Wort precipitate.

[creed24]

I've let my wort cool down and I put it in my carboy, but I've noticed something strange about this batch.

There's lots of white cloudy precipitate that settles to the bottom of the carboy. The top layer is dark brown and looks like beer, the bottom looks almost like yeast, but I haven't pitched any yet. I'm sure it won't hurt my beer, but should I swirl and then take my OG reading or try to do a reading from only the top part?

 

[TyTanium]

Break material. Perfectly normal, it'll just drop to the bottom of the carboy.

 

[Yooper]

It sounds perfect- like you got a good hot break and a good cold break with this brew. That's exactly what you want, so that's good!

 

[creed24]

Oh okay. That makes sense. I'm still unsure as to whether to mix before taking my OG reading, but I assume I shouldn't.

 

[creed24]

So I tried to take a reading but I couldn't get just the top layer and I ended up swirling all the precipitate material together. When I looked, the hydrometer measured 1.020. Which is pretty much impossible so I disregarded the reading and just filled the carboy with more water and pitched my yeast.

Here's to hoping for the best!

 

[TyTanium]

Good job using common sense and not worrying about it. I applaud you.

 

[creed24]

Good job using common sense and not worrying about it. I applaud you.

I mean, it's hard sometimes to not worry. Most of us spend a lot of time and money on building up our equipment, getting ingredients, picking/designing a recipe. It's scary to think one little slip up can cost you a batch of beer.