Bad Beer/Yeast?

[msinning]

Brewed an extract amber about week ago. Let it ferment for about seven days. Went to open the fermenter and an incredible amount of trapped gas came out and on the bottom of the fermenter was a very thick, white sediment. Never saw that kind of sediment before and not sure why the C02 didnt escape through the airlock. Anyone experience this before?

 

[beerkrump]

Your krausen may have clogged the airlock. No worries there, just surprised the top didn't blow off.

When you say "thick", are you referring to depth or consistency? It is normal for the yeast to clump together (flocculation is the fancy term for the process) and sink to the bottom and form a creamy white yeast cake.

 

[msinning]

Im referring to both. Wish I had a picture, I've never seen that before while brewing. I could hold the fermented upside down and it wouldn't budge. I used Nottingham yeast. I wouldn't say that the smell of the fermented beer was bad but it definitely burned our nostrils.

 

[beerkrump]

The burning is probably CO2 hitting your moist nasal membrane.

CO2 + H2O = carbonic acid = ouch

Yeah, that's your yeast down there. Notty flocculates really well.

 

[msinning]

Thanks for the info!