Garrison Ass-Kicker and "floaties"

[jason.loxton]

Just cracked a bottle of Garrison Ass-kicker. It is good. Pretty clearly their Hopyard, with errors. It is, surprisingly, not crazy dry hopped (I expected that they f-ed up and would have covered their tracks with huge late hop additions, but I think they just didn't hit their targets close enough to call it by its normal name). Anyway, I am still drinking it (and enjoying it), and it IS marketed as "unfiltered", but man oh man, is my bottle a blizzard of suspended material. Anyone else have this issue? See photo.

[jason.loxton]

Follow up. My girlfriend just said: "OK. Is it posted? Now close the Beernosers."

[mr x]

[CorneliusAlphonse]

I remember one or two of my Garrison bottles looking similar recently.

[Jimmy]

Yeah, the ones I had were super floaty.

[HopGrower]

Yup, mine is the same. Stopped in into the brewery this afternoon and picked up Ass-kicker, Ol' fog burner, 15 malts, and their combo Pils. Is it just me me is Garrison losing it? Or is it just my taste buds coming back since quitting smoking?

[Tony L]

Yup, mine is the same. Stopped in into the brewery this afternoon and picked up Ass-kicker, Ol' fog burner, 15 malts, and their combo Pils. Is it just me me is Garrison losing it? Or is it just my taste buds coming back since quitting smoking?

I had a 6er of Hop Yard that Chris brought over to me that was full of diacetyl... could barely choke it down to tell the truth. If it didn't have the hop flavour it did, I would have tossed the full pack down the drain.

[Jayme]

I had a bottle of their stout not too long ago LOADED with floaties. I had a bottle of another beer that was the same way - could have been the ass-kicker but I'm not sure. I also recall the ass-kicker being a diacetyl bomb when I tried it.

[Garrison Brewing]

Guys, appreciate the robust conversation about "floaties" in the Ass-kicker IPA & that glass definitely has a lot of suspension. That said, it is an unfiltered, high gravity beer with a high hop content so residual proteins are a pretty natural bi-product. Because it's unfiltered, the beer isn't uniform in the tank either & suspension can change bottle to bottle. Insufficient time at 0 deg. C post-fermentation could also play a role as that's where much of the protein settlement happens. In the end, it's not a beer without issues (as we clearly acknowledge on the label) but it is PRETTY DAMN TASTY & has gotten rave reviews since release. We'll check into the fining, thanks for the heads-up!

[Jayme]

Guys, appreciate the robust conversation about "floaties" in the Ass-kicker IPA & that glass definitely has a lot of suspension. That said, it is an unfiltered, high gravity beer with a high hop content so residual proteins are a pretty natural bi-product. Because it's unfiltered, the beer isn't uniform in the tank either & suspension can change bottle to bottle. Insufficient time at 0 deg. C post-fermentation could also play a role as that's where much of the protein settlement happens. In the end, it's not a beer without issues (as we clearly acknowledge on the label) but it is PRETTY DAMN TASTY & has gotten rave reviews since release. We'll check into the fining, thanks for the heads-up!

Good to hear you'll look into it.

I tend to disagree that residual proteins are a pretty natural bi-product of a high gravity/hop content beer at the stage you're talking about, but more likely an insufficient cold break or some of the break material being unintentionally transferred. Proper fining/adequate cold crash should take care of the coagulated proteins making it into the fermenter, so I don't disagree that their could be something going on with that process. I will note that as stated in my previous post, I bought a bottle of your Martello stout that had the exact same flaw. I realize this is also a non-filtered beer, but the high gravity/hop content argument falls short given it's a 1.052 OG, 25 IBU beer!

And while I have your ear... haha... another strange thing I've noticed on a few separate occasions is a distinct raspberry flavour in a few different beers it does not belong in. I've noticed it on several occasions, particularly at last years Jazz Fest - I had a pint of Hop Yard that I actually wasn't sure was even the correct beer. My friend had a glass of Raspberry Wheat that had only a slightly stronger Raspberry flavour/lighter colour, so I concluded they didn't simply pour the wrong beer. Were it not due to the fact that I've noticed the same thing (albeit not nearly as noticeable, but I'm looking for it now) on several occasions since.

It's difficult to even speculate what it might be in this instance, but I can think of 2 possibilities:
Hops - maybe there is a variety you're using that has a stronger raspberry flavour batch (of hops) to batch - though I think this is unlikely.
Yeast - maybe pushing generations too far, varying fermentation conditions, or (what I think is the most likely) the pitch is coming from a tank of Raspberry Wheat. That said, if the raspberries are added after yeast has been harvested, my theory is complete bullshit. I just find the flavour to be IDENTICAL to your Rasberry Wheat - almost like an ounce of it has been poured into the glass.

Anyway, just some food for thought - I do appreciate that you seem to be listening! On another positive note, there are now a dozen of us Brewnosers that recently wrote the BJCP tasting exam and will be judges of some sort in the near future. I have yet to organize it, but we've all talked about getting together every so often to provide quality feedback to local homebrewers looking to have judges review their beer. My plan was to just start with homebrew and eventually extend the offer to local craft brewers. I'm still not sure when I'll get the ball rolling, but feel free to send me a message to start talking about it now if some impartial, honest feedback is something you folks would be interested in!

[pet lion]

Hmm. I am having one of my ESBs and today I'm definitely noticing a raspberry taste in it. And I sure as hell didn't put any raspberries in here. Made me think of Jayme's comments immediately.

[chalmers]

What yeast did you use? Might be just a ton of esters from the fermentation.

[pet lion]

I used Danstar Windsor Ale Yeast for this one.

[brufrog]

I just brought a bottle back from the brewery. I'll check it for floaties!

[jeffsmith]

The floaties attack once again. Just cracked a bottle of Garrison's Rye IPA and it has a ton of matter in it. It also tastes horribly oxidized. So much so that it's likely going down the drain the next time there's a break in the play of this game.

This seems to be going beyond the realm of residual protein…

ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21368493427.716406.jpg

[NASH]

The floaties attack once again. Just cracked a bottle of Garrison's Rye IPA and it has a ton of matter in it. It also tastes horribly oxidized. So much so that it's likely going down the drain the next time there's a break in the play of this game.

This seems to be going beyond the realm of residual protein…

How's the game??

[jeffsmith]

How's the game??

Playoff hockey doesn't matter much when my team never makes the playoffs.

[brufrog]

I finally opened my Asskicker and it has a few small floaties, nothing concerning. It is very good, actually. It tastes like Hopyard on steroids, which I gather it is.

[gm-]

Drinking their rye and it is full of floaties, 2-3 mm layer in the bottom of my glass and ton floating around. I am pretty sure a "normal" buyer would return this.

[jeffsmith]

Drinking their rye and it is full of floaties, 2-3 mm layer in the bottom of my glass and ton floating around. I am pretty sure a "normal" buyer would return this.

Does it taste decent? Mine tasted like hoppy cardboard.

[brufrog]

All the sludge was at the bottom of my Asskicker. If the bottle had been shaken, it would have been bad. Still, very tasty beer. I did try the Wild Rye'D IPA too, but that was far too astringent and bitter for me. Unbalanced.

[gm-]

Drinking their rye and it is full of floaties, 2-3 mm layer in the bottom of my glass and ton floating around. I am pretty sure a "normal" buyer would return this.

Does it taste decent? Mine tasted like hoppy cardboard.

Yeah, that is pretty close to what I thought, no rye flavour and very bland skunky taste followed by bitterness.

[Araxi]

This is a Garrison Imperial IPA bought here in Moncton at the Laundromat last night. Full of floaties and tasted like shite.

[Jayme]

Seems the problem is pretty much in all their unfiltered beers... I would have expected this to be sorted out by now.

[dean2k]

yikes!