Yeast head persists

[chrisb2k]

Hi all

I have an APA in my FV which I got started a week ago Saturday. I left it for a week intending to dry hop it after fermentation had died down. It came to Friday and I checked inside to find there was still a layer of yeast on top of the brew. I've not seen this before, as usually it clears leaving a little island or two of yeasty bits.

Assuming it was in the last stages of fermenting I stuck my final 10g or so of cascades in to dry hop and went off camping for the weekend.

This is what greeted me when I returned:

Basically the hops are just sat on top of that layer of yeast

Is this persistant yeast head a sign of trouble with the fermentation or "going bad" ? Also I'd like to get the hops involved in the brew rather than just sat on top contributing nothing - I guess it would be ok to sterilise a spoon and poke them down into the brew?

Any advice truly appreciated!

Cheers

Chris

EDIT: I used Safale US-05 (if that's relevant at all).

 

[RobWalker]

a muslin bag might help, keeping them all together would weigh it down a bit more and keep them submerged.

you're fine to poke them in. :)

 

[Vossy1]

Is it US05 yeast :hmm:

 

[chrisb2k]

Is it US05 yeast :hmm:

it is indeed ... have you seen something similar ?

 

[Vossy1]

US05 is notorious for doing just this and also for finishing at very low gravities occasionally
What was the gravity of the beer when you added the dry hops?
I'd persist, stir the hops back in gently without splashing. The yeast head will subside...when it want to :P

FWIW I was unfortunate enough for this to always happen with US05, I took to crash cooling in the end to get rid of the head so I could rack the beer off...even then it would restart in the cornies on warming You probably won't have that problem

 

[rich27500]

Have had the same it's no big deal

 

[jonewer]

Is it ok to dry hop by just bunging hops on top? Wont they clog the tap?

 

[chrisb2k]

Is it ok to dry hop by just bunging hops on top? Wont they clog the tap?

Not if you're careful :) Also, as they tend to either float or sink to the bottom, they end up either where I'd normally stop bottling or in the trub. That's been my experience anyway.

@Vossy it's around 1010 so probably not a lot left to go, if anything. I've S-04 go mental before now and drop down to 1005 :) I've boiled a spoon and poked them in, all seems ok.

I think I may have bigger problems now though. A small slug plopped in the test jar when I was sampling the gravity! It can only have been up the tap as it's obviousl;y been sealed beyond that point but now of course sanitation is an issue I might have to look at poking something up the tap to make sure it's clean enough to dispense into the bottling bucket.

 

[Good Ed]

Aren't slugs the worst animals (?) in the world, If you found a use for them, well ££££'s

 

[Vossy1]

A small slug plopped in the test jar when I was sampling the gravity! It can only have been up the tap as it's obviousl;y been sealed beyond that point but now of course sanitation is an issue I might have to look at poking something up the tap to make sure it's clean enough to dispense into the bottling bucket.

:lol:

@Vossy it's around 1010 so probably not a lot left to go, if anything. I've S-04 go mental before now and drop down to 1005

I would expect US05 to match and more than likely beat S04. US05's a cracking yeast but can leave a beer a bit dry at times (to my taste).