Advice for a new Brewer please

[SheepDog]

Hi, first post and first brew. Please forgive the inexperienced question. My first beer is a Bulldog evil dog double IPA. I left in primary for a full 2 weeks, bottled when SG was spot on. I'm finding the beer is clearing very quickly and well in bottles (in same environment as primary 21-22 degrees Celsius).

My question. There is a significant build up in the base of the bottles, could this be avoided by syphoning into another large vessel prior to bottling? And if so, how long would I leave it? Also, would I add carbonation drops at this point, or wait till bottling?

Again apologies for what is probably a basic question to you all, I really like the taste and hops in this beer and intend to do it again really soon. (After the hammer of Thor finishes) :thumb:

 

[Halfacrem]

You will naturally get a build up at the bottom of the bottle as the yeast and other such bits and bobs fall out of the beer during the secondary fermentation. You might find as your syphoning skills improve, you avoid sucking up too much trub from the FV and the amount of build up in the bottom reduces.

Lots of Home Brewers syphon to another FV before bottling :thumb: I guess you could add carbonation drops, however I would suggest if you do this you add sugar or spray malt to the bucket (this is called batch priming). There is a calculator towards the top of this page which gives correct amounts of sugar for the amount and type of beer you're making.

Having never used them, I'm not sure how long carbonation drops take to dissolve, so hesitant about recommending you do this for batch priming. Others might have experience of doing this.

 

[clibit]

Most of the gunk at the bottom of the bottles was in suspension in the beer so will carry across if you rack it to another FV before bottling. Time and low temperature will drop these solids out of the beer. And this process is helped significantly by finings - I just use kettle finings (Irish Moss/whirfloc/Protofloc), but you can also add gelatin and other products at the end of fermentation.

Sticking my beer in the fridge for 24-48 hours before bottling greatly reduces the sediment in my bottles. I add a bit of yeast when I bottle, because cold crashing takes a lot of yeast out too, and slows down the carbonation process. If you can't cold crash, just leave it longer in the FV, primary or secondary, a week or two, to settle out. Cold crashing just speeds up the process. At this time of year, Placing the FV outside, or on the garage floor, in the shed etc will help a lot.

 

[SheepDog]

Thank you for all the advice, I appreciate it, I can't wait to guzzle some of this Evil Dog IPA.. Tasted great while bottling!! Haha

 

[keat64]

I've never liked having to pour from the bottle and leave the sediment behind, and it's not practical to transport as it gets mixed up.
So, I've always kegged my kit brews. Which is even less practical to transport.

I'll probably also keg my AG's, however, i do intend to experiment with again with bottling.
But doing so from the keg once the beer has settled and conditioned slightly.
(now if only i could find my crown capper)
I've done this in the past for a temporary solution, like cooling or taking round to mates houses, but never on a long term, keep a bottle basis.
So i'm hoping that conditioned beer from the keg and then capped in bottles will keep its carbonation.

 

[Cwrw666]

If you're using a good quality beer yeast then after several weeks in the bottle the sediment more or less glues itself to the bottom. If you're careful when pouring you can get virtually all of the beer out without getting sediment in it. Such bottles also travel pretty well, or so I've found. Depends on the yeast though, there are some types that don't pack down so firmly, so they're a pain when pouring, and they certainly wouldn't travel well.

 

[SheepDog]

Such a wealth of knowledge, thanks for the responses

 

[Redron]

If you're using a good quality beer yeast then after several weeks in the bottle the sediment more or less glues itself to the bottom. If you're careful when pouring you can get virtually all of the beer out without getting sediment in it. Such bottles also travel pretty well, or so I've found. Depends on the yeast though, there are some types that don't pack down so firmly, so they're a pain when pouring, and they certainly wouldn't travel well.

Good. I have five bottles of an Old Peculiar clone that is two months in the bottle and has been in my cold shed for a good while. It has to travel to Yorkshire and then to Broadstairs in Kent for the festive, so pretty much 700 miles.
Ya know when you used to hear the old beer adage 'aye, it's a good pint, but it doesn't travel well', here's hoping this does....!

Seasons greetings fellow Brewers, may all your pints be good ones....

 

[clibit]

Some of the best yeasts don't stick to the bottle. Some beers are meant to be drunk with loads of yeast in suspension. It all depends what you want to prioritise and what beer you are making.

 

[darkbright]

I saw a video regarding these http://sedexbrewing.com if you are happy to pay a bit extra. They work well apparently and are re-useable.

I just found that I got really good at pouring to avoid the sediment in my glass.

 

[Hoppyland]

I normally settle out my beers until they're pretty well clear before I bottle them, and I'm sure that you'll end up with a better brew if you allow the beer to at least partially clear before bottling.
If you've got a second fermentation vessel then, personally, I would definitely siphon (or just drop the beer through a tube if the primary FV has a tap) into this second fermenter, which will leave a lot of the more solid crud behind. I'd recommend doing this after the first, vigorous fermentation dies down, maybe when the beer is 5 points above your expected final gravity (e.g. if you final gravity is expected to be 1.010 then drop the beer at 1.015), but it really isn't at all critical! The beer will still be be very cloudy, with a lot of yeast in suspension, and will be still fermenting, but more slowly.

If your secondary FV is pretty well airtight (I fit an airlock) then leave it there for a couple of weeks. Fermentation should be well finished by then, quite a lot of yeast will have settled to the bottom, and the beer will likely have started to clear. There will still be plenty of yeast in suspension to carbonate the bottles, though, if you prime them (or, as suggested above, simply batch-prime the whole lot in the FV shortly before bottling).

The biggest danger in doing all this is getting too much air in the beer. There are 2 problems here: firstly, a lot of oxygen is fine when the first, vigorous fermentation starts - in fact it encourages the yeast to really get going. But later on, oxygen is your enemy, and will cause undesirable chemical changes in the beer. The second danger is that the air might contain spores of spoilage organisms - wild yeasts or bacteria. Don't get too paranoid about this, though! Just avoid a lot of splashing around when you siphon, and try to keep headspaces to a minimum. I like to purge airspaces with CO2 gas, but the beer itself will do a lot of this if it's still fermenting.
Of course doing this means waiting longer for your beer :-( - but I reckon it'll be worth it :thumb:

 

[SheepDog]

I normally settle out my beers until they're pretty well clear before I bottle them, and I'm sure that you'll end up with a better brew if you allow the beer to at least partially clear before bottling.
If you've got a second fermentation vessel then, personally, I would definitely siphon (or just drop the beer through a tube if the primary FV has a tap) into this second fermenter, which will leave a lot of the more solid crud behind. I'd recommend doing this after the first, vigorous fermentation dies down, maybe when the beer is 5 points above your expected final gravity (e.g. if you final gravity is expected to be 1.010 then drop the beer at 1.015), but it really isn't at all critical! The beer will still be be very cloudy, with a lot of yeast in suspension, and will be still fermenting, but more slowly.

If your secondary FV is pretty well airtight (I fit an airlock) then leave it there for a couple of weeks. Fermentation should be well finished by then, quite a lot of yeast will have settled to the bottom, and the beer will likely have started to clear. There will still be plenty of yeast in suspension to carbonate the bottles, though, if you prime them (or, as suggested above, simply batch-prime the whole lot in the FV shortly before bottling).

The biggest danger in doing all this is getting too much air in the beer. There are 2 problems here: firstly, a lot of oxygen is fine when the first, vigorous fermentation starts - in fact it encourages the yeast to really get going. But later on, oxygen is your enemy, and will cause undesirable chemical changes in the beer. The second danger is that the air might contain spores of spoilage organisms - wild yeasts or bacteria. Don't get too paranoid about this, though! Just avoid a lot of splashing around when you siphon, and try to keep headspaces to a minimum. I like to purge airspaces with CO2 gas, but the beer itself will do a lot of this if it's still fermenting.
Of course doing this means waiting longer for your beer :-( - but I reckon it'll be worth it :thumb:

Thank you, this is what I will try on my next batch.. I'm unsure of my patience however will try really hard :)

 

[Hoppyland]

Thank you, this is what I will try on my next batch.. I'm unsure of my patience however will try really hard :)

Good luck & let us know how you get on!

 

[Lesinge]

I usually leave my beer in the FV for two weeks initially, sometimes more, siphon to a bottling bucket for another couple of days and then bottle. After two weeks inside for carbonation I stick them in the garage for a few weeks (if I can keep my hands off) and generally have a really clear beer. Sometimes with the AG I get a bit of chill haze but nothing that spoils the beer 😃

 

[m_rawdin]

I'm about to start my first AG brew so there's some great tips on here. I've never bottled before so it's going to be a bit of a learning curve I think.

 

[geetee]

Lots of different people have their own process for bottling and you will have to develop your own approach. My advice would be to plan that well in advance so that you know on the day what you are doing.

I will outline my approach to bottling ( I have tried several) and you should feel free to ask as many questions as you want before starting.

Following fermentation I allow the FV 2 days at 14°C for diacetyl rest.
On the third day I add auxillary finings (optional but it clears the beer quickly) and reduce temperature to as low as possible, 3 -5 °C . Leave it for 5- 7 days and should be clear.
On the day of bottling I will bring the FV into the house and allow to warm up, you should check the gravity as it will determine the priming sugar needed.
You should never start bottling process unless your beer is clear of just about clear!
I then prepare the priming sugar dissolving in about 500ml of boiling water.
This is poured into a second sterilised FV or bottling bucket. Syphon your beer into this bucket with as little splashing as possible i.e. long syphon tube to the bottom of the bucket.
Once the beer is syphoned leaving as much yeast as possible in the FV then you can bottle. keep the bottles somewhere warm 17- 20°C for 5 -7 days and then cool as low as possible for 1 week - 4 weeks before drinking

Make sure you plan the number of bottles you need, they must be clean and sterilise just before use. Have enough caps sterilised to fit and cap as soon as filled. use a bottling wand or little bottler if you can.

I know others transfer to a pressurised keg to condition first, I have tried this but do not feel it adds anything. There are many variations of storing before bottling, priming the day before etc, but go for a simple approach to start with

 

[Lesinge]

I'm about to start my first AG brew so there's some great tips on here. I've never bottled before so it's going to be a bit of a learning curve I think.

Adding to what others have said here the equipment I could not live without now (and I have bottled nearly 90 brews!) is a little bottler attachment which allows easy filling up of the bottles, a vinator bottle washer, a bottle tree, Star San (no rinse solution), a funnel to add sugar to bottles if you do it that way and finally a laptop/ipad to watch your favorite programme whilst bottling!

 

[Hoppyland]

I reckon this is what Lesinge means by a bottling attachment. I know it as a "bottling stick".
Basically, it's a rigid tube with a push-valve at the bottom. Rest it on the bottom of a bottle, and the beer flows, but pull it up and the flow stops (well, OK, it still drips a bit). It's cheap, and it really does make bottling a heck of a lot easier:thumb:

 

[Hoppyland]

Here I go again forgot the piccie!

 

[geetee]

It's a must have if you bottle all your brews, saves turning a tap on and off and leaves the correct head space. Ask Santa for at least 1!