First BIAB Batch - weird white stuff on side of fermenter (above beer)

[jcdmorris]

Hello all.

I brewed an American Pale Ale on Sunday, my first BIAB all-grain attempt. At day day 4, looking to rack into secondary for dry hopping when I saw this on the side of the fermenter:

Pic 1 - Long shot of carboy - note white stuff on side above beer

Pic 2 - Side illumination of "white growth"

Fermentation onset was within 8 hrs was vigorous when checked at around 24 hrs, with big chunks of yeast flying around in solution. The krausen was very compact and "gooey", but I attributed this to the all-grain and double crush. The goo looked like yeast and settled out when krausen dropped.

I had sloshed the beer slightly as the fermentation slowed and temp dropped to rouse the yeast a bit. Judging from the yeast on the side and at the same level of the carboy, the beer coated this part of the carboy when I did the sloshing. Could this be yeast nutrient residue lest on the side after the beer dried?

Any thoughts? Anyone seen this on the side of their carboy?

There is a slightly foul smell, but fairly minor, coming from airlock.
Planning on going ahead and racking this into secondary on top of 1 oz Citra leaf hops for 7 - 10 days. Then into corney to force carb at 12.5 lb / 35 F for a week.

Thanks for any feedback!


Additional information:

Recipe:

Grains​

• 10 lbs Pale Malt 2-row
• 1/2 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
• 1/4 lb Biscuit Malt

Hops​

• .25 oz Chinook at 60 min
• .25 oz Chinook at 45 min
• .20 oz Chinook at 30
• .5 oz Chinook at 15 min
• .5 oz Chinook at 2 min

Other​

• Whirlfloc tablet at 15 min
• Yeast Nutrient at 10 min
• Wort chiller immersed at 10 min

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale - made 1.25 L starter on stir plate for 24 hrs. Sat at room temp ~65 F for 4 hours. Decanted and pitched.

Process - BIAB

• Mashed at 157 F for 60 min (a bit higher than target of 156 F)
• Mash out - raised to 168 F over 7 minutes
• Pulled bag with grains and raised to boil
• 60 min boil
• Chilled to 65 F
• O2 via stone and O2 bottle
• pitched yeast
• Fermented at ~66 - 64 F (measured via probe taped on side of carboy)

Yield was 4.75 gal
OG: 1.054
SG: 1.017

UPDATE (6/11/13): As usual, it looks like you all were correct in your replies. As advised by St.Pug, I've left it in the primary (now on day 8) and all things look normal. Just some small bubbles on the surface with some yeast. Will update when I do rack into secondary for dry hopping.

UPDATE (6/19/13): racked into secondary after 17 days in the primary. Racked on top of 1 oz of Citra whole hops. Will leave in secondary for 7-10 days and keg. I plan on using gelatin for the first time as a fining. Beer tasted good and clean coming out of the primary, if a bit under-attenuated at 1.017. My mash temp was a bit high at 158* F. Also, the temp dropped down to ~ 64* F after the first 3 days of vigorous fermentation and eventually down to 62 * F as I let it sit. I am considering bumping temp up to ~ 66 - 68 * F following ramp-down of fermentation to help it ferment fully. I'm looking forward to the beer being ready to drink here in a couple of weeks.

 

[Yooper]

Maybe it's the photo, but I don't see any white growths. I see some yeast that was left behind (the krausen must have been higher) but nothing growing or weird. Can you post a photo showing it better?

 

[Rivenin]

i'm with yoops... looks like yeast to me with what i see.

 

[stpug]

Pictures look like a normal beer to me. Stuff on the side of your fermenter means that it fermented. If it tastes pretty good then it's on it's way to tasting great, ALTHOUGH I'm not sure I'd be looking to rack into a secondary on day 4 (I personally wouldn't bother with a secondary at all ). Instead, I'd wait out 7-21 days and rack into the keg with dryhops in a mesh bag inside the keg (the timing all depends on your patience )

 

[jcdmorris]

Thanks to all of you for your replies - it is appreciated. Only my 4th batch, so I have a lot to learn.

Here is an improved snapshot where the color difference between yeast from the krausen and this white deposit is better shown. If you click the yellow bar at the top of the photo, you can get a good look.

A strange thing I noticed is that the white deposit is actually slightly iridescent. It slightly shifts color when light shown on it changes angles. Weird.

I've decided to RDWHAHB. It's probably fine. I'll be sure to update this thread with outcomes of the beer.

I'll let it sit longer per St Pug's advice, but I do have a question: if I dry hop in the keg, will I impart cloudiness to the beer? I am fairly keen to have a clear beer. I was thinking of trying the gelatin trick prior to racking into the keg

 

[IL1kebeer]

i agree. seems like yeast.

 

[a64]

Did you ever figure out what the crystalline structure was on the side? My carboy has the same thing, after I just racked to the secondary. It appeared after two days. I'm wondering if it's just residue from the sanitizer, as it doesn't really look like it's living...

 

[Philistine]

That looks like some kind of residue. I see what looks like impressions of bottle brush strokes on the edges. Certainly doesn't look harmful.

As for the OP, that's yeast.

 

[a64]

Awesome. Thanks!

 

[woozy]

...

 

[jcdmorris]

@ a64

Regarding the original post, I think it must have been some residue from PBW or something. The beer turned out great w/out any off flavors. As usual, relax, don't worry, have a home brew.

Best of luck with your batch.

 

[nh_homebrew]

Tastes fine... any ideas? The white specs on the side of the fermentor...
I kegged it anyways.