Does this look right to you?

[Mrin]

Okay, second brew here. The first was a porter and it just looked like coffee. This is a partial mash rye saison. The pic below is about 90 minutes after putting it in the primary.

Question: it looks like it is separating into three layers. Something at the bottom, a middle dark layer and a top light layer. Is that normal?

Specifics:

5 lbs DME
4 lbs Wheat
1 lb Flaked Rye
1 oz French Aramis @ 30
Wyeast 3711 (2 slap packs) - pitched at 72 degrees

Mash: BIAB (1.75 to 2 gallons)
Strike: 164
Mash in: 153 (or is that dough in?)

Mashed for 45 minutes. Followed the partial mash stickied thread here. Did a dunk sparge in 165 degree water for 10 minutes (1.5 gallons).

Boil (60 minutes): DME in right before boil. It really clumped up but I kept on stirring and the clumps went away.

When transferring it to the primary it went through a screen on the funnel. The OG was a crazy 1.090 but I think that was because I was pulling from the thicker layer at the bottom with my thief.

 

[chickens4life]

Looks just fine to me the layers are (bottom to top) trub (hot break ect that made it through your screen) then wort with yeast/cold break and at the top clear wort (where the yeast and cold break have settled out. At least that is what it looks like to me. It will all mix up during active ferment and everything will settle out together after fermentation.

-Chickens

 

[unionrdr]

It doesn't look well mixed to me?...

 

[Hello]

Your gravity reading is likely wrong if you used top off water. It is tough to really mix top off water with wort, but it can be done and should be done. Don't do it now, you don't want to introduce oxygen into the beer after pitching. A very light swirl may be slightly ok, but again, light swirl.

It is normal to have some layering like that. I wouldn't worry too much as long as it is fermenting. What does it look now?

 

[Mrin]

Thanks! Looks much better now. Thanks for talking this newbie off a ledge.

Question - to mix the wort with the top of water I just filled up the carboy and did the whole vigorous rocking back and forth thing. I do have a long handled carboy spoon - would it have been better to use that? Sanitized of course.

 

[m00ps]

I would cover the airlock whole and vigorously shake the whole thing. Its important to aerate the wort at the start (and only the start) of fermentation.

 

[aprichman]

Since fermentation has already begun shaking wouldn't do anything at this point.

If you're using unboiled topoff water and dry yeast I wouldn't even worry about shaking at all.