Ring around bottle neck

Does a ring around a bottle neck mean my beer is infected? I cant remember if palmer of papazian said that is what it means. I have a batch that turned out great soon after bottling. Now about 3 months later it has a ring around the neck?

Maybe that is normal? I havent tasted it since it developed the ring though.

What did you prime with? I've heard that priming with DME can cause a ring on the bottle neck...a mini-krausen.

It's the fabled mini or bottle krausen....The beer is fine.

Carbing beer is similiar to fermentation...Yeast eats sugars and poops 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 (except noobs, that is) 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.

But either way, I'm sure your beer will be fine.

I'd only worry if it hasn't fallen after a month in the bottle...

If it developed a ring soon after bottling (as it was carbonating), then it's likely to be the above mentioned krausen ring.

If it didn't develop the ring until it had been in bottles for several months, it could be an infection, since they often take a while to get going. Open a bottle - if it's a gusher, it could very well be an infection. Off flavors/aromas are another big clue.

Did u prime with DME? If so, then it is just like in your fermenter, so no worries.

BrooZer said:

Does a ring around a bottle neck mean my beer is infected? I cant remember if palmer of papazian said that is what it means.

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"One of the best and simplest ways to recognize whether or not your beer is contaminated with bacteria is to take a look at your bottles of beer. Look at the surface of the beer where it contacts the sides of the bottle. Is there a deposit ringing the neck? Every gusher, hazy beer, sour-smelling and sour-tasting beer I've had the pleasure of evaluating invariably has a "ring around the neck"- a sure sign that there is bacterial or wild yeast contamination."
-Charlie Papazian (Joy of Home Brewing)

Just wanted to see what you all think this is (see photos below). It is a thin film that has developed along the top of my bottled beers. If you tilt the bottle it adheres to the inside. I didn't see any pictures of "mini-krausen" in bottles up here so I thought I'd get the input of those that may have seen it before. Basically, is this what krausen in bottles looks like or is this beer infected? I know I should RDWHAHB, but this is the second batch out of my last three that have done this, and I was super-attentive to sanitation this time to make sure it didn't happen. A little more info. The last beer that did this has not produced gushers, nor does it have any off-flavors yet (it was given a 36 out of 50 by 2 BJCP judges and they didn't mention the ring or off-flavors). However, the ring has not fallen out of those beers either and still persists in the same state. The current batch has been in bottles for 5 days and showed no signs at all of infection in the primary from which it was bottled. Any thoughts?

Nice pics! Everybody likes a good photo.

Yeah, everyone is saying it's krausen, and at 5 days in the bottle, those yeast are actively eating up your priming sugar. It's too early to have a bacteria ring if you didn't see anything unusual in your fermenter. Also, bacteria don't look foamy like that, they are more likely to look like flakes on the surface or thick, pasty and smooth.

Thanks for the fast reply Sardoman. Yeah, the only reason I was really concerned is because the rings in my past batch never "fell out." Although, I guess the krausen ring in the primary persists after it recedes as well. That thin film just didn't look quite right for whatever reason.

The best and only thing to really do at this point if you are ever concerned is to check on every week for a gusher or obvious overcarbonation.Make shure its refrigerated long enough because if not any beer could gush infection or not.

Ya, I wouldn't worry about it. I get the occasional ring-looking thing in some of my bottles (carbing with priming sugar, not DME), but have not had an infection yet.

Hmmm. I only get that with beers brewed with Lacto (bacteria). Maybe that's normal for some of you, but the ring is NOT normal for me.

Ive bottled with lacto infections,well at least i think they were, and havent seen any of my bottles look like this.

jonmohno said:

Ive bottled with lacto infections,well at least i think they were, and havent seen any of my bottles look like this.

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I've got a batch of Berlier Weisse that look similar. Every bottle has that ring. Maybe not that thick.