What is this

[thunderwagn]

I've got a sweet stout that has been in the fermenter for about 2 weeks now. Fermentation is pretty much done and getting ready to cold crash. I'm not sure what is floating on top and if it's normal or not. Being such a dark beer, I can't say that I've ever noticed this before if it has been on others. Is it part of the grain or yeast or? The pic isn't the greatest but they are very small and individual. I'm guessing it's not part of the grain as they are pretty uniform in shape and size.
Is this normal?

 

[CA_Mouse]

Looks like yeast rafts... Just floating bits of the kraussen. I see this a lot in my Milk Stouts. Should not be an issue for your finished beer.

 

[m1k3]

Yup. Normal. I just dry hopped a Red IPA and my fermented beer had the same look.

BTW- My yeast was S-04 and it dropped like a rock! Except for what was on top like your photo.

 

[thunderwagn]

Yup. Normal. I just dry hopped a Red IPA and my fermented beer had the same look.

BTW- My yeast was S-04 and it dropped like a rock! Except for what was on top like your photo.

Good to know! I used the exact same yeast. Thanks

 

[m1k3]

Good to know! I used the exact same yeast. Thanks

Dang too bad this wasn't a "Guess what yeast I used" post... I would have scored some points!

 

[blue_jeans]

Hey guys, I've been looking for an answer to this for a while and have come up empty handed so far so I figured since we're playing "what is this" over here I'd toss this out there.

I brewed an American pale ale a little over a week ago and it's been fermenting at about 66F or a bit lower and since maybe day 4 or 5 this large mass of what I'm assuming is yeast that has coagulated, has been floating atop the wort. The krausen has started to dissipate and some "icebergs" of this mass have started to drift apart and sink to the bottom but they remain large chunks. I'm not yet worried about the beer or the fermentation so I haven't bothered trying to take a grav reading or tried to stir things up at all, just looking for an answer. Although I would like to harvest the yeast and I'm not sure if that's going to work now.

Here's the sponge/brain/blob looking mass: