Grey scum

[reegs210]

Noticed this moldy grey looking stuff on top of grain bed after draining the mash tun. Thought it strange but grew more concerned when transferred to BK and saw lots of it shortly before boil

What the hell is this? I've never had this happen before.

Do I tip or continue?

 

[slcmorro]

I opened this thread hoping to hear about elderly people that had pissed you off in some way. Boy was I disappointed.

In answer to your question though, 95% of home brewers (me included) will tell you that if you have already gone to the trouble of making a brew and you have the space and resources available, why not let it ferment out and see how it fares?

 

[Truman42]

It's flour from your grains. Did you crush at a smaller mill gap than usual? Won't cause any problems so boil away.

 

[reegs210]

Probably finer than usual, yeah. Honestly though, it looks like something you'd fish out of your washing machine filter

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Do you have any photos?

 

[Truman42]

Probably finer than usual, yeah. Honestly though, it looks like something you'd fish out of your washing machine filter

That's exactly what mine looks like when I've crushed too fine, or more to the point I've ran my drill too fast so therefore ripped the grain husks apart too much and let more flour out.

 

[reegs210]

Scooped out with sieve

This is after multiple scoops. First scoop looked 10x worse

Edit: other photos I took are too large to attach

 

[reegs210]

That's exactly what mine looks like when I've crushed too fine, or more to the point I've ran my drill too fast so therefore ripped the grain husks apart too much and let more flour out.

Well, it's too late to stop now. Hope she'll clear up over a couple of weeks fermenting

 

[slcmorro]

It'll be fine. Onwards and upwards! :beerbang:

 

[manticle]

Proteinaceous debris that forms and drops out during the mash, along with flour etc. Mash trub basically.

Definitely wouldn't tip. Only do that if your mash gets Morgellon's disease.

 

[jyo]

I've only ever had the floury top when I used to batch sparge (stirring the bejeseus out of the mash).

Only time I've every had stuck sparges was from this crap completely clogging the grain bed, too.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Gggrrr....stuck sparge.....

 

[Dunkelbrau]

I got it on my first decoction mash, I'm not sure if it was the decoction or my crush at the time as I changed it after that brew.

 

[reegs210]

well, I pushed ahead with the brew regardless. I'm fairly new to crushing my own grain, so that this could happen because of too much flour took me by surprise.

initially, I thought it was the ss scrubbies I had put under my false bottom to aid in filtering whilst sparging (not that there was much success with that little experiment), and that for some reason there was this scum because of the cheap shite scrubbies from bunnings. panic set in when I saw it, and I was pretty damn close to cancelling/tipping the brew because of that. thankfully, the advice from members of the ahb community saved me from doing so.

just pitched yeast about an hour ago now, and I must say that things are looking pretty good. no evidence of an grey scummy matter anymore, and I'm hopeful the batch turns out ok afterall (i'm sure it will)

Cheers
Reg