I am very careful now about avoiding drinking too much suspended yeast. For this reason, I stop pouring from the PET bottles I use (2L and 500ml) as soon as there is a noticable trail of yeast nearing the top.
Being both tight and curious, for some months now, my practice has been to pour the remaining bits into small (250ml) bottles, Which I keep in the fridge.
The little bottles fill up slow or fast, depending on the clarity of the beer and the the size of the PET bottles. They get whatever and when one fills, move onto another.
Every few weeks, the yeast has dropped out of most of these little bottles and looks fairly clear. So now, I decant each one into a clean (sterilised) little bottle, chucking the sediment in the bottom and inevitably mixing the whole lot up even further.
When some of them look pretty clear again, they get decanted into yet another bottle and the losses from chucking the yeast mean it all gets mixed up even more. Then they get primed and moved into the warm for a bit, chilled and then - I try them.
Here are the findings:
Beer, once brewed, is pretty resilient - I have chucked exactly one finished off 3/8ths of a pint bottle's worth.
Beer, when mixed, becomes no less drinkable, although not always aspirational, shall we say :hmm:.
Hence, no doubt, the development of the style known as Porter, first known as the Three Threads (I think).
Beer will continue to ferment at temps of 3C if in contact with yeast and mixing it up seems to put in contact yeasts that convert slightly different sugars. For instance, a Saison yeast can gobble up sugars from beer that the host yeast had given up on ages ago.
A few did not even need priming - very lively out of an unprimed bottle, despite being kept in the fridge from the time of first decanting.
If you want to cook with your beer, (a pot roast beef made with this is brilliant) and begrudge wasting "nice" beer - this is the way to go.
Have just finished off a very passable dark ale, with diverse (eclectic, even) flavours that I could never reproduce exactly. Porter, amber, pale, styles made with English hops.
Perhaps this strange mixing helps to sort of generally help with understanding the differences of style and the way that certain grains and hops seem to fit together.
You could try it if you have a large supply of 250ml bottles that once held lemonade.
Being both tight and curious, for some months now, my practice has been to pour the remaining bits into small (250ml) bottles, Which I keep in the fridge.
The little bottles fill up slow or fast, depending on the clarity of the beer and the the size of the PET bottles. They get whatever and when one fills, move onto another.
Every few weeks, the yeast has dropped out of most of these little bottles and looks fairly clear. So now, I decant each one into a clean (sterilised) little bottle, chucking the sediment in the bottom and inevitably mixing the whole lot up even further.
When some of them look pretty clear again, they get decanted into yet another bottle and the losses from chucking the yeast mean it all gets mixed up even more. Then they get primed and moved into the warm for a bit, chilled and then - I try them.
Here are the findings:
Beer, once brewed, is pretty resilient - I have chucked exactly one finished off 3/8ths of a pint bottle's worth.
Beer, when mixed, becomes no less drinkable, although not always aspirational, shall we say :hmm:.
Hence, no doubt, the development of the style known as Porter, first known as the Three Threads (I think).
Beer will continue to ferment at temps of 3C if in contact with yeast and mixing it up seems to put in contact yeasts that convert slightly different sugars. For instance, a Saison yeast can gobble up sugars from beer that the host yeast had given up on ages ago.
A few did not even need priming - very lively out of an unprimed bottle, despite being kept in the fridge from the time of first decanting.
If you want to cook with your beer, (a pot roast beef made with this is brilliant) and begrudge wasting "nice" beer - this is the way to go.
Have just finished off a very passable dark ale, with diverse (eclectic, even) flavours that I could never reproduce exactly. Porter, amber, pale, styles made with English hops.
Perhaps this strange mixing helps to sort of generally help with understanding the differences of style and the way that certain grains and hops seem to fit together.
You could try it if you have a large supply of 250ml bottles that once held lemonade.
