Mexican Lager strange head during lagering

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crapshoot99

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We are making the Amigo Mexican Lager from White Labs and are about 2 weeks into lagering at 34'F. We have done a few lagers in the past but about a week ago we started to see a much lighter yellow layer at the top of the fermenter. Anyone have any ideas about what causes this and if there is a issue or not? This recipe does have quite a bit of flaked corn maize which is a first for us. We did go through primary fermentation and than rack it into a second fermentor for lagering.

Recipe: https://www.whitelabs.com/recipes/pilsner-lager/amigo-mexican-lager

Any help would be much appreciated,
Brian

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Can this be suck back? Do you still have a blow-off tube going into a jug with Starsan or water attached to the fermenter?
 
Almost looks like ice stratifying, like you have a small bergy bit forming. How accurate is your temp controller?
 
It does kinda look like ice, doesn't it? Don't think so though.
I would expect that line to keep dropping as the beer brightens...

Cheers!
 
Hey Guys, thank for all the fast responses!

IslandLizard,
To be honest this is first time I've heard the term "suck back". We do still have a blow-off tube running into a Star San mixture. We didn't cold-crash per-say, but ramped the temp down from the diacetyl rest, 5 degrees per day until lagering temp.

Kickass,
We are using an Inkbird ITC-308 which is spec'd at +-1C accuracy. We have it set to 34F with a hysteresis of 1F. I had a similar thought but it doesn't seem to have any thickness, as in even lifting the carboy out of the freezer causes it to mix a bit.

day_tripper,
So your thoughts are to leave it be for now?

Thank again for all the quick responses.
Brian
 
Could it be corn flour? Corn is quite light, don't know the exact density but maybe it's light enough that it will float to the surface instead of sedimenting?
 
IslandLizard,
To be honest this is first time I've heard the term "suck back". We do still have a blow-off tube running into a Star San mixture. We didn't cold-crash per-say, but ramped the temp down from the diacetyl rest, 5 degrees per day until lagering temp.
If there was a lot of Starsan in the blow-off jar and the level has dropped quite a bit, at least you know where it went... :tank:

You also have a lot of sediment and yeast for it being a secondary/lager vessel.
Most of us don't use secondaries anymore, unless there's a really good need for one, like an extended lagering or bulk aging period (>2 months).
 
Or... this is a Corona in the making. All the good stuff is dropping out, leaving tasteless light beer behind. Stay with it, you stand to make billions selling it to a large, large crowd who don't know any better.
 
Oooh. Hadn't even considered the suck-back thing, but if someone had posted that picture as an "after the suck-back" it would look right.
So, the question was posed but not really answered: is there a missing half-gallon of Star San involved?

Cheers!
 
There was definitely more liquid in the the blow-off bucket than there is now. We honestly weren't tracking it that closely so I can't say how much is gone besides the fact that it is lower than we would have filled it initially.

Assuming it was suck-back and that layer is Star San water, is the batch ruined? It doesn't seem like a very pleasant ingredient...

I've Been reading about the issue and its seems to bounce between simply plugging the carboy or using an S-type airlock (which we can't fit in our freezer) during the crash. Anyone have a preferred method?

Thanks again,
Brian
 
There was definitely more liquid in the the blow-off bucket than there is now. We honestly weren't tracking it that closely so I can't say how much is gone besides the fact that it is lower than we would have filled it initially.

Assuming it was suck-back and that layer is Star San water, is the batch ruined? It doesn't seem like a very pleasant ingredient...

I've Been reading about the issue and its seems to bounce between simply plugging the carboy or using an S-type airlock (which we can't fit in our freezer) during the crash. Anyone have a preferred method?

Thanks again,
Brian
About 1/2 gallon difference?

No, your beer isn't ruined from the suck back as long as the Starsan was clean. It may sound strange, but people who experienced suck back like this claim to not being able to taste it. Yes the beer is a little diluted (by around 10%), so 5% ABV instead of 5.5%, etc. but the Starsan leaves no perceptible taste to it. It's mostly a very dilute solution of phosphoric acid. Diluting the beer by 10% with Starsan won't even change the beer pH much, not even 0.03 pH points (wet finger estimate). I filled a 5 gallon keg that had a quart of Starsan still in it. Couldn't detect it.

I put a Starsan soaked and squeezed out small washcloth, folded over twice, on top of the airlock hole in the bucket lid when cold crashing. But air will get in as the CO2 in the headspace contracts.

To prevent air from entering the headspace (oxidation potential) during cold crashing, a balloon or bag filled with CO2 connected to the airlock hole can supply the extra volume needed. There are a few ways to implement something like that, there's even a commercial product for it, but can't find the link.
 
IMO.. why in the world would anyone drink that? Phosphoric acid isn't terribly good for you. It erodes your teeth, leeches calcium from your bones and messes with your kidneys and a bunch of other not nice things. Starsan is not a food additive. You already get enough phosphorus in your diet. Dump it out and move on.
 
Just thought of something... Since it hasn't completely mixed (yet), you could siphon that lighter colored liquid, likely being Starsan, off the top.
Don't disturb the fermenter until you removed it or most of it. Say about 1/2 gallon to a gallon worth.
 
I agree, do not disturb the fermentor and carefully siphon off the top few inches. Might just save the beer.

As for phosphoric acid, I doubt there's remotely as high a concentration involved here as in a typical can of Coke...

Cheers!
 
As for phosphoric acid, I doubt there's remotely as high a concentration involved here as in a typical can of Coke...
Cheers!

Your probably right but it's not like trying to salvage gold bars or anything. It just a few bucks worth of grain.

On the other hand maybe this beer will be delicious. If you do decide to drink it.. might I suggest a name change to dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid lager.
 
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