floaters in commercial beer?

[WoodHokie4]

Has anyone ever experienced this before?

I've got a couple bottles of beer from microbreweries in my beer fridge. I haven't had them long, but when i opened one this evening, and had chunks of stuff suspended in the beer. Also, 4 other bottles in my beer fridge are doing the same thing.

Is this yeast settling out? did it get too cold (ice is forming at the top of the fridge, near where these bottles were stored)? Wtf is this?

 

[jonmohno]

It happens alot,sometimes you just gotta pour em homebrew style. I had a new Bells Smitten rye pale ale and thats about what I got,"a chunky pour". I normally have a tight cake in all my homebrew that pretty much stays at the bottom,but commercially if you grab a bottle before you buy it and look to see if there is loose broken up floaty yeast,then thats what youll get unless you try to keep it out in your pour. Seems it might be moreso that it happens because of handleing, because my homebrew sits quietly and I handle them carefully it helps "keep" them clear. Alot of times the checker will flip and handle your bottles carelessly which annoys me sometimes. It will settle some in the fridge for a while.But still have to carefully pour sometimes.

 

[IanJ]

I've only encountered it with Dark Horse beer, but that must be intentional. Unfiltered to an extreme level.

And Heady Topper.

 

[Ostomo517]

Yup several beers, including the Smitten but its gotta be intentional seems the six pack box makes a point of making it known its unfiltered. From what Ive seen of posts here, Cigar City Jai Alai has a lot of floaties too........flavor crystals!

 

[WoodHokie4]

So, I'd think it was intentional, except that none of the bottles in my beer fridge are the same, nor was any of the ones I've had this happen to me before the same as anything either. It can't be intentional, because with the diversity of beers this has occurred in, it would be assumed that this is a characteristic of all beer.

 

[bb239605]

I had this as well in a great lakes beer. My understanding is that they are strands of protein that have clumped together. It has no effect on taste.

I believe a possible solution is PVPP, or polyvinylpolypyrrodinol, aka polyclar.

 

[jonmohno]

3 out of 3 beers I had tonight had it,Schell's citra pils, Bells smitten,and GreenFlash hop head red. It does seem to do something minor in terms of taste sometimes. I thought before maybe its autolyzed yeast,I dont know? sometimes it can effect the taste,I think its just yeast though. Maybe yeast that have seen better days?? Maybe too cold of temps too?