help!! my beer has seperated into layers

[theblkspdr21]

So I am fairly new to the brewing process I am on my third batch. The first batch came out stellar and totally exceeded my expectations. I got into brewing because I wanted to try what I thought were new flavors for beer that I could not find anywhere else. Anyway my problem is that I just put 5 gallons of an experimental recipe into my carboy and within hours it had seperated into layers (6 layers to be precise). I need to know if anyone has seen this happen before and if it is something I did wrong and if my beer is ok, the first two batches did not do this.

recipe is as follows.
In the boil:
7lbs light malt extract
1 small cinnamon stick
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp irish moss
1 oz. vanilla extract
2 peach flavored tea bags
1/2 lb brown sugar
1 oz willamette hops
boiled for 1 hour

we cold broke the beer and added an american ale V yeast from wy yeast labs and followed the same sanitation protocols as with the other two batches. If anyone can give me some insight into what is going on I would appreciate it.

 

[hercher]

How thick are the layers? What do they look like?

 

[theblkspdr21]

At the bottom of the carboy is a dark layer which is odd because when we put it in the carboy it was a golden color and that layer makes up about the first hash mark of the carboy, that is seperated by a light colored layer then the beers normal golden color for the next gallon or so, then a pale yellow color like the color of the yeast, then another golden colored layer and another pale yellow layer. Sorry if I am not describing this very well, I am still not very good at identifying cartain things.

One thing I did want to add is that we tried some new things, in the two previous batches we used hop plugs and in this batch we used the dried flowers. Also we used Irish Moss for clarifying purposes, not sure if that may have had something to do with it, in fact not sure what is causing it in general.

 

[texmedic49]

Pics would probably help.

 

[theblkspdr21]

I will try to post some pictures of it soon. I was reading around and it looks like it may just be the initial stratification, the pictures I do have of it were taken shortly after pitching the yeast and storing it to begin fermentation, so maybe I am just freaking out, someone posted that shortly after pitching the yeast and the initial fermentation starts stratification does occur in most cases the previous batches I put it in my closet and didn't look at it until 7-10 days of ferment had occurred, so I will check it in the morning and see what it looks like...thanks everyone.

 

[theblkspdr21]

I will try to post some pictures of it soon. I was reading around and it looks like it may just be the initial stratification, the pictures I do have of it were taken shortly after pitching the yeast and storing it to begin fermentation, so maybe I am just freaking out, someone posted that shortly after pitching the yeast and the initial fermentation starts stratification does occur in most cases the previous batches I put it in my closet and didn't look at it until 7-10 days of ferment had occurred, so I will check it in the morning and see what it looks like...thanks everyone.

 

[frazier]

I've seen stratification before (not 6 layers though). Once the yeast gets going, it will churn everything up right proper.

 

[leenersymk]

Many of the ingredients listed in the recipe are not water soluble and the particles will remain suspended in the wort. The easiest way to remove them is to use a whirlpool action once the wort is chilled in the brewing kettle. Stir the wort vigorously in one direction. The heavy particles will be collected in the center of the vortex. Allow the wort to settle and then siphon the wort from the edge of the kettle to the primary fermenter. For more help visit http://leeners.com/beer.html

 

[wyzazz]

It's the irish moss, you'll be fine just leave it be.

 

[david_42]

Just stuff settling out. You have a number of non-soluble ingredients and since they have different particle sizes, they stratify. When the fermentation kicks in there will be mixing, when it stops, settling.

 

[theblkspdr21]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I checked the would be beer this morning and all is well on the fermenting front. The Irish moss made it really clear and aside from a small ring of what looks like some leftover yeast that stuck to the side of the carboy, which we'll get rid of when we rack to the secondary. the beer is a beautiful golden color darker than say a blond or a wit (Im assuming from the brown sugar) but lighter than say an amber and no hints of red.

 

[JJL]

Just relax and let the yeast do their thing. A couple of hours after pitching is way too soon to start worrying about anything.