There are no bad floaties in a good beer [;)]. Those bits of blueberries, the cloudy tan haze of yeast, the sediment of some spices, that's not sludge, that's part of the beer. It's all good, and good for you! Yeast is rich in vitamin B12 and has a nutty flavor. Yeast is an essential part of our digestive process. Yeast is a simple organism with one mission: convert sugar to alcohol and CO2. Bottle conditioned beers have alot of yeast sediment because the fermentation process continues in the bottle. When you crack that bottle, you're getting something as close to cask fresh as possible. Of course, there are plenty of sterile, pasteurized, shelf-stable or "cold filtered" beers available with no sediment at all. For the squeamish, there are ways to capture heavy sediment of an unfiltered beer during a careful pour. Witness the curious buldge in the neck of a Hoegaarden bottle. This buldge is designed to catch and hold the yeast and any spices that settle out. Another technique is to pour slowly and leave the last quarter inch of beer in the bottle. My preference when drinking a bottle conditioned beer is to pour most of the beer normally, observe the color and clarity, then rouse the yeast and sediment in a swirl before pouring the last bit right through the center of the foamy head. Of course, a hefeweizen from the tap won't have the yeast sediment that some folks have come to expect from a bottle. No problem. You can get a shot of yeast on the side in most German bars. I admit that I haven't seen this many places outside of Germany. There are no bad floaties in good beer, but not all floaties are good! There might be bad floaties in bad beer [xx(]. Beer is a living thing, and it is subject to bacteria infection, staleness from overaging, skunkiness from overexposure to UV rays, or flatness from temperature extremes. If a beer smells bad (medicinal, like a Band-Aid) on the pour, those gelatenous clumps you see are probably the result of bacteria infection. Maybe the bottle was contaminated, or something in the bottling line. Regardless, that kind of floaty is neither good nor good for you, and that beer gets poured down the drain. But fortunately, that's a fairly rare occurance. Bottom line: The stuff--all the stuff--that comes out of a good bottle of beer is part of the brewer's product, and meant to be enjoyed. To your very good health!

Thanks FD. No one really answered my question about bad sediment, perhaps because no one was really sure (heck I wasn't, hence the question). I've known about sediment and floaties for a long time but have always wanted to know about the bad stuff. Is it possible for a beer (a mandarin hefe for example, because I recently had one) where the stuff on the bottom is some sort of flavor additive? This beer had nearly zero citrus aroma or taste but there was this sludge on the bottom. I've never come across this before but fellow BP's swore this beer (Grant's Mandarin Hefe) had a strong orange aroma/taste. Could all that flavor/aroma have sunk to the bottom some how and should I have swirled the bottle an hour before pouring to rouse up the sediment?

If I drink a Rochefort 10 I pour out every last drop, and actually like the darker spots on the head made by the last few drops of sediment coming out. I enjoy that with pretty much every bottle conditioned beer. I've heard that sediment can give hangovers, but thats not been the case for me. Not drinking the sediment for me would be like cutting the fat off my ribeye, not going to happen [:D]

quote: Originally posted by Sheridan If I drink a Rochefort 10 I pour out every last drop, and actually like the darker spots on the head made by the last few drops of sediment coming out. I enjoy that with pretty much every bottle conditioned beer. I've heard that sediment can give hangovers, but thats not been the case for me. Not drinking the sediment for me would be like cutting the fat off my ribeye, not going to happen [:D]

I may be wrong but drinking the sediment should not lead to a hangover, quite the opposite. I believe the Vitamin B complex found in the sediment actually helps prevent hangovers, of course moderation is always key with how you feel the next day.

It actually depends. I have had a rotten beer in Latvia just recently. And next day, when I did buy new bottle, there were nothing floating around in my bottle. S oit depends mostly on the beer type. If some abbey beer has something swimming around in the bottle, it's OK, but if this happens in pilsener or lager, then... well I would not drink this beer...

quote: Originally posted by Stoutlover72 BP's swore this beer (Grant's Mandarin Hefe) had a strong orange aroma/taste. Could all that flavor/aroma have sunk to the bottom some how and should I have swirled the bottle an hour before pouring to rouse up the sediment?

Couple thoughts in reply to your question. One, it only takes a couple swirls to rouse the sediment up off the bottle's bottom. Maybe a few seconds at most if the sediment sticks. So, it's not a laborious process requiring an hour of continuous swirling. Second, and more to the point, the answer depends on when the oranges were added in the brewing process. (a) If they were added early in the boil along with the other fermentable sugars, then you would expect subtle, boiled-in orange flavor and aroma in the wort and in the finished beer--and very little if any orange-related sediment. (b) but if they were added late in the boil, you'd expect a bit more zest in the flavor and aroma, because less of the oils and acids would have boiled off. Even in this case, you wouldn't get much sediment. I always stir the hot wort to create a little cone of debris in the bottom center of the pot before siphoning the wort into the fermenter. (c) However, the sediment we're talking about comes from fermentation, not the boil. So, if, on the other hand, some additional fermentable sugars (orange extract, orange juice, crushed orange slices) were added after the yeast was pitched, then one of two things might happen: (1) a more rigorous fermentation, due to the additional sugar, with plenty of fallout from spent yeast and tiny, undigested orange particles, or (2) a big, sticky explosion! [B)] Trust me, it's only funny years later... Frankly, the choice of yeast will also have a whole lot to do with how much fruitiness is detected in the finished beer, but that's a subject way over my head. Maybe a brewing chemist (Drew) can help with the impact of yeast selection on flavor and aroma. So if you think the orange flavor or aroma was underwhelming, yes, do try to rouse the sediment on your next sample. Also, try another brewer's offering for comparison. The Belgians have mastered the practice of adding crushed fruit to fermenting beer. I've seen raspberries, cherries, and peaches used, but not oranges. The blueberry and cranberry beers I've seen from the New England states are late boil versions. Happy hunting!

So any really great beer must be wholly consumed, sediment and head...everything?! MMMMMM

I always even though sometimes it is scary drink it

I recently had a friend over who really enjoyed my beer but complained about the sediment at the bottom of his glass. I looked at how much was there and it was an eighth of a tsp. Literally. I like sediment and to me it just means its real beer. I just wonder where this squeemishness comes from. It seems to be the seem kind of fear/disdain that people have for spiders and wild mushrooms. Although the chances of something bad happening are astronomically low (17 people have died of mushroom poisoning in the usa in the last 30 years, 8 from spider bites), the fear is higher than say driving your car. Perhaps it is because of all the BMC that's triple filtered out there. The other thing it seems to entail is our cultural disdain for slimey foods. Eggplant, agar, sea urchin and other slimey tectured foods seem to bother people, even the tiniest amounts. With one exception...melted cheese. ur thoughts?

I think you really like your mushrooms [;)]

quote: Originally posted by mattfungus I recently had a friend over who really enjoyed my beer but complained about the sediment at the bottom of his glass. I looked at how much was there and it was an eighth of a tsp. Literally. I like sediment and to me it just means its real beer. I just wonder where this squeemishness comes from. It seems to be the seem kind of fear/disdain that people have for spiders and wild mushrooms. Although the chances of something bad happening are astronomically low (17 people have died of mushroom poisoning in the usa in the last 30 years, 8 from spider bites), the fear is higher than say driving your car. Perhaps it is because of all the BMC that's triple filtered out there. The other thing it seems to entail is our cultural disdain for slimey foods. Eggplant, agar, sea urchin and other slimey tectured foods seem to bother people, even the tiniest amounts. With one exception...melted cheese. ur thoughts?