Dry Hop Infection?

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eobie

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So I brewed a Pliny clone and am done the first round of dry hopping. Took a peek this morning to see how it's coming along and I see some floaters that weren't there after the transfer to secondary. Is this from the bag? I dipped the whole bag in star san before throwing it in there. Also with the 7.7 abv I figured that would also fight off some baddies.

Popped it open and it smells great. Will try a sample tonight I guess.

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It could be three things: yeas rafts, CO2 bubbles escaping, or an infection. There is so much alcohol in Pliny that I doubt it's an infection. I would have weighted the hop bag down a little though.
 
Can yeast rafts form in secondary when they didn't exist after transfer from primary? This is definitely not co2....
 
Can yeast rafts form in secondary when they didn't exist after transfer from primary? This is definitely not co2....

Yes, when you transfer your beer it gets stirred up some which releases some of the dissolved CO2. There will be yeast in the beer and some of it will get carried to the surface with the CO2 and will make neat little rafts there.
 
They are sorta puffy and transparent. Guess I will investigate more when I get home. If it were another batch and it was infected I wouldn't feel so bad, but a Pliny batch is expensive so I'm worried about losing it.
 
I appears more like hop debris or break material than an infection. Either from some hops escaping the bag, or by stirring up the bottom of the carboy. Probably the latter... I think you will be fine.

Next time dryhop will pellets. Just toss them in; no need to bag. Bagging them reduces dryhop contact exposure to the wort and limits the potential of your dryhop. Plus, I bet it was a ***** to get the bagged hops in there, as it will be to remove them.
 
I appears more like hop debris or break material than an infection. Either from some hops escaping the bag, or by stirring up the bottom of the carboy. Probably the latter... I think you will be fine.

Next time dryhop will pellets. Just toss them in; no need to bag. Bagging them reduces dryhop contact exposure to the wort and limits the potential of your dryhop. Plus, I bet it was a ***** to get the bagged hops in there, as it will be to remove them.

I did use pellets, just in the bag. Getting them out shouldn't be too bad. Will rack to keg and then just pull them through. This better bottle has a faucet on the bottom so all I have to do is pull the air lock and drain.
 
I didn't see the faucet on the bottom from the pic. Be careful though... If draining from the bottom, all the trub and any residual fallen hop debris will be carried over to the keg. Personally, I would rack from the top with a cane. You went through the trouble of racking to secondary, so why not follow through with ensuring you have a particle free beer?
 
I didn't see the faucet on the bottom from the pic. Be careful though... If draining from the bottom, all the trub and any residual fallen hop debris will be carried over to the keg. Personally, I would rack from the top with a cane. You went through the trouble of racking to secondary, so why not follow through with ensuring you have a particle free beer?

Yeah the faucet is covered by one of the towels. I can turn the faucet so it sits above the trub. I've done it before without issue. I'll have to remember to turn it up tonight so it has time to settle again when I rack on friday.
 
Just did the last hop addition. I moved the faucet and this is what floated to the top. I tasted it and it tastes great..... But it looks like mold. Maybe staved off do to high alcohol content? Comments?

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Do you guys think it could be protein from the dry hopping. It sorta looks like protein.
 
With that clearer picture, it looks like a coagulated pack of yeast cells... not bacteria... not hops. I wouldn't worry. Wait and see.
 
With that clearer picture, it looks like a coagulated pack of yeast cells... not bacteria... not hops. I wouldn't worry. Wait and see.

Sorry for the question... but what would I exactly wait for here. I have 4 days of dry hop left and then I have to rack it. I tasted it and it's freaking awesome, i guess in four days i'll find out if it's still any good.

Wild yeast perhaps. I did brew it on a windy day and the pollen is in full effect.
 
Well when you bottle, you should not be bottling solids. So bottle, carb, wait, drink.

Should be fine. It makes sense that you have a coagulated bit of yeast considering there's very little to no sugar and 02 left for the yeast to use at this point. I'm just surprised it didn't fall to the bottom.
 
There were a bunch of smaller ones that sunk once I took a sample. I moved the faucet because that monster was stuck to it and it actually floated to the top and has stayed there.
 
Well when you bottle, you should not be bottling solids. So bottle, carb, wait, drink.

Should be fine. It makes sense that you have a coagulated bit of yeast considering there's very little to no sugar and 02 left for the yeast to use at this point. I'm just surprised it didn't fall to the bottom.

I keg, so I'm going to put one of those muslin bags on the end of the racking cane. That should stop all that stuff from getting in the keg... but I guess I just need to know what that crap is. There is almost 13 oz of hops invested in the batch so I would hate for it to turn to crap once in the keg.

Nothing I can do about I suppose. Tonight I will RDWHAHB!
 
eobie said:
I keg, so I'm going to put one of those muslin bags on the end of the racking cane. That should stop all that stuff from getting in the keg...
You should of just planned on doing this and let those precious hops be free!!
 
+1 RDWHAHB

If you continue to worry, just bottle and send to me. I know a guy who can dispose of this properly. :fro:
 
bobbrews said:
I told ya what I thought it was... yeast.
Relax... Have a homebrew ;)

This stuff is actually sitting on the rims that go around the better bottle. I hear you man. I get to have my root canal finished in 20 minutes and then...... I will partake.
 
edmanster said:
You should of just planned on doing this and let those precious hops be free!!

They were pellets. Didn't know how that would work out. Now I know! :)
 
eobie said:
They were pellets. Didn't know how that would work out. Now I know! :)

They all fall out.. I just dry hopped my DFH 120min clone last saturday.. That was only 3 oz, all but a little of the hops have already fallen.. I almost always use a piece of nylon mesh on my auto siphon when dry hopping :)
 
I did use pellets, just in the bag. Getting them out shouldn't be too bad. Will rack to keg and then just pull them through. This better bottle has a faucet on the bottom so all I have to do is pull the air lock and drain.

If you are kegging, next time consider dry hopping in the keg. I am just on 3 weeks now on a Pliny clone, and will add my hops then. You can get away with using less, a big bonus on such a hop intensive brew. After 3 more weeks in the keg the aroma will waft throughout the room on every pour!:ban:
 
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