stringy aftermath ....bombshell blonde

[HoppyDaze]

just checked the grain bag and nothing suspicious. But I just stirred the kettle and there are way more of these things than I thought. some of them are three inches long. when you try to grab them they just kind of disintegrate in your hand which leads me to believe that its not Teflon tape. Man...this is frustrating

Updated Picture:

 

[HoppyDaze]

Maybe some different eyes around here during the weekend?

Bump!

 

[bigzippo]

Starsan? I've racked on top of a lot of foam that eventually turned into gross stuff like that.

 

[KingBrianI]

I had tiny little strings somewhat like that form before and I attributed it to the gelatin I added to clarify the beer. It looked like the gelatin proteins linked together somehow. Did you use gelatin finings in this batch? My other guess is that it's something that formed on plastic tubing or something after sitting in starsan a few days. I've noticed a thin milky, slimy film form on some plastic tubing after leaving it in starsan for a few days and imagine it could kind of "roll" off into little tubes when beer flows by.

 

[HoppyDaze]

A new development unfolded last night. I took a look at my brew supply and was not very impressed so I decided to do a quick extract batch. I did a full boil and when cooling the wort I saw the stringy things! So they had to of come off my brew kettle. It sort of (but not really) makes sense because I noticed the bottom of the kettle (stainless steel 8 gal) looked a lil hazy (dull, not shiny like the other parts of the kettle). So there must have been some sort of water residue on te bottom and sides. What causes this "haziness"? I thought stainless steel was not supposed to do this?

Has anyone experienced this before?

anyway...thanks to all who helped me investigate. Im still not sure what the stuff is, but since it appeared in an extract batch it must be the kettle, right? Or, maybe I didnt clean it good enough from the last batch...although I did scrub it with a cloth...

 

[user 22118]

I answer because I think it is in the wort/beer right?

I have to say that looks alot like the protein and hot/cold break that I had in my belgian barleywine. I wish that I had taken a picture because it looked a lot more similar to me masturbating into boiling water. One guy that I gave a sample of was like, "What the hell!"

It didn't affect the flavor, I just had a lot of proteins in the boil I guessed and chalked it up to that. A good whirlpool will get rid of most of that.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Thankfully Im beginning to realize that its most likely something from by brew kettle...

 

[IrregularPulse]

This isn't a new pot is it? There wasn't a plastic film on the inside of the pot when you bought it to keep it shiny and scratch free for shipping/displaying in the store?

 

[JeepDiver]

anyway...thanks to all who helped me investigate. Im still not sure what the stuff is, but since it appeared in an extract batch it must be the kettle, right? Or, maybe I didnt clean it good enough from the last batch...although I did scrub it with a cloth...

My guess is starch from the rice hulls. When I cook long grain rice in my Stainless pots (not my brew kettle) I get a film that is almost impossible to see and even harder to clean off. If you don't get it all off, the next time you boil water in the pot, you get little strings of stuff like that.

you need to get some Bon Ami and really scrub your brew kettle with it. (Though the last extract batch may have removed all of it).

 

[HoppyDaze]

This isn't a new pot is it? There wasn't a plastic film on the inside of the pot when you bought it to keep it shiny and scratch free for shipping/displaying in the store?

LOL ...no, this is a pot Ive been using for some time now

 

[realestatecat]

I would go with the whole 'protein thing'. That makes the most sense to me.

 

[OcalaScott]

Do you use a garden hose to fill your brew kettle? If so, I would bet those things came from inside the hose. Especially if the hose is left outside with water in it.

Just a thought because I have seen similar “strings” from my hose when I fill the kettle. I usually let the water run for a little while now before filling the kettle.

Scott

 

[HoppyDaze]

I forgot to update this...I finally figured out what it was! I was residue form my brew kettle. I noticed that there was a whitish film of something on the bottom of my brew kettle. This is from not scrubing after brewing...only rinsing. As I cleaned the kettle it was obvious that the mystery stringy things were part of this film that broke free during boil.

Thanks for all those that helped!

 

[IrregularPulse]

Liike the plastic they put on at the factory to keep it from getting scrathed??

 

[HoppyDaze]

No it was just accumulated film from prior brews. I would just rinse it out and call it good which left a film of residue on the bottom that was very hard to detect until you actually scrubbed on the kettle