Thick Loose Sediment with Sorghum Syrup

I've used the Briess White Sorghum Syrup a few times now, and every time I end up with about two inches of thick loose sediment at the bottom of the fermenter.

It falls out of solution at about two weeks and then stays right where it is.

The sediment has been identical using Cooper's Gold, and Safale S-05.

KC Finings had no effect.

There's no detrimental effect to the flavor of the brew (an absolutely scrum-dittly-uptious ale) but I'm used to getting a very viscous and dense sediment from Cooper's Gold, and I'm wondering what is going wrong that this sediment is staying so loose. Having to let a TAD sit in the fridge for a few weeks so it settles enough to drink is a bit annoying.

Any ideas?

...maybe it's related to the yeast and the temperature?

None of my batches have had this loose sediment at the bottom, it has always been packed down pretty nicely and I keep mine all around 68-72.

I'd guess it's the lack of gluten to bind the trub up. I just bottled my first GF beer yesterday, and the yeast cake was way looser than any other I've had with safale s-04.

lcasanova said:

...maybe it's related to the yeast and the temperature?

None of my batches have had this loose sediment at the bottom, it has always been packed down pretty nicely and I keep mine all around 68-72.

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I can fairly safely rule temperature out now. The last batch was my first after building a fermentation box, so it stayed between 67 and 71 during until everything settled out, but still had two inches of loose fluffy stuff at the bottom.

What yeast do you use, and do you add anything to the wort beyond sugars, hops, and Irish Moss?

I've noticed the same issue with a couple different batches using the same syrup but different yeasts. I can't seem to get a nice compact layer with sorghum. I've used Notty and S05 and both had a lot of sediment that was loose

whatisitgoodfor said:

I can fairly safely rule temperature out now. The last batch was my first after building a fermentation box, so it stayed between 67 and 71 during until everything settled out, but still had two inches of loose fluffy stuff at the bottom.

What yeast do you use, and do you add anything to the wort beyond sugars, hops, and Irish Moss?

Click to expand...

Nothing and I've used Nottingham, Windsor and S-04 as well...are you racking to secondary at all? I racked to secondary on my 5 gallon batch and that thing was a thick cake that wasn't going anywhere. On my 2.5 gallon batches, I didn't do secondary and the cake was pretty compact and solid there too...

Maybe I'm just not noticing something?

I was racking to a secondary for some dry hopping last night when I decided to ask the question. At two weeks in the primary, the beer was about as well separated as it gets, completely clear up until the bottom two inches of the carboy, then nothing but thin soupy mess of dead yeast. I wish I had taken some pictures before cleaning up last night.

On the plus side, it does make cleanup really easy.

I'm starting to think it may be water chemistry related. Do you use a filter, or straight tap? Is your water hard or soft?

The trub in mine have all packed down in a couple weeks.

Thanks to david 42 for posting, I couldn't remember which thread had a question I needed to answer!

whatisitgoodfor said:

I was racking to a secondary for some dry hopping last night when I decided to ask the question. At two weeks in the primary, the beer was about as well separated as it gets, completely clear up until the bottom two inches of the carboy, then nothing but thin soupy mess of dead yeast. I wish I had taken some pictures before cleaning up last night.

On the plus side, it does make cleanup really easy.

I'm starting to think it may be water chemistry related. Do you use a filter, or straight tap? Is your water hard or soft?

Click to expand...

I've used both bottled spring water and straight tap water and have not noticed a difference in the trub. I have no idea if my water is hard or soft. Sorry I couldn't help but maybe try some bottled water next time.