Film Ring Around neck of Bottle?

Recently bottled my second batch and noticed a thin film and ring in neck of bottle. The film has a wavy appearance underneath of it. This was the first time I used the dishwasher to sanitize the bottles. There were no apparent signs prior to bottling of anything funky. Was curious if this is mold and if the beer is salvageable, it has been two weeks since bottling?

Most likely some sort of infection.
Taste it its probably still drinkable, if you start seeing floaties then not so much.

Ring around the neck is more than likely a sign of infection. Chill your brews and drink them up. They aren't going to be getting better, but you can still appreciate them while they're around. I had infected beer that I couldn't believe had gone south on me for a few months.

SuperiorBrew said:

Most likely some sort of infection.
Taste it its probably still drinkable, if you start seeing floaties then not so much.

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Infection is always a possibility. Not always certain.... Are you racking to a 2ndary? Do you have a 2ndary? If not wait three to four weeks, let the beer settle out a bit. I've had this happen on my first few beers that I bottled real early. They were done, just not settled out yet.

There are two schools of thought on this. Jamil Zainashef thinks no 2ndary others disagree. I tend to 2ndary more so with lite colored beers. Darker ones I could care less about clarity. Just common sense.

It could be just a mini krausen. But yes, the only way you can find out now is to taste it.

I never immediately assume an infection, it could be mini or bottle krausen, which people do see on occasion.

Carbing beer is similiar to fermentation in a fermenter...Yeast eats sugars and processes co2 and alchohol....Since ale yeasts are top fermenting, it works just like in your fermenter...Krauzens often get formed and then fall through to the bottom during the 3 week process... Some yeasts are more apt to do it more dramatically than others...and priming with dme sometimes makes it noticeable...

I actually have a theory that it happens all the time, but since a lot of us just stick our bottles in a box, in a dark place and forget about them for 3 or more weeks, (instead of staring at them obsesively), we never notice it occuring.

Let the beer go 3-4 weeks in the bottle and see if it doesn't fall, I'd only worry if it hasn't fallen after a month in the bottle...

I don't agree with the suggestion to open one early and taste it...A gusher or off flavor before a beer is fully bottle conditioned and carbed for 3 weeks, isn't all that uncommon...If you aren't familiar with the difference between a green tasting beer, and an infection, then how would you be able to tell?

But at the same time, since you use the oven to sanitize the bottles, and I've never trusted that method, especially when all you need is a a good soaking, or a couple blasts with a good sanitizer and a vinator...you may have an infection...but only waiting to complete the bottle conditioning period to see if they fall, and the beer carbs and is no longer green, will prove otherwise.

Shouldnt use the dishwasher to sanatize the bottles though....

I have also had brews that were dry-hopped with pellets leave a small ring around the neck of the bottle. But I would always worry about an infection if you see this.

I advocate giving them a try. Infections tend to get worse with time -- the taste and carbonation may progressively get worse. But until they become bad, your beer might be drinkable -- keep them in the fridge if you do detect an infection to slow it down.

Regarding sanitizing bottles in the dishwasher, many ARE able to sanitize very well, especially if they have a sanitizing feature that heats the steam inside the dishwasher above 180 degrees.

Thak you to all who replied. It looks like it was just some top fermenting yeast that needed a little bit more time to settle. Popped a few over hte weekend and they tasted great. Question though, Should a 2nd fermenter be used for this style of beer, beacause I did use one and it was in there for two weeeks. The beer still came out nice and cloudy like it should have but some bottles had a lot of sediment.