Floaty things in my latest beer

[z-bob]

I just opened a bottle of the blonde ale I bottled a week ago (I know I'm rushing it.) It tasted pretty good, but more bitter than I expected. Also the carbonation is not *quite* there yet, but I didn't taste any faults. However, there were funny little things floating in the beer; looked like mosquito wigglers but smaller and clear. Maybe a dozen or so in a 12 ounce bottle. I looked at one with a 4X loupe and could not see any details; looked maybe a little like a piece of grain husk but clear. And they are not moving. I poured the sediment out of the bottle and there were more in there.

What do you think. Dead fruit fly larvae? There haven't been any FF's in the house yet this year.

I don't think I'll be giving away any bottles from this batch

 

[sketerbuck]

Can you post a pic?

 

[z-bob]

Can you post a pic?

Good question! No, they are too small. Maybe 1/8 inch long and very thin and mostly clear.

Edit: I did take a picture, even tho' I don't think it will show enough detail. Gotta figure out how to upload it now...

 

[z-bob]

 

[z-bob]

That is the dregs from the bottle, poured into a glass. It's sitting on a bottle cap to tilt it, and one of the things is right under the cap and mostly in focus. There's more of them at the bottom, out of focus. I think it's some kind of insect

The dark specs and lines are the pattern in the formica countertop.

 

[Nokt]

The thing under the white arch does look like a larvae of some sort when blown-up. Could they have been in the grain?

 

[z-bob]

If they were in the grain, they wouldn't have survived grinding, mashing, boiling, etc.

I'm not too worried until I find them in my next bottle too (which I'll check in a few days)

 

[Jayjay1976]

Meat group!

 

[z-bob]

Meat group!

They taste just like beer. Luckily I have an opaque stoneware beer stein.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Could it be hop debris? I have gotten small amounts of hop debris, when the bottles aren’t done priming yet, I’ll see a few floating on the surface in the neck. Then they sink after the bottle is fully carbonated. I don’t use any hop bags to add hops.

 

[day_trippr]

Definitely not hop debris, those are multi-segmented wee beastie babies of some kind

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I’m thinking they were in the bottles. Like after 8 homebrews one bottle got by without getting rinsed out.

 

[z-bob]

I’m thinking they were in the bottles. Like after 8 homebrews one bottle got by without getting rinsed out.

That's what I'm hoping. I have 3 clear liter bottles, and when I shake them a little I don't see anything like it in them.

 

[z-bob]

I opened another bottle today. No wildlife in this one. I think a dirty bottle (sitting by the kitchen sink waiting to be cleaned) got mixed in with my ready to use ones. And I hit the jackpot when I picked the first bottle to sample. This one tasted better too, but was not fully carbonated yet. They need another 2 weeks. I'll try another one next Saturday, of course

 

[frozengator]

Maybe something missed in bottle when cleaning

 

[pwortiz]

Fruit fly larvae. I had this once before in mine. When they get eyes is no bueno. None of them survive.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I opened another bottle today. No wildlife in this one. I think a dirty bottle (sitting by the kitchen sink waiting to be cleaned) got mixed in with my ready to use ones. And I hit the jackpot when I picked the first bottle to sample. This one tasted better too, but was not fully carbonated yet. They need another 2 weeks. I'll try another one next Saturday, of course

Due to this thread, when I bottled today, I held each of the bottles I used up to the light to be sure that I had rinsed them after using them last.

 

[frozengator]

Maybe something missed in bottle when cleaning

One thing I try to do is after I am done with my bottles is give a quick rinse and pop old cap back on until I am ready to clean an sanitize for bottling day. This keeps dust and them pesky little critters out. Fruit flies lay eggs that will stick to the surface where they are laid. I dump my coffee grinds in a small bucket and they seem to like that. I have to watch it because they multiply in that. That's where I have noticed how tough their eggs are. I have to scrub the bucket every couple of weeks