Minimising sediment

[thehorse]

I know that a bit of sediment is inevitable when you bottle-condition beers but, to my mind, that half-centimetre of sludge is the main difference between my brews and commercial beers.

Is there any way of minimising the sediment (filtering etc?). Or, failing that, what's the easiest way of using that sediment to reuse the yeast?

 

[Bongofury]

What has worked for me in the past is to siphon the beer into another fermenting bin after the foam has died down. Then put a lid with a fermentation lock on it and leave it somewhere cooler (in my case the shed) for a few weeks.

I can't think of any brew when the bottled beer hasn't been crystal clear with a paint coat thin layer of sediment.

I hope that helps.

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

I rack off the fv to another vessel,then cold crash it for a few days,then bottle it.It makes the yeast solid in the bottom,and not in suspension when racking.

 

[Dutto]

I leave the brew until it has more or less cleared in the FV (up to three weeks) before syphoning it into another FV prior to adding the priming sugar and bottling.

I also like to leave it conditioning on the shelf for at least a month to give the yeast plenty of time to stabilise and settle out.

It's not just home-brew that has yeast in the bottles. Here's a photograph of a few commercial beers I brought back from France last month with a view to harvesting the yeast from them ... :thumb:

... when I get a Round Tuit. :whistle: :whistle:

 

[Cwrw666]

My latest brown ale had 3 weeks in the FV - then because I was short of bottles I put it in a pressure barrel, primed etc. After 2 weeks no pressure at all - the cap must be leaking somewhere, so I bottled it. Lovely clear beer, hardly any sediment and what there is is glued to the bottom of the bottle. So I'm thinking that in future I'm going to just use the PB as a clearing vessel.

 

[Sandimas]

I rack off the fv to another vessel,then cold crash it for a few days,then bottle it.

I did do this for a while, you have to be a little bit careful on how long you leave it to cold crash - I left some too long, all the yeast fell out and my bottles had hardly any carbonation. 2-3 days cold crash I'd say.

I've stopped transferring to another FV now, had a series of infections - can't say it was definately that which caused it, but it does increase the risk.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I know that a bit of sediment is inevitable when you bottle-condition beers but, to my mind, that half-centimetre of sludge is the main difference between my brews and commercial beers.

Is there any way of minimising the sediment (filtering etc?). Or, failing that,

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2PPBmJZFd0[/ame]

 

[Spoc]

That looks like a good product chippy

 

[MyQul]

I only ever get about 1mm of yeast/sediment in my bottles. Heres what I do.

*Syphon the beer to another FV (bottling bucket)
*Batch prime the sugar solution into the beer
*Here's the crucial bit - leave for 30 mins for any sediment that may have transfered over from the FV to the bottling bucket to settle out. Then bottle.

 

[Rickster]

I have a very cloudy coopers IPA (extra wet and dry hops added), transferred to 2nd FV and chilled down to 4.5 degrees. Just checked it (day 3 being chilled) and it's looking lovely and clear. Will bring in tomorrow night, then batch prime in its original fv and bottle on weds, hopefully the chill will really reduce the residue.

 

[Dutto]

Just found a great way of not getting sediment on the bottom! :thumb:

Bottle it on the Sunday and drink it on the Monday because you forgot to label the shelf properly!

It didn't taste all that good ...:nono: :nono:

... but it didn't have any sediment! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Nial]

I did do this for a while, you have to be a little bit careful on how long you leave it to cold crash - I left some too long, all the yeast fell out and my bottles had hardly any carbonation. 2-3 days cold crash I'd say.

Hmmm.

I've just bottled a batch of Youngs APA which I had in the FV for ~ 1 month, with the last week at 5 Deg C.

It was brilliant, all the hop bits I had problem with before had dropped to the bottom. I syphoned to a pressure barrel to batch prime then bottled, they are
already clear!

But sounds like they might be flat?

I'll give it a couple of weeks and see how they're doing.

 

[Covrich]

I only ever get about 1mm of yeast/sediment in my bottles. Heres what I do.

*Syphon the beer to another FV (bottling bucket)
*Batch prime the sugar solution into the beer
*Here's the crucial bit - leave for 30 mins for any sediment that may have transfered over from the FV to the bottling bucket to settle out. Then bottle.

This is what I do..

I must admit thought my last two bottles can have a little bed of sediment but they are sharpied as "testers"

 

[Fil]

In addition to the suggestions above to use a secondary FV or bright tank and lower temps to clear the beer,
try using nottingham yeast for ales it sticks to bottle bottoms like glue and helps pour a clearer beer even if kak handed and you glug the beer out. Perfecting a glug-less pour will also help, each glug will send turbulence back into the bottle to disturb the sediment when you pour. If using bigger pet bottles 1-2l? decant the beer out in a single pour into a jug for serving..

 

[Cwrw666]

Personally I wouldn't cold crash the brew before bottling. From other posts on the forum it seems clear that although it does clear the beer really well, it also throws the yeast into dormancy so you then have a problem getting the carbonation right. Obviously not a problem if you use Corny kegs but for us natural carbonation types it looks like a no no.

 

[Nial]

Personally I wouldn't cold crash the brew before bottling. From other posts on the forum it seems clear that although it does clear the beer really well, it also throws the yeast into dormancy so you then have a problem getting the carbonation right.

Does it affect conditioning or just carbonation?


Nial.

 

[Rickster]

Nervous now about my IPA. So many opinions on this, will add mine after it's bottled up and had a few weeks at 18 degrees!

 

[IainM]

Personally I wouldn't cold crash the brew before bottling. From other posts on the forum it seems clear that although it does clear the beer really well, it also throws the yeast into dormancy so you then have a problem getting the carbonation right. Obviously not a problem if you use Corny kegs but for us natural carbonation types it looks like a no no.

I've never had a problem. Slow carbonation, yes, but they've always eaten up all the priming sugar in the end.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

That looks like a good product chippy

I am sure at the time someone was discussing these they were not available in the U.K but that was a while ago.

More info here - http://sedexbrewing.com/

 

[terrym]

I am also one of the home brewers who rack off to a second FV at the end of the primary, usually in conjunction with a dry hop.
So its transfer to a second FV when the primary is done, dry hop, leave for 3 to 4 days at temperature to finish the primary, then place in the coolest place I have (usually the garage) for another two days.
I find that the yeast carry over is significantly down on what it would otherwise be without this step, but is not clear, but I'm not aiming for that anyway.