Second fermentation/ force carbing

[ABHB]

I am fairly new to brewing, just done my second batch. So far so good.

At present I have either bottle conditioned or done the second fermentation is a mini kegs. The thing that frustrates me is the sediment, fine if drinking at home but not so good if taking some out as the sediment gets disturbed.

Would appreciate any advise on how to get round this, and be able to bottle without the sediment. I tried decanting from the mini keg into bottles, no sediment but in knocked all the fizz out.

I have googled it and seen suggestions for Corny Kegs and force carbing, but can't find any idiots guide for the process to do this. Does this do away with 2nd fermentation...do I need to add any sugar...when do I bottle it etc...

Any advise very welcome.

 

[Dutto]

There's a number of ways to get "sediment free beer".

The easiest is to always use a yeast that sinks and settles quickly. I recommend Wilco's Ale Yeast (a Gervin Yeast) for this reason.

Next is to allow the beer to condition so that the yeast can settle properly. In bottles that I wish to move this will be for a minimum of two months; however, for transporting in a King Keg Top-Tap it can be as little as a month before moving it and then a couple of days to let it settle.

Next least difficult is to "force carb" a brew by using CO2 capsules in an ordinary pressure keg. The beer needs to be completely fermented out and clear. The beer can be cleared with finings before transferring it to a keg and using CO2 capsules to carbonate the beer. It takes three or four days, is relatively expensive and can be used for ordinary "non-gassy" beers; but for occasional use it is a very effective way of producing clear carbonated beer quickly.

Finally, there is the Corny Keg which is terribly expensive to set up but once set up the cost falls quickly. The beer needs to be fermented and cleared as per the ordinary pressure barrel type of keg above but it can be carbonated within a few hours and will stay clear no matter where it is transported.

Advice on how to set up a Corny keg system requires a lot more information than I can give ... :whistle:

... but I hope this helps. :thumb: