so as to not disturb the CO2 layer.

I fully intend to bottle as normal.

bottle the dayumed beer.

you know that

dadshomebrewing said:

bottle the dayumed beer.

you know that

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Oh, I will. I was just looking for opinions on my lumps.

Id say yeast rafts are the most likley culprit also. I'd say your good to go.
Big Irish Red sounds delicious. Im thirsty.

the_trout said:

Id say yeast rafts are the most likley culprit also. I'd say your good to go.
Big Irish Red sounds delicious. Im thirsty.

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I really hope that it turns out. I had some issues with this one (link to my blog is in my sig if you want to go back and laugh at me). This was the first recipe I've done that I consider to be "mine". Same ratios as a normal Irish red, but a little higher on OG and IBUs... i.e. a "big" red.

homebrewdad said:

Oh, I will. I was just looking for opinions on my lumps.

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i have no opinion, whatever, on your lumps.

and let us all thank the heavens for that

dadshomebrewing said:

i have no opinion, whatever, on your lumps.

and let us all thank the heavens for that

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Ho ho. Ha ha. Funnneeeee!

You can always try to make vinegar with some of it!

http://allgrains.blogspot.com/2012/11/bad-beer-make-some-malt-vinegar.html

voicelex said:

You can always try to make vinegar with some of it!

http://allgrains.blogspot.com/2012/11/bad-beer-make-some-malt-vinegar.html

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Let's hope it doesn't come to that. At this point, I have no reason to think anything is actually wrong. Worst case from my brewing issues is that my beer is thin and estery.

unionrdr said:

Ok,...if it looks like wet popcorn,it's cold break protiens. Maybe some flatish shards with it are yeast rafts.

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I could see the resemblance to popcorn. It's solid white and lumpy.

Meh, I'm not that worried, either way.

Did you taste it? I think it was Charlie Papazian who recommended tasting your beer at every stage of the process - from tasting the crushed grain to the mash (if you're doing all-grain) to the wort - all the way to the finished product. Every time you take a gravity reading, taste it. That way, you start to get a feel for what it's supposed to be like at every stage. NEVER throw it out before tasting it first.

Trust your taste-buds more than your eyes. Yeast can do some pretty wild stuff. I've had some fermentations that had nasty looking clumps floating around during active fermentation and all those beers turned out great.

jkendal said:

Did you taste it? I think it was Charlie Papazian who recommended tasting your beer at every stage of the process - from tasting the crushed grain to the mash (if you're doing all-grain) to the wort - all the way to the finished product. Every time you take a gravity reading, taste it. That way, you start to get a feel for what it's supposed to be like at every stage. NEVER throw it out before tasting it first.

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Nah. I posted this earlier in the thread - I've left the fermentor closed until I'm ready to bottle, so as to not disturb the CO2 layer. If it's yeast, if it's mold... doesn't matter. Unless it tastes foul in the bottling bucket, I plan to bottle.

homebrewdad said:

Let's hope it doesn't come to that. At this point, I have no reason to think anything is actually wrong. Worst case from my brewing issues is that my beer is thin and estery.

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Glad to hear it - I wasn't too happy about dumping 4 gallons but glad I had a use for at least one. It was my first truly rotten beer - there have been weak ones and boring ones but this was beyond that

I agree with the folks above, trust those buds - it can't kill ya! ^_^

As you know, I was worried about this batch. I thought I'd post an update.

Holidays and work have gotten in the way; I had hoped to crack open the first of these beers on Christmas, but instead, didn't even get it bottled until Saturday night.

Got 47 bottles plus four ounces. Obviously, the four ounces weren't enough to do anything with... so I did a taste test.

I'm not typically a fan of flat beer from the bottling bucket, especially since the dregs have a bit of trub in them. In my experience so far, the carbed, bottled beer typically tastes drastically better than the stuff in the bucket.

I can honestly report, without exaggeration, that this beer was delicious. Sure, it was a bit thin, but we all know that carbonation has a TON to do with mouthfeel. The final product remains to be seen, of course, but I have some really high hopes.

Apparently, RDWHAHB is good advice, after all.

Cracked open my first bottle last night. My bottle carbing temps have been a little low - in the 60-65 range - and I only chilled the bottle in the fridge for about eight hours. I was prepared to be abit underwhelmed in the carbonation aspect.

Bottle was actually plenty carbed, though my first taste or two had a noticeable carbonic bite. There's a slight off flavor at the beginning that I would describe as sweet/warm - I'm fairly certain that this has to do with my early fermentation temps being too high, but I expect that it may fade more with some age.

Mouthfeel is, as expected, a little thin. I would expect a nice, full mouthfeel on an Irish red, especially on a "big" one like this beer.

That being said...

I believe that this may be my best beer, quality-wise, to date. I can state without exaggeration that it is delicious - nice and malty all the way through, dries out at the finish, but not too much. Good malt sweetness, but never becomes cloying. Very drinkable.

I am very proud of how this has turned out. I will absolutely brew this recipe again; well, I will brew it again as an all grain, at any rate.