Weird "separation" still after 1 week in primary

[zombiewoof]

I put up a batch of "Breakfast Stout" (Oatmeal and coffee) last week, using a partial mash and steeping process. The wort got jostled and stirred up after cooling, but before pouring to the carboy and pitching. Highly active fermentation (thank you blow-off hose) lasted for a few days, then it slowed down, but there was a separation line at about six inches from the bottom from day one. Instead of the normal yeast/solids sedimentation, it looks like about 1.5 gallons of my wort contain all the trub and yeast sediment, and there isn't any normal solids settling to the bottom.

I want to move it to secondary soon, but don't know what to do about the weird separation. Rack from above the line and give up on a gallon or more of my beer beer, or what? I thought about racking a sample of the sediment but don't want to contaminate what looks and acts like good beer. Any feedback, possible explanations, and advice would be appreciated.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Leave it in the primary longer. It won't hurt it. (long primary is my preference anyway) It's nicer to get more flocculation before transferring to a secondary (bright tank) and it allows the yeast to work more magic (further fermentation and byproduct cleanup, etc).

What yeast was it? Some settle out real good, some not so great.

 

[david_42]

Oatmeal can do that. Leave it as long as you can. Once the fermentation is complete, the trub will compact, but it might take 3-4 weeks.

 

[zombiewoof]

Thanks for the replies.

DEC - the yeast is Wyeast 1018 (Irish). I tend towards an earlier secondary than most on this forum, and I've never been disappointed, but more time won't kill me. The thing is, I doubt the yeast has much to do with it - the separation was there before and after the yeast had a chance to do its thing. Little change since about 8 hours, except maybe an inch or so settling over seven days. It's still 5" deep.

David - I was thinking the oatmeal might be the culprit, also. Maybe I didn't give it a long enough protein rest? The stuff does tend to be gooey and gelatinous (is that a word?), but the "layering" seems odd. Maybe a I have a gallon and a half of malty, oatmeal jello down there. I just couldn't find anyone describing a similar situation.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I missed the part about it having oatmeal in the mash. Could be part of the problem. When you do rack, you might want to add some finings of some sort to aid in clearing.