Layer of the bottom of bottles

[Soupgdragon]

Hey peeps

I bottled my beer on Saturday and there appears to be a layer of white stodgy stuff at the bottom of the bottles. I know this is probably normal but just looking for a bit of reassurance (I'm such a noob haha)


Cheers

 

[Covrich]

It is fine, thats just the yeast sediment dropping out as the bottles clear and the beer carbonates.

When you pour, pour gentley and dont tip the bottle up and try to leave this sediment in the bottom.

 

[TheRedDarren]

Yes, as Covrich says, its perfectly normal. If you ever see 'bottle conditioned' written on a bottle it'll have sediment so pour carefully! You can of course tip the sediment in too, it's full of vitamins, but you'll have a cloudy pint.

 

[robbiethegreat]

Is there anyway to reduce this and get a clearer beer? Is it merely in the conditioning time?

 

[Fil]

you can reduce the sediment in bottles by letting it clear a little longer in the FV, some will rack off into a 2ndary FV for this, but the beer is more vulnerable to external infections during transfer.

also take care not to suck any sediment up from the FV will help,

But some sediment is inevitable it is a live beer after all.

afaik the only way to achieve sediment free bottles is to condition in a real keg and use a counter pressure bottle filling system to bottle from a brite keg once the sediment has been cleared .. the best 2 counter pressure options im aware of are the blitchman beergun or the pegas bottling beertaps and you need a chilled keg system wit a regulated co2 supply to use either successfully.

 

[GlentoranMark]

You will improve this with time. When you prime you are feeding the yeast again and they get to turning the yeast into alcohol giving off CO2 as a byproduct. Because you are only feeding each bottle a small amount of sugar, the yeast doesn't have as much work to do. It gives the beer some fizz but doesn't increase the alcohol by much. The white sediment is the same that is in your FV only on a much smaller scale.

Give the beer much longer in your FV than the recommended 4-7 days. As long as everything is sealed and sanitised you will have no problems. When it comes to bottling, try not to disturb any sediment in your FV. You will still get a yeast layer when you prime but it will vastly improve the amount in your bottles.

I was given a few bottles from fellow forumite Niman and his sediment is very small and sticks to the bottle when I pour. I've still a lot to improve on compared to his brews.

 

[GlentoranMark]

As a thought Fil (or anyone else), I'm going down the Corny Keg route having recieved my first 2 Cornys on Friday and a gas bottle yesterday. I've a few bits and bobs to complete like a regulator. Can you inject the CO2 in the corny and then transfer to a bottle?

I was also thinking of passing the beer through a filter to give a crisper cleaner taste. I'd think about doing this for lagers over winter.

For Ales and Stouts I won't bother as it would probably impare the flavour.

 

[robbiethegreat]

I guess with my first brews I was a bit hasty in the bottling and left in the FV for a maximum of 8 days.

The stout I have just bottled was 12 days in the FV, so hopefully sediment levels will drop out a little more.

I'm using the coopers starter kit with the tap on the FV, there is little way to get the remaining 5-7litres out of the FV without tilting and disturbing the sediment at bottom - a syphon may be the solution for this? Or is the bottom 5 litre typically a write off?

Only 3 brews in, so apologies for the newbie like questions.

 

[GlentoranMark]

I've always used a syphon, I syphon 1/2 to 3/4 down my FV until it stops, this is my A+ bottles and then I move the syphon further down the FV closer to the trub for my next batch. I get most of the beer out this way.

The only negative point about syphoning up trub is you get more in your bottles but just like your FV the trub sinks to the bottom and stays there until pouring.

Try bottling your normal way and then tip the barrel for your last 5-7L. Just take a note of what bottles you are pouring these into so you can compare. If you have a syphon then you'll be able to get a little deeper without disturbing the sediment.

That's over 10 pints your wasting there, even if their horrible (which they won't be) all your wasting is a little more time and cleaning of a bottle.

 

[robbiethegreat]

I have been tilting as gently as possible, my only concern was if it would adversely affect the beer...which by the sound of it, it doesn't!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Time to start the Wherry soon I feel

 

[Fil]

As a thought Fil (or anyone else), I'm going down the Corny Keg route having recieved my first 2 Cornys on Friday and a gas bottle yesterday. I've a few bits and bobs to complete like a regulator. Can you inject the CO2 in the corny and then transfer to a bottle?

I was also thinking of passing the beer through a filter to give a crisper cleaner taste. I'd think about doing this for lagers over winter.

For Ales and Stouts I won't bother as it would probably impare the flavour.

filtering beer, hehe, dont bother.. I tried it with a filthy ginger beer and 2 x 10 inch filter housings and a 5micron followed by 1 micron polly wrap filter between 2 cornies, it didnt end well, the filters slowed the flow at a rate need ing a steady increase in co2 pressure, eventually the seals started to leak attomised beer at hi pressure (i was inside and the wallpaper absorbed the beer vapour oh oo)

in a corny the sediment will settle and you will pour a filthy 1st 1/3 - 1/2 pint as the dip tube sucks up the sediment that has collected at the corny bottom. if the kegs then left undisturbed you will pour out clear beer.. tho the last pint out will always be the clearest if moved any remaining sediment will get kicked up and resetle..
So even if conditioned with co2 rapidly letting it stand to clear and mature for a few weeks is still a good idea


then like with a PB you can pour beer into a bottle and take it out to a do/party one evening but due to contact with o2 it wont have a shelf life,

for bottles with a shelf life you want some way of purging the bottle with co2 before filling and maintaining a balance of pressure to keep most of the condition in the beer hence the counterpressure devices, you can knock one up with pipefittings valves and tube i did and it took 3-4 hands to operate

the pegas bottle filling taps are not budget items you can get a £30 dodgy chinese rip off that may need some 'fixing'
http://beerinnovations.com/beerequipment/pet/novotap
they work well and a washer with about 1/4 -1/3 notched out can be used to brace a glass beer bottle into the PET bottle grip

 

[GlentoranMark]

I have been tilting as gently as possible, my only concern was if it would adversely affect the beer...which by the sound of it, it doesn't!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Time to start the Wherry soon I feel

The only thing you will notice is more gunk at the bottom of your bottles but cold conditioning in the fridge and time will settle it out. Just be more careful when pouring.

I'm not that far ahead of you knowledge wise. 3 months ago I was doing simple kits but I've caught the bug. I'm now doing all grain thanks to Clibits simple guide and I've moved down the corny keg route. It's not rocket science but there are no stupid questions. Fire away, I had to ask similar questions 3 months ago.