Sludge and Gnats

[brewinmama]

So I just transfered my beer from the primary to the secondary. First I noticed a dead bug in the liquid of my airlock. How nasty is that and how the heck did he get in? I would like to think I would have noticed the fella before so he must have crawled in. Should I be concerned?

Also just wanted to make sure the bottom of my primary is supposed to be as disgusting as it was. It is covered in sludge and I swear I can see spores. It looks like I imagine the surface of the moon would look like, with slime all over it. Normal? It almost made me want to give up beer drinking entirely knowing my precious brew was touching this. Then I had a swig of the Bass in my hand and I remembered how much I like beer.

 

[Nurmey]

Dead bug in airlock means the airlock did the job it was designed for; letting co2 out and keeping bugs from getting in.

Sludge on the bottom is normal. No one ever said that fermentation looked pretty!

 

[Yooper]

Oh, wait until fruitflies start in earnest this summer- I have been trying to keep them out of my wine airlocks, but as long as they are in my airlocks (dead, too) then I know they aren't in my wine!

The yeast cake is one awful looking thing. My compost pile loves it!

 

[brewinmama]

Oooh, I was wondering what to do with the "yeast cake". We have a septic system and I was kind of afraid to just wash it down the drain, but I will scrape that sucker off and feed it to the compost. Thanks for the reassurance on the bug.