Advice please

[gamekeepa]

I'm currently drinking my second attempt at home brew, a batch of Muntons American style IPA which I'm very very pleased with. It's right up my street.
Now, when I pour it from the bottle I have to leave a small amount in the bottom of the bottle as this is cloudy and has some form of sediment. Now that I've poured a few I've got it down to a fine art and need only leave a very small amount behind. But, it would be nice to be able to give a few bottles away to friends and family, and I'm thinking that by the time they got them home they would be shook up again and this sediment mixed back with the rest of the bottle. It seems a shame to have to tell people to leave it to stand still for a few days to clear, and then have to explain to them how to pour it. Same would apply if I wanted to take some of my beer to a party. Is there a way round this? Is there something I'm not doing or not doing correctly which would stop this at the bottom of each bottle?

 

[wfr42]

Chilling them for 24 hrs plus makes a big difference.
I found a how to pour homebrew step by step guide that I include on the labels of any bottles I give away. I'll try to post a copy when I am on my laptop in the morning.

 

[gamekeepa]

That would be good, thanks

 

[Sandimas]

It comes with the territory I'm afraid, you have to have conditioning in the bottle to generate the CO2 to preserve the beer. It's not the same as the force-carbed pasteurised beer bottles you buy in shops.

You can reduce the amount of sedement by transferring the brew to a secondary FV prior to bottling, then leaving that in a cool place for 4-5 day to allow the majority of the yeast to drop out, so you're bottling a clear beer - needs longer to condition though. Also, some yeasts are much more compact than others, I've found the American-style ones particularly loose in the bottle.

 

[JapanBrew]

When you get more expensive gear, kegs and pressure carb them, you won't need yeast to do the job. That way you can cold crash in the FV, then move to a keg. Let it age and carb up.

 

[terrym]

As darrelm says, yeast deposits from bottle conditioning comes with the territory. However there is a way round this I learned from way back when I first started brewing, although it's not completely satisfactory.
Basically you use screw cap bottles, prime as normal but allow to carb up with the bottles upside down, allowing the yeast to eventually settle in the cap. When the beer is fully carbed and clear, you fill a bowl with clean water, lower the capped end of the bottle into it, and then just crack the bottle screw cap and allow the bottle pressure to blow the yeast from the bottle out into the water, and then quickly reseal. The trick is to just blow out the yeast plug not empty the bottle! There is no danger of contamination since the pressure inside the bottle will stop things getting in. Finally you rinse the outside of the bottle, and invert the bottle and store as normal
The drawbacks are that you cannot completely discharge all of the yeast so there will be a tiny amount left at the bottle opening and you lose a tiny amount of bottle pressure but you can get round that by slightly overpriming at the start to compensate.
You could give it a try. If you are not happy with the end result, you have lost nothing.

 

[wfr42]

My labels continue this text "borrowed" from something I found when searching for something similar.

Unlike commercial beer, home brewed beer is not
filtered. Yeast, hops and unfermented sugars
settle in the bottom of the bottle.
1. Keep upright in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
2. Pour into a glass! Don’t drink from the bottle!
3. Hold glass at a 45 degree angle to an almost horizontal bottle.
4. Pour slowly and steadily in one single pour,
don’t tip repeatedly, don’t gurgle the bottle!
5. About 2/3 through the pour, tip glass upright
and increase distance from bottle to glass
to achieve desired foamy head.
5. Be sure to leave the sediment in the last 1/4” in the bottle.

Best enjoyed at least one month after bottling.

This was bottled on: dd/mm/yy


I have a powerpoint file (which I can't attach and is too big when I convert to PDF) where I have 3 logos in squares, with a copy of the above text pasted into a 2nd attached square, which I stick on any bottles I give away.
Sorry technology has defeated me this morning in trying to attach a copy.

If you're at the party you can always pour your beer into a jug or jugs first which then is sediment free and safer to pour for the uninitiated and they can sample different styles in half pints. I did this as a "flight" of the beers I brewed since June with my Dad over xmas.

 

[Godsdog]

There is an invention in oz that has a two stage cap,again which the beer is kept upside down then when clear the top of the two stage cap is removed which has collected the sediment and leaves you with perfectly clear carbonated beer that you can shake around as much as you like.they are a bit expensive though,around £20 for 3, there is a selly telly video of them somewhere

 

[Godsdog]

http://sedexbrewing.com/
There you go

 

[gamekeepa]

Some good advice guys thanks. Them two stage capped bottles sound great but at around £20 for 3 just a bit steep. Very clever though. What i think I will try though is transferring to a secondary vessel before bottling. And at least now I know that the results I'm getting are normal and not down to me doing anything wrong.

 

[JapanBrew]

Yes it's normal.
Bottling carbed beer is quite a feat!!! Cold crashing to a secondary is a better option and enough yeast will stay to ferment.

 

[gamekeepa]

I'm actually bottling some tomorrow so will try this on my next batch. For this batch I've added my hops only yesterday as from what I've read this will give the beer a greater hop aroma which is something I would like. Now, if I want to do the same with the hops next time do I add them just a couple of days before transferring to secondary vessel and cooling or add them to the secondary vessel a couple of days before bottling?

 

[Sandimas]

I'm actually bottling some tomorrow so will try this on my next batch. For this batch I've added my hops only yesterday as from what I've read this will give the beer a greater hop aroma which is something I would like. Now, if I want to do the same with the hops next time do I add them just a couple of days before transferring to secondary vessel and cooling or add them to the secondary vessel a couple of days before bottling?

If you only added them yesterday, I'd wait a few days before bottling as 1 day isn't really enough to get the flavour from them: 4-5 days is the norm.

Regarding next time, I tend to dry hop the primary and then filter to a secondary so I have a clear beer prior to bottling.

 

[terrym]

I'm actually bottling some tomorrow so will try this on my next batch. For this batch I've added my hops only yesterday as from what I've read this will give the beer a greater hop aroma which is something I would like. Now, if I want to do the same with the hops next time do I add them just a couple of days before transferring to secondary vessel and cooling or add them to the secondary vessel a couple of days before bottling?

Two days is not normally long enough to get the best out of a dry hop; you need between 4-7 days, I try for 5. I usually rack into a secondary vessel when I'm happy the primary is pretty much done, typically no less than a week, and add my dry hops when I do the transfer, and then leave it for the 5 days before I bottle or put into PB. I use a water bath and turn it off two days before I bottle so the brew at least cools down to unheated garage temps, although I have no means of cooling to get a true 'cold crash'.

 

[gamekeepa]

Oh right, I may wait a couple more days then. I was just going off the instructions for the Youngs American IPA which I'm brewing next. It says to add as late as 2 days before bottling. So I was going to give it the 2 days and see how it turns out.

 

[Motorhomebrew]

Yeh unfortunately unless you plan to filter your beer then force carb in keys your always going to get sediment at the bottom of your keg. HOWEVER! If you was to mini keg you wouldn't have any sediment in your glass. Theirs no filtering necessary and you prime a keg almost like you would a bottle. And when its ready to drink you can either dispense through the bottom tap or use a party star tap. Witch is great. Gives an amazing head and quality pint. Take a look at my avatar that's one of my mini kegs.

 

[gamekeepa]

Mini kegs do seem good and I'm guessing much less of a faff than bottling. Any particular ones to aim for or any to avoid?

 

[gamekeepa]

How long does the beer stay good for once you start drawing from the keg?

 

[gamekeepa]

Just been looking at these?
https://www.brew2bottle.co.uk/minikeg-starter-set.html

 

[Motorhomebrew]

Yeh their good. Check out Leyland homebrew store web site. If you don't use a c02 tap and just draw your beer using the internal tap your beer wont stay carbed well over say a weekend. But if you were to buy a party star tap your beer will stay carbed and fresh for alot longer. If your willing to start mini kegging id recommended getting a part star deluxe tap as well to really see the benefits of them. For example the quality of pint is crazy good. Just as good if not better Than a pint pulled in the pub. Now one of those will really impress your buddies. In fact every beer I brew I let my dad have a keg to try and I lend him my tap so he can truely appreciate the beer. All you have to do for a floorless pint everytime is to ensure the keg doesn't get moved around several hours before ( a good rule of thumb is to leave it in the fridge 12 to 24 hours ) and it is chilled nicely or for whatever temp your beer should be served and no over priming of the keg an that's it really