foaming on taking SG samples

Paul Bennett · Post by **Paul Bennett** » Monday Mar 27, 2006 4:33 pm

I've made plenty of Munton's Irish Stout. Very good, too. This time I used Brigalow stout instead of any malt extract, 50-50. The only other ingredient was a bit of lactose. The OG was 1040. I used the yeast supplied by Muntons.

It has been in the fermenter, at about 24 degrees, for 5 days, so I drew off a sample to measure. It was 1020, but it had a nice-looking head on it, in the hydrometer tube, just like a finished stout. It also had a bit of a vegemite taste. The brew looks OK.

Any clue? I have not had a head on my samples before.

BeerFrenzy · Post by **BeerFrenzy** » Monday Mar 27, 2006 6:23 pm

How long does it retain the head? If it is a minute or so I wouldnt worry...

Simo · Post by **Simo** » Monday Mar 27, 2006 7:14 pm

i almost always have a head on my samples and have yet get a bad batch.
more of an inconvienience than anything else so don't worry.

kurtz · Post by **kurtz** » Monday Mar 27, 2006 7:36 pm

It also had a bit of a vegemite taste. The brew looks OK.

A vegemite taste/aroma particularly in a stout is a pretty good indicator of infection. It is almost certainly a wild yeast infection, how quickly did your main fermentation kick off?

K

Post by **Oliver** » Tuesday Mar 28, 2006 7:20 am

Hi Paul,

What exactly is your concern?

The head on the beer, or the high final gravity?

Oliver

Paul Bennett · Post by **Paul Bennett** » Tuesday Mar 28, 2006 8:47 am

Thanks folks.
My concern is that I have not had foam on an SG sample so far, and I have made Muntons stout many times. This one's different, tho, because I used another stout wort instead of my usual DME. I'm not worried about the SG. I have bottled beers higher than that.
The fermentation started quickly, within an hour of adding yeast. After I made the 50-50 Muntons-Brigalow wort, I cooled it with a block of (boiled-water) ice, so the temperature came down quickly. (I nearly always do this.) Added hydrated Muntons yeast at 21 degrees. It was bubbling within two hours from the hot wort. This is a dead-set copy of the way I always make beer here.
I will test again on Wednesday 29, and report back.

Post by **Oliver** » Tuesday Mar 28, 2006 8:54 am

Paul,

Don't worry about the foam. I get it on most of my beers when I take SG readings.

Cheers,

Oliver

Paul Bennett · Post by **Paul Bennett** » Wednesday Mar 29, 2006 10:10 am

Hello again, and thanks for reassurances. It's just that when you are experienced, and then something unusual happens, you get suspicious.

It's Wednesday 29 March, and I just took another sample. The SG is down from 1020 to 1015, the foam is still there but perhaps less of it, and the vegemite taste seems to have mostly gone away. It is very rich & thick, as I think you'd expect, having been made out of two stouts.

After I have 3 days SG readings steady, I'll bottle it and report on its taste after a few weeks. I was going to use plastic bottles (they make a less lethal explosion) as I was afraid that I had an infection but, if the vegemite has completely gone by bottling date, I'll use glass.