Paternoster
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- 24/3/12
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Good afternoon.
To cut to the chase: Can yeast turn black?
(I've done a few searches but haven't been able to find answers)
In more depth:
I purchased my first brewing kit around three weeks ago, sanitised everything thoroughly with brewshield, and followed the instructions on my can of Cascade Imperial Voyage Pale to the letter, used 1kg Brew Booster #15 instead of sugar, and pitched the included yeast at 24 degrees.
The fermentor bubbled away happily for around 2 days before the airlock halted completely (it was 18 degrees at this point). On the advise of a friend who's been brewing for years I checked the SG (1020 down from the OG of 1040) then left it for around a week, at which point I took another reading which showed it was still 1020.
At this point, deciding that I didn't want to have 2.1% alcohol in my beer I added another yeast sachet (this was from the lid of a wheat beer recipe kit that I had purchased that included an additional yeast packet that is used instead of the one in the lid).
A week later and it still had the same gravity of 1020 so I thought "Bugger it" and bottled the beer (all bottles were used glass bottles I've been saving over time - all have been meticulously washed in hot water with a little bleach and then sanitised and dried on a bottle tree).
I should mention that prior to bottling it smelled and tasted like pale ale. I haven't tasted it since bottling last Saturday.
So... last night I checked on my bottles to make sure they were all safe and happy on my bathroom floor under the towell (to keep the light off them). Holding one up to the light I tipped it upside down, as I've read it's good to do this to dissolve any remaining sugar, and noticed the sediment that was creeping towards the neck of the bottle was black. This doesn't look right at all.
A few nights ago it was a bit chilly so I had the central heating on overnight - the bottles are in front of the vent so I'm not sure if the heat could have affected them - it appears that all of the bottles (or the dozen that I've checked) have the same black swirly cloud living in the bottom of the bottle.
There's nothing floating on top of the beer so I doubt it's mold.
As this is my first brew it's very possible I'm just being finicky and it's my baby so I don't want it to get sick.
Any light that anybody could shed on this would be very much appreciated.
Cheers
Paternoster
PS. Sorry for the essay - I thought it would be better to provide more rather than less info.
To cut to the chase: Can yeast turn black?
(I've done a few searches but haven't been able to find answers)
In more depth:
I purchased my first brewing kit around three weeks ago, sanitised everything thoroughly with brewshield, and followed the instructions on my can of Cascade Imperial Voyage Pale to the letter, used 1kg Brew Booster #15 instead of sugar, and pitched the included yeast at 24 degrees.
The fermentor bubbled away happily for around 2 days before the airlock halted completely (it was 18 degrees at this point). On the advise of a friend who's been brewing for years I checked the SG (1020 down from the OG of 1040) then left it for around a week, at which point I took another reading which showed it was still 1020.
At this point, deciding that I didn't want to have 2.1% alcohol in my beer I added another yeast sachet (this was from the lid of a wheat beer recipe kit that I had purchased that included an additional yeast packet that is used instead of the one in the lid).
A week later and it still had the same gravity of 1020 so I thought "Bugger it" and bottled the beer (all bottles were used glass bottles I've been saving over time - all have been meticulously washed in hot water with a little bleach and then sanitised and dried on a bottle tree).
I should mention that prior to bottling it smelled and tasted like pale ale. I haven't tasted it since bottling last Saturday.
So... last night I checked on my bottles to make sure they were all safe and happy on my bathroom floor under the towell (to keep the light off them). Holding one up to the light I tipped it upside down, as I've read it's good to do this to dissolve any remaining sugar, and noticed the sediment that was creeping towards the neck of the bottle was black. This doesn't look right at all.
A few nights ago it was a bit chilly so I had the central heating on overnight - the bottles are in front of the vent so I'm not sure if the heat could have affected them - it appears that all of the bottles (or the dozen that I've checked) have the same black swirly cloud living in the bottom of the bottle.
There's nothing floating on top of the beer so I doubt it's mold.
As this is my first brew it's very possible I'm just being finicky and it's my baby so I don't want it to get sick.
Any light that anybody could shed on this would be very much appreciated.
Cheers
Paternoster
PS. Sorry for the essay - I thought it would be better to provide more rather than less info.