home brew beer bottling

[leeds chimp]

Just bottled 5 gallon of hoppy copper but it seems whenever I bottle the ale I keep getting the sediment in the bottom of the bottle and when you open and pour no matter how careful it turns cloudy

Any better way of doing it

[Guest cookoff013]

you can use finnings, it helps settle out yeast and keeps the beer bright.

 

i never use finnings, if your beer is fizzy, then it might disturb sediment. i let my beer atlead 3 weeks, and poor in one fluid action. its easy if you poor into a jug first time.

 

i use a syphon with a "lees" trap, that reduces sediment into bottles. it works, but i dont have yeast problems.

 

poor into a jug with a smooth single action. i`ve noticed the more fizzy, the more sediment will be disturbed.

you can use gelatine to make the yeast stick.

[leeds chimp]

you can use finnings, it helps settle out yeast and keeps the beer bright.

 

i never use finnings, if your beer is fizzy, then it might disturb sediment. i let my beer atlead 3 weeks, and poor in one fluid action. its easy if you poor into a jug first time.

 

i use a syphon with a "lees" trap, that reduces sediment into bottles. it works, but i dont have yeast problems.

 

poor into a jug with a smooth single action. i`ve noticed the more fizzy, the more sediment will be disturbed.

you can use gelatine to make the yeast stick.

the same fining that I use for wine?

Also do you leave it in the FV for 3 weeks I take it

[Jonty]

Hi Leeds Chimp,

 

I'm sure you already know you're never going to avoid sediment in bottle conditined beer as it's part of the conditioning process, but there are a few things you could do to reduce the amount of sediment.

 

How are you bottling it from your fermenter? syphon/tap etc, - I find a tap about 2cm above the bottom of a fermenter allows me to draw off bright beer with verl little crud.

 

How long are you leaving it after conditioning before drinking - the longer you leave it the more compact the sediment will get.

 

If your beer is quite lively, you could maybe reduce the amount of priming sugar, that would reduce the amount of stirrring up caused by the initial 'fizz' of opening the bottle.

 

If you've got a spare fermemter, you can use it as a secondary fermenter and tranfer the beer half way through the fermentation period leaving a lot of the sediment behind, the beer will contimue to ferment ok in the new vessel

 

If you are using kits, maybe try a different yeast to the one supplied with the kit, I like Safale S04, it takes a while to drop out but I find it leaves a good solid sediment, almost to the point where I can pour all but half a cm of beer into the glass.

 

Another thing you can try is to bottle your beer whilst it is a couple of points above it's predicted FG and not bothering priming at all. This is best done if you can transfer it into a secondary fermenter. If for argement's sake the predicted FG is 1007, when it gets to 1009 in the fermenter, bottle it, the lastt couple of points worth of fermentation in the bottle will put some body into it without needing extra sugar. - I'd suggest if you try this one, try it with a couple of bottles first, err on the side of caution and all that.

 

Or, you can let the beer sit in the fermenter for an extra week or two after it's hit it's FG, this lets all the stuff that's been circulating in the currents created by the fermentation Co2 really settle out - the beer won't suffer and as long as you prime and put somewhere warm after bottling, you'll get a good secondary fermentation.

 

Flippant suggestion 1 - Barrel it!

 

Flippant suggestion 2 - get something like a pewter tankard that you can't see the beer through

 

I hope something in there is of use

Edited February 21, 2013 by Jonty

[leeds chimp]

Used a syphon for the last few batches and peg it down so it does not stir it up

Will look at the barrel transfer and also also do a batch where I leave it a bit longer then to see if more drops out in that case as it's just the look of it tho

 

Also last lot I left for 3 months and still was a few cloudy before even open it but tasted good

[Zapp]

I'd second everything Jonty said, and would throw Nottingham Ale Yeast from Danstar as an alternative to S04 if you cant get that. Given careful handling of the beer (ie letting it ferment out, careful racking etc), and a proper period of conditioning, it will pack down solid onto the bottom of the bottles allowing you to pour off crystal bright beer. With Nottingham, if you pour smoothly you can literally upend the bottle with next to no sediment.

 

If using a less flocculant strain of yeast, by which I mean one which does not form a good sediment, it is possible to fine the beer in primary or secondary using unscented, unflavoured gelatine. Once sachet of gelatine powder is mixed with cold water, left to stand for 10 minutes and is then heated to 80 degrees (no higher). It is then gently stirred into the fermenter, which is left to stand for 3-5 days, during which time it will drag the yeast out of suspension.

 

The beer is then CAREFULLY syphoned off, ensuring that the last inch or so above the yeast cake is not disturbed (as this contains the gelatine). The beer may then be racked to the bottling vessel* with so little yeast transferred as to make sediment problems so slight as to be negligible. In this way, some of the really wonderful tasting liquid yeast strains that suffer from poor flocculation (Wyeast 1275 for example, which is the Hook Norton yeast) can be used in bottles.

 

* Using a seperate bottling bucket also helps. Rack from the fermenter to the bottling bucket the day before, and then bottle using a "little bottler" attachment. The extra time in the bottling bucket will further clear the beer. If you are batch priming (ie adding the entire priming sugar to the beer in the bucket) rather than priming each bottle, obviously wait to prime until just before bottling.

 

EDIT: I gelatine my beers in the keg also, adding it at the same time as my priming sugar. This gives me clear, albeit unconditioned beer within 3-4 days, sometimes less, and allows me to move the kegs about safe in the knowledge that they will drop bright again within a few hours.

 

EDIT 2: Dont gelatine the bottling bucket, as the sediment you transfer to the bottle wont be stable. If you are going to fine before bottling, do it in the fermenter before you transfer to the bottling vessel.

[Muddy Funker]

I was going to suggest using a yeast like S04, purely because in my experience it packs down really tight.

 

Some yeasts are a real pain in the bottle and will erupt no matter how careful you are opening/pouring.

 

The best ingredient in home brewing is patience though, leave the bottles to condition as long as you can and the yeast will eventually pack down and the beer will be clear

[Guest cookoff013]

i use nottingham, and it drops like a brick, sets like cement. last beer i poured, i had one lump at the bottom, couldnt have been 0.5mm squared.

[leeds chimp]

How long do you let it ferment out for as I tend to wait for0 the airlock to stop then a few more days aswell

Might be that I am racking and bottling it too early then

Will go to my LHBS and look at this SO4 yeast and not use the packs it comes with

[Jonty]

How long do you let it ferment out for as I tend to wait for0 the airlock to stop then a few more days aswell

Might be that I am racking and bottling it too early then

Will go to my LHBS and look at this SO4 yeast and not use the packs it comes with

 

PM me your address mate and I'll put you a sachet in the post if you like

[Muddy Funker]

Definitely try S04 and Nottingham as both are great yeasts.

 

I normally leave the fermentation around two weeks that way you can generally be sure it's finished, regardless of how much yeast you leave behind in the fermenter or how long the fermentation period has lasted as soon as you introduce sugar again the yeasty beasties will wake up and go to work.

So whether you bottle or keg you'll have yeast slurry in the bottom again, the only way this can be eliminated as far as I'm aware is by force carbing as in a sodastream type principle, however using metal kegs and CO2 bottles, that's a whole other story though!!!

 

Happy Brewing

[leeds chimp]

 

 

PM me your address mate and I'll put you a sachet in the post if you like

OK cheer for that as going to got another batch on the go next week

[Guest cookoff013]

How long do you let it ferment out for as I tend to wait for0 the airlock to stop then a few more days aswell

Might be that I am racking and bottling it too early then

Will go to my LHBS and look at this SO4 yeast and not use the packs it comes with

 

i usually let it go for atleast 14days. usually air lock activity has ended by day 10. the whole time allows yeast to settle. even me moving the fermenter to the kitchen doesnt disturb much, although i wouldnt leave it much longer unless i was fermenting somefing silly like a 12% beer.

 

 

has your syphon got a lees trap?

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Latstock_Hard_Syphon_and_Sediment_Trap_14.html

its a piece that allows the beer to be sucked from above the yeast..

 

it sounds like you are syphoning too early or without a yeast sediment trap. my last beer was going for 16days in fermenter, S05 doesnt stick down as much as other yeasts and the beer that came from fermenter wad virtually clear. minimal sediment in bottles, and i dont fine the beer either.

[leeds chimp]

Definitely try S04 and Nottingham as both are great yeasts.

 

I normally leave the fermentation around two weeks that way you can generally be sure it's finished, regardless of how much yeast you leave behind in the fermenter or how long the fermentation period has lasted as soon as you introduce sugar again the yeasty beasties will wake up and go to work.

So whether you bottle or keg you'll have yeast slurry in the bottom again, the only way this can be eliminated as far as I'm aware is by force carbing as in a sodastream type principle, however using metal kegs and CO2 bottles, that's a whole other story though!!!

 

Happy Brewing

don't want to go down the road of corney kegs tho t will leave it longer them as normally leave it for 9 to 10 days