Cocoa powder: Does it leave bottle-neck rings?

Hi,

I brewed up a chocolate-raspberry stout using cocoa powder awhile back. It's been in bottles for almost two months now, and I've seen (after about a month in bottles) a ring of stuff at the fill level of all the bottles.

I've read a lot about "ring around the bottle" infections. Some have suggested that it's possibly yeast; others have dismissed this and stated almost certainly that these are infections.

My rings look darker, not whitish rings from yeast or the usual description of infections. The beer doesn't taste funny/bad--only a touch bitter, which may be from the cocoa.

Anyone brew with cocoa powder (mine was added at flameout, then I secondaried over raspberry puree) see these rings?

Or do I have a couple dozen infections brewing away?

Thanks,
Nige

I recently brewed a stout with 2 oz of cocoa powder at bottling, I have no rings.

I should add that I used 8 oz. of Scharffen Berger cocoa powder at flameout for my batch.

It could be cocoa. It could be krausen. It could be hops. It could be a spice you may have added. Pretty much anything that could be floating in the beer can stick to the sides. Give it a sniff and a taste. If it doesn't smell or taste rancid, then don't worry about it.

I used 6oz in my porter and have no rings.

I've used up to 9oz of cocoa powder in my stout and never noticed a ring, but I also didn't go looking for it. How long did you have this in the fermenter?

Chshre, I had it in the primary for 1.5 weeks, then in the secondary with the puree for 2.5 weeks. Bottled end of April.

Funny, but the first few bottles I sampled didn't have rings--at least not that I noticed, but wasn't looking for them. Since then, they all do--I noticed it on one and checked the rest.

I did a wit beer and had little bits of coriander and orange peel sticking to the neck of the bottle. Just stuff that never settled out. I added yeast to an ale in the bottle because I had stripped too much out with finings, and I got a little krausen around the neck. I've never used cocoa specifically, but anything that doesn't quite settle out has the potential to float and stick. I'd think it's more likely than an infection.