Thick foam from the hops - Is this normal and how do i siphon?

[Charliepwj]

Hi all,

I am making an APA from a beer kit. The wort has been brewing for around 2 weeks. I added my pack of hops 2 days ago and they seem to have separated to form a thick green sludge on the top of the beer.
Is this normal?

How should i go about siphoning it off without getting this layer in the mix, as it doesnt seem to be sinking to the bottom.

Any help would be much appreciated! Planning to bottle tomorrow.

Best,
Charlie

 

[JugDog]

If you give the fermenter a little bump to get the surface to move a little they will drop to the bottom after a day or two. You don’t want to mix or be too rough with it because that can expose your beer to oxygen and kill the flavor.

I usually allow 4-5 days for the dry hops to do their thing then settle

 

[Harleybrew32]

can you cold crash it for a few days, that will help the hops drop.

 

[Charliepwj]

Thanks for your advice!

I gave it a bit of a bump as you suggested and they seemed to settle - the beer is now bottled, and the waiting begins!

However, my gravity readings stabilized at only 1.011 (and I think they are supposed to get to around 1.006) from 1.044, which means my beer strength will be much below the 5.6% the instructions indicate (more like 4.5%)

Do you know why this might be the case? Too high a temperature for fermenting perhaps? Contamination?

Thanks,
Charlie​

 

[JugDog]

Was this an extract kit or all grain? 1.011 is a pretty normal final gravity for an APA.

 

[Charliepwj]

It was an extract kit. Maybe its normal, though the guide that came with it said 1.008. Also for a 5.6% beer, I would have expected it to start higher than 1.044, though i dont think my first measurement was super accurate

 

[JugDog]

Your volume may have been off a bit. Did you taste it when you bottled? If it tastes good it’s best to just roll with it and chalk it up to experience.

I haven’t done extract in a while but I remember my starting gravity never being what was listed in the recipe, and I’m sure it had to do with the actual volume of the batch. I’ve since used a sharpie and marked my fermenters at half gallon intervals.