What’s That Goop in my Beer?
By
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
Beer questions come to me through the “Contact” section of this website fairly frequently, and I always do my best to either provide the right answer or perhaps enlist an expert who can help.
Because one person’s question is likely on the mind of others, I’ve decided to start sharing those responses here on BeerADay.net.
As it happens, I received a great question about beer earlier today — so I’ve decided to make that question into the first installment of a feature I’m tentatively calling “Ask Andy”.
“PK” writes:
I recently bought a six pack of the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It seems, for whatever reason, I decided to read the label in detail. As I held the bottle up (I was outside) I detected a ‘foreign’ substance in the bottle. For lack of a better description, it was “lard-like” (I poked at it). I left the bottle out and the substance “went away”. Curiosity had me put the bottle back in the fridge and sure enough that goo came back with the coolness of the fridge temp.WHAT WAS I SEEING IN MY BEER???? Is that normal? Was the bottle not clean?
I’m hesitant to buy more until I understand what it was that I was seeing . . .
Help?
Dear PK:
With food safety in the news, and even Sam Adams recalling beer due to broken glass shards, it’s no wonder you’re concerned about finding something in your bottle!
But I’m happy to report you’ve nothing to fear. What you saw in the Sierra Nevada bottle is likely perfectly natural yeast sediment. This often appears in bottle conditioned beers.
Here’s more information from the Sierra Nevada website about yeast sediment:
The sediment evident in the bottom of a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and other naturally conditioned beers is the yeast we use for bottle conditioning. Typically, the yeast lies tight and flat to the bottom of the bottle. When the beer is agitated or stored sideways, the yeast will resettle in what looks like a drop of pancake batter or vanilla ice cream. As the beer is poured, the yeast will re-suspend and appearance is cloudy, or slightly particulate. The yeast will not adversely affect the flavor of the beer.
If you find the sediment to be unappetizing, as many people do, simply take care when pouring the beers to ensure the goo stays in the bottle. You may lose a few sips of beer, but it’s better than losing your lunch!
If you feel brave now that you know what you see in the bottle, try my favorite trick. I reserve the sediment until I only have a few sips left in my glass. Then I mix in the yeast to see how it impacts the taste.
Either way, yeast sediment is just one more reason to drink beer from a glass and not directly from the bottle!
PS: If you ever see a beer with an extreme amount of floaters, give it a pass. If your beer looks anything like the close-up picture here, it is indeed possible that the beer has been stored incorrectly or suffered contamination.
No related posts.
