spongy foam

[Cnd_backpacker]

I've got 2 one gallon batches brewing.. one red ale and the other a summer wheat.. I used dried Nottingham for both and both of these have a strange foam forming on the top and sides of the carboy... I opened up the red ale because the foam clogged up my airlock.. so I sanatized a spoon and push the foam down a little and the texture if it threw me off. It almost feels spongy or rubbery as opposed to foamy.. after pushing it down it's kind of just sitting submerged under the wort as a solid.. kind of looks like a brain... Is this normal? And it's been about 2 weeks and isn't getting much smaller..Will it dissapate or should I just syphone around it. I doubt it's infection, because it smells great. Also this was my first time using Irish moss tablets. I used one tablet per batch and realized after that the tablets are probably ment for 5 gallon batches , not one. Could this be the cause?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[ProfessorWoland]

Any photos? How does it smell ?


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[Cnd_backpacker]

No photos now... I'll try and post some tomorrow. Just smells like beer

 

[Cnd_backpacker]

I didn't realize I could post pics from my phone ... Here they are

 

[ProfessorWoland]

I didn't realize I could post pics from my phone ... Here they are

I've not seen anything like that in my brews, but I still consider myself a n00b. Hopefully some of the more experienced members will be on soon.

What's the temperature like? Could it be super active yeast?


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[Faub007]

Is it cold break + yeast?


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[unionrdr]

Looks like major yeast rafts in a small space to me.

 

[Cnd_backpacker]

So say it's yeast rafts.. Will they drop or so I just syphin around them... Never had that happen before.

 

[teleplucker]

I've used Nottingham for my last two 1 gallon brews. It creates quite a thick foam when fermenting, but the foam dissipates in about a week. One got into the blow off tube, the other did not. Neither of the two looks like your pics, however. There are a few, small chunks floating in the beer - in one case, they have not sunk to the bottom after 2.5 weeks.

Did you pitch dry or rehydrated? I had some weird yeast chunks when I pitched US-05 dry and have rehydrated since then.

 

[Cnd_backpacker]

I rehydrated both

 

[Faub007]

I think it will break up during fermentation and settle out with the trub


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[Cnd_backpacker]

I went ahead and bottled it yesterday.. I cold crashed for 2 days and the foam stay and really didn't seem like it was going to dissipate.. I'll let ever know how they turned out in about 2 weeks

 

[pablosbrewing]

Sounds like you might have pitched a pack of yeast for each, or even split the pack. If so I think that is just a massive floating yeast cake from having way more yeast than needed.

For 1 gallon brews you normally use only fraction of a dry yeast package. Check out the yeast calculator here:
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

The leftovers are normally not saved after opening - viability drops very fast (days).

 

[AlreadyXDead]

I've done a handful of AG batches, so im no expert. From what i've seen with my own brews, i'd say it just had a nice strong fermentation and flocculated to the top. Cold crashing will bring it all down to the bottom. The reasoning behind flocculation staying at the top is unknown to me...perhaps a temperature thing? Looks fine to me though.

 

[brewkinger]

Sounds like you might have pitched a pack of yeast for each, or even split the pack. If so I think that is just a massive floating yeast cake from having way more yeast than needed.



For 1 gallon brews you normally use only fraction of a dry yeast package. Check out the yeast calculator here:

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html



The leftovers are normally not saved after opening - viability drops very fast (days).

Yeah, more specific info here.
Did you pitch a pack of Nottingham to EACH (1) gallon batch?
Or even like said above, if you split a single pack in each..
You have over twice as much yeast in each bottle as you need.
Notty is also a vigorous fermenter with a thick creamy head of krausen that I get even when I keep it low 60's

My only thought would be the fact it did not drop with cold crashing.
How cold was it crashed?
An for how long?

How long had it been fermenting?


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[Cnd_backpacker]

I use half a packet for each batch... Then cold crashed for a day in my fridge.. not sure of the temp.. I'll take a reading tomorrow with my thermometer.. last batch I made I did the same thing, same yeast but different recipe, and didn't get that reaction....I guess that can Still change a lot though... It had Been fermenting for 3 weeks or a little more.. hyrdometer readings gave me consistent numbers though, and when I bottle a lot of the foam broke up (to my suprise, the way it felt I though I would end up with a foam block stuck in my carboy). But after bottleing it broke up pretty quickly and washed out easily

 

[brewkinger]

Sounds fine to me then.

Like I said, Nottingham is a pretty interesting yeast and that thick foam is pretty routine.

You made beer.


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