First post, but I'm sure it won't be the last. I started homebrewing a year or so ago, and just ran across something I haven't seen before so I figured I'd ask the forum.
After a week in the primary, just over a week in the secondary and two weeks in bottles, I noticed that my Double IPA had a strange, blackish sediment along the sides of the bottles. Some had more, some had less, but they all seemed to have it. So, I popped a few bottles in the fridge to give it a try. The beer was cloudy but delicious, so I didn't think it was an infection and chalked it up to either A) yeast buildup that just happened to be darker than I was used to or B) a result of the dry hop I'd done with pellets in the secondary, since it was the first time this had happened and also the first time I'd dry-hopped.
I'd love any thoughts on what that sediment might be, but my confusion doesn't stop there.
Wanting to try a few more beers, I stuck two in the freezer to quickly chill them. Then, I promptly forgot for a few hours. I stuck the beers in the fridge overnight to thaw, and when I went to retrieve one the next evening I noticed that the blackish sediment was now not on the sides of the bottle, but at the bottom. Also, when I poured the beer it was far less cloudy than the first two.
I did it with a couple more beers, and they also seemed clearer and no less tasty. So my question is whether I should keep freezing/thawing beers to increase clarity or if I might somehow be damaging the beer by doing this?
After a week in the primary, just over a week in the secondary and two weeks in bottles, I noticed that my Double IPA had a strange, blackish sediment along the sides of the bottles. Some had more, some had less, but they all seemed to have it. So, I popped a few bottles in the fridge to give it a try. The beer was cloudy but delicious, so I didn't think it was an infection and chalked it up to either A) yeast buildup that just happened to be darker than I was used to or B) a result of the dry hop I'd done with pellets in the secondary, since it was the first time this had happened and also the first time I'd dry-hopped.
I'd love any thoughts on what that sediment might be, but my confusion doesn't stop there.
Wanting to try a few more beers, I stuck two in the freezer to quickly chill them. Then, I promptly forgot for a few hours. I stuck the beers in the fridge overnight to thaw, and when I went to retrieve one the next evening I noticed that the blackish sediment was now not on the sides of the bottle, but at the bottom. Also, when I poured the beer it was far less cloudy than the first two.
I did it with a couple more beers, and they also seemed clearer and no less tasty. So my question is whether I should keep freezing/thawing beers to increase clarity or if I might somehow be damaging the beer by doing this?
