Floaters in Kegged Beer

[JJ_Jameson]

This is the second time this has happened and I’m a loss of what to do. My finished beer appear to have flakes that float to the bottom of glass immediately after poor. I used us-05 yeast and cold crashed for 3 days before kegging. I’ve cleaned everything prior to kegging and there was nothing in the PBW or Star San wash. I’ve added gelatin before and the floaters were still there. Have attached a photo for clarity. Any help would be lost appreciated.

 

[odie]

guessing some trub got into the keg during racking?

does it taste fine otherwise?

 

[glick]

Looks like hop matter to me. You’ll have it all sucked out soon is my guess.

 

[Jag75]

Have you examined the flakes ?

 

[JJ_Jameson]

guessing some trub got into the keg during racking?

does it taste fine otherwise?

I didn’t taste it but it smelt hoppy so I don’t think there’s an infection

 

[eliastheodosis]

Looks like hop matter to me. You’ll have it all sucked out soon is my guess.

Yeah, looks like hop matter to me too. If you're dry hopping with loose hops or even transferring over some hops from the kettle to the fermentor then it could definitely get into the kettle. You might pull out a little more but it'll clear up as the beer settles. Do your best to avoid it so it doesn't clog your posts but otherwise it's not a big deal.

I didn’t taste it but it smelt hoppy so I don’t think there’s an infection

I would fish out a flake and see what it seems like. If it seems organic and the beer smells good then give the beer a small taste. If it tastes okay then you're fine. I would avoid tasting those flakes, though. I'm assuming it's hop matter and that's gonna not taste great...

 

[JJ_Jameson]

Yeah, looks like hop matter to me too. If you're dry hopping with loose hops or even transferring over some hops from the kettle to the fermentor then it could definitely get into the kettle. You might pull out a little more but it'll clear up as the beer settles. Do your best to avoid it so it doesn't clog your posts but otherwise it's not a big deal.


I would fish out a flake and see what it seems like. If it seems organic and the beer smells good then give the beer a small taste. If it tastes okay then you're fine. I would avoid tasting those flakes, though. I'm assuming it's hop matter and that's gonna not taste great...

Do you recommend getting a floating dip tube? The tube in the keg touches the bottom so I’m gonna get hop matter pulled up even if I let the beer settle

 

[Yesfan]

Do you recommend getting a floating dip tube? The tube in the keg touches the bottom so I’m gonna get hop matter pulled up even if I let the beer settle

Eventually, you'll pull clear beer if the hop matter settles. I'd get a floating dip tube, but not solely for that reason. If the beer tastes good, don't sweat it. I had an IPA that was like that at one time, little pieces of hop matter floating around in my pint glass. I just looked at it as a homebrewer's lava lamp.

 

[eliastheodosis]

Do you recommend getting a floating dip tube? The tube in the keg touches the bottom so I’m gonna get hop matter pulled up even if I let the beer settle

Eventually, you'll pull clear beer if the hop matter settles. I'd get a floating dip tube, but not solely for that reason. If the beer tastes good, don't sweat it. I had an IPA that was like that at one time, little pieces of hop matter floating around in my pint glass. I just looked at it as a homebrewer's lava lamp.

Yeah, a floating dip could help just like Yesfan said. Honestly, those flakes should settle out pretty quick, though. I'm not sure how long the beer has been in the keg, but if you let it settle enough then you can probably pull all the hop matter through the dip at one time. A floating dip should help, though. They are also pretty cheap and they work well in my experience.

Depending on your setup maybe also look into ways to keep hop matter from going from kettle to fermentor and from fermentor to keg. Hoppy beers can get messy and it's hard to remedy the problem by working on just one part of the process. Cold crashing helps but it doesn't guarantee you're keeping hops from getting into the keg depending on your transfer process. Gelatin can help but it's not perfect either. If you post more about your process maybe we can help. You could also *gasp* dry hop in a bag Hop utilization drops a little but people do it for sure.

I'm not exactly the hoppy beer expert or anything so maybe others have more advice...

 

[Deadalus]

A keg hop stopper will keep then out of your glass as well. Cheaper by the four pack.

 

[day_trippr]

I would be hesitant to do anything that requires opening a keg of hoppy beer to "fix it"...

Cheers!

 

[JJ_Jameson]

Yeah, a floating dip could help just like Yesfan said. Honestly, those flakes should settle out pretty quick, though. I'm not sure how long the beer has been in the keg, but if you let it settle enough then you can probably pull all the hop matter through the dip at one time. A floating dip should help, though. They are also pretty cheap and they work well in my experience.

Depending on your setup maybe also look into ways to keep hop matter from going from kettle to fermentor and from fermentor to keg. Hoppy beers can get messy and it's hard to remedy the problem by working on just one part of the process. Cold crashing helps but it doesn't guarantee you're keeping hops from getting into the keg depending on your transfer process. Gelatin can help but it's not perfect either. If you post more about your process maybe we can help. You could also *gasp* dry hop in a bag Hop utilization drops a little but people do it for sure.

I'm not exactly the hoppy beer expert or anything so maybe others have more advice...

I dry hopped this brew with 1oz of Nelson Salvin and Citra for 7 days. I screwed up the dry hopping as this was fermented in an anvil bucket so I couldn’t jam a hop sock in through the top without completely opening the lid so I threw in free pellets. I’ve done free pellets before and never had this issue.

 

[eliastheodosis]

I dry hopped this brew with 1oz of Nelson Salvin and Citra for 7 days. I screwed up the dry hopping as this was fermented in an anvil bucket so I couldn’t jam a hop sock in through the top without completely opening the lid so I threw in free pellets. I’ve done free pellets before and never had this issue.

Yeah, it's hard to know without seeing the whole process. There's all sorts of stuff that it could be Doesn't mean any of them are even directly something you did. For example, in my experience hop pellets vary pretty wildly in terms of their composition. Some are big and chunky and end up with a bunch of little flakes that float around. Others seem more finely ground and they tend to dissolve more in the beer. It could be the batch of hops was weird. Hops are an agricultural product and will vary from batch to batch and provider to provider, of course. Or maybe just something weird happened in your process that let some hop matter through.

The last batch I did I was fighting hop matter until it settled in the keg. I rarely have that problem either but it just seemed to happen. Maybe I screwed something up and got some hops into the transfer hose. I don't feel like I did anything different but I'm also not a pro. The beer was great though, so I'm not going to sweat it.

Everybody's process is all a little different, though, too. The floating dip and the hop sock that are discussed above are good starts. I use floating dips to transfer to the keg but then I use standard dips in the kegs themselves. I never use a hop sock and I am fine almost 100% of the time. Find what works for you. But in the meantime don't let those floater bother you.

 

[JJ_Jameson]

I would be hesitant to do anything that requires opening a keg of hoppy beer to "fix it"...

Cheers!

To be honest I should have left it after seeing my mistake but it’s a learning experience!

 

[JJ_Jameson]

A keg hop stopper will keep then out of your glass as well. Cheaper by the four pack.

This looks cool! Never seen it before.

 

[odie]

just drink it.

 

[JJ_Jameson]

just drink it.

Oh I well . Just wanted some feedback on it!

 

[hotbeer]

If it's drinkable, then just ponder what you might have gone wrong and what might be done better while you deplete your current beer. Then do the next batch better.

I'm not much for trying to save a batch with extra stuff that shouldn't be needed in the first place. Just accept and learn from each brew.

 

[Jag75]

The easiest and most logical thing to do is pull a flake out of the beer and inspect it. Look at it, smell and taste it . Then, make your determination

 

[JJ_Jameson]

If it's drinkable, then just ponder what you might have gone wrong and what might be done better while you deplete your current beer. Then do the next batch better.

I'm not much for trying to save a batch with extra stuff that shouldn't be needed in the first place. Just accept and learn from each brew.

Right! I was trying to complicate a simple beer. This beer would have been a nice beer even without the dry hop.
I’ve been doing a lot of Irish/British beers and I wanted to step back into the IPA side. I’ve had some success with it previously but had a few bad brews recently and I dropped it.

 

[hotbeer]

I wanted to step back into the IPA side.

It's not required that IPA's be dry hopped. I made several that just stuffed a bunch of hops in for flavor at the end of boil. And I was very happy with them.

The still made me sneeze.