[oscarvan]

Have a German ale in secondary... (2/23/11) in a better bottle. Where the rings in the bottle are there is a ring of a white stringy fuzz.....not a lot, just a ring around the bottle, thin stringy hair running about an inch down.... odd......tough to get a picture of.... It also had a white thin foam for a while on the top after I racked it....... Do I have "visitors" ?

Anyone ever seen this?

[majorvices]

Sounds like acetobacter, which is common when the beer is exposed to oxygen. Which is one reason I don't think it is  a good idea to secondary without being able to purge the head space with Co2.

[oscarvan]

So now what? Drain time?

[denny]

Taste it before you do anything drastic.

[oscarvan]

Taste it before you do anything drastic.

Of course.....

I am NOT having a good day.

[alikocho]

Could also be a sherry yeast....

Does it look like this?

[tschmidlin]

If it tastes good, keg it and drink it quickly . . .

[oscarvan]

No, nothing as drastic as that..... The stuff on top has disappeared, they were bubbles, the stuff on the rings on the bottle was sitting on the ledge and came loose when I moved the thing.....

From Wikipedia on acetobacter:

they are used to intentionally acidify beer during long maturation periods in the production of traditional Flemish Sour Ales;

German sour ale?

[hopfenundmalz]

No, nothing as drastic as that..... The stuff on top has disappeared, they were bubbles, the stuff on the rings on the bottle was sitting on the ledge and came loose when I moved the thing.....

German sour ale?

At the worst, you could turn it into malt vinegar.  At the best you will have a drinkable beer. 

[maxieboy]

Oh, how the migh...  Wanna go ride bikes?! 

[oscarvan]

Oh, how the migh...  Wanna go ride bikes?! 

No, I want to go hide under a rock.

[oscarvan]

OK, it's all gone.....settled to the bottom. Looks good now. It never happened. Yeah, that's it. Maybe it was yeasty fuzz. Maybe I'm seeing things. Woke up at midnight Eastern time in Hamburg and worked my way home, it's been a long day. Had nice wild boar roast last night, with Brussels sprouts and Kartöffeln and a nice Dunkelbock.

I need a nap.

[Mark G]

Was there still a lot of yeast in suspension when you transferred the beer? Hard to say without seeing it, but it could just be yeast settling on those rings of the BB. That might explain the foam on top too, just the yeast finishing up after getting roused by the transfer and small amount of oxygen that was picked up. It could just be wishful thinking on my part too... I agree with everyone else that you should taste it before you decide anything.

[majorvices]

I've never seen yeast look like "fuzz" but hopefully thats all it was.

[oscarvan]

Was there still a lot of yeast in suspension when you transferred the beer?

Yes.