Ask The Brewmasters

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.
 

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.
 

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.
 

If you could share some of the pictures, that would be helpful.  Does it at all look similar to this substance?  

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.
 

I would say it certainly does look similar 

If you could share some of the pictures, that would be helpful.  Does it at all look similar to this substance?  

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.
 

I would say it certainly does look similar 

If you could share some of the pictures, that would be helpful.  Does it at all look similar to this substance?  

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.
 

We had a very similar problem about 8 years ago.    We pieced together the cause through a few scientific journal articles, some analytical testing (it was not microbial), and pure conjecture.  Or we just got lucky.   Short story is that we traced it back to running high yeast content (tank bottoms) through our centrifuge.   If I remember the articles correctly, glucans and mannans (think yeast cell walls) in the presence of high alcohol and sheer stress can create gels.  These coagulate into what we affectionately called "beer loogies".    All I know is when we started clearing up the tank bottoms  on that product before running it, the problem went away.  It could also be from the dark malt and high alcohol and the tank bottoms slowed it all down, allowing for more heat and shear in the centrifuge.  Good luck.  

I would say it certainly does look similar 

If you could share some of the pictures, that would be helpful.  Does it at all look similar to this substance?  

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.
 

If you could share some of the pictures, that would be helpful.  Does it at all look similar to this substance?  

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.
 

For the longest time we felt our imperial stout was lacking in body and after many years of recipe tweak's we now have the nice smooth profile we were looking for.
this was due to the addition of dextrin malt, flaked barley, mash alkalinity adjustments, and calcium chloride in the kettle.
Sadly we just got hit with a dreaded picture of slimy sludge in a keg about 5 months old. and a year or so ago a similar picture from a bottle.

any thoughts on the cause and any subsequent remedies would be greatly appreciated.