Getting frustrated by sediment in bottles

[WelshPaul]

I've been brewing for nearly a couple of years now and one thing that I just can't seem to improve on is the amount of sediment in the bottles, sometimes 3mm or more, which does not make for great drinking. I'm wondering if it's something that I'm doing wrong as my kegs barely have any sediment at the bottom when they're finished.

Could a lot of sediment come from the priming and bottling process?
I'm using a FV with a Little Bottler attached and in order to maximise the amount of beer I get from each batch, I'm pointing the hole on the little red attachment towards the bottom of the FV - around 1cm from the bottom. I'm also wondering if the type of sugar that I use could make a difference; I currently use caster sugar rather than brewers sugar.
Finally, I'm wondering if it's worth batch priming the beer and then leaving it in the bottling bucket for a couple of hours to let everything settle, just in case there is still some precipitate still in suspension.

What do you think? Any advice on how best to minimise sediment in the bottles? I know that I can't eradicate it entirely without force carbonating the beer but it seems to be a bit excessive at the moment.

 

[graysalchemy]

If you are getting that much sediment then I would say that you are transfering it in at bottling. How clear is it when you bottle? Do you tansfere to a secondry FV to clear? The clearer the beer before you bottle and the less sediment around when you bottle the better it will be IMHO. :thumb:

 

[PD]

you will always get a little sediment if bottle/keg conditioning with sugar ( ordinary granulated is fine )
however it can be reduced to " almost nothing " in the bottle.
and its easy to do...

LEAVE THE BREW AN EXTRA WEEK IN THE FERMENTER. after its completely finished fermenting. Most of the yeast will then drop to the floor and you take off CLEAN beer. The small amount of sugar added to the bottle or keg will hardly make any difference. Then keep it warm for a couple of weeks THEN cool for a further week and your beer will be clean.
Yeasts need time to work out, clean up and settle.

Give time in the bucket and give time in the bottle !

I rarely see any sediment on the bottom of my bottles.

 

[bunkerbrewer]

I don't think the type of sugar has any effect. It's not clear if you're bottling directly from your FV. If you are, it's worth transferring the beer off the trub into a bottling bucket before bottling. I wouldn't leave it for a few hours in the bottling bucket, though - if the sugar solution isn't fully mixed in it'll start to sink to towards the bottom.

If you can, it also helps to crash cool the beer for a couple of days before bottling.

But you're always going to get some sediment, as the beer is undergoing a small fermentation to carbonate the beer. Also some yeasts behave differently - some produce a more compacted bottle sediment than others.

3mm isn't too bad, I don't worry about it too much :) Just pour carefully in one go and leave the last bit of beer in the bottle...

 

[rpt]

You need the red thing (technical term) on your little bottler to point up to minimise the sediment transferred. Sediment in the bottle isn't an issue if you pour carefully into the glass.

 

[calumscott]

I've lost the little red thing...

I think this is down to bottling process rather than technology. I never seem to get an excessive sediment and I'm nowhere near as particular as some (PD... :lol: ).

I tend to:

1) Leave the beer alone, in primary for two weeks unless I'm dry hopping in which case it's three weeks and it may or may not get racked at week one.
2) Batch prime and bottle all in one process
3) In terms of maximising yield, that's just down to how well you rack to your bottling bucket, everything that goes in, comes back out again! Often the last bottle ("frankenbottle", as it's sometimes a bit, erm knocked together) goes in with a bit of bottler, a bit of funnel and often a bit of top up from the others! That's the two week sample for me...

 

[WelshPaul]

You need the red thing (technical term) on your little bottler to point up to minimise the sediment transferred. Sediment in the bottle isn't an issue if you pour carefully into the glass.

I had a feeling. I'll give it a go next time, even if it means getting fewer bottles out of the batch.

 

[calumscott]

You need the red thing (technical term) on your little bottler to point up to minimise the sediment transferred. Sediment in the bottle isn't an issue if you pour carefully into the glass.

I had a feeling. I'll give it a go next time, even if it means getting fewer bottles out of the batch.

Paul, when you bottle...

...are you bottling from primary FV?

If not and you are racking to a bottling bucket and bottling from there then the little red doodah is redundant... the racking process should be leaving all the yeast behind in the primary.

 

[rpt]

Paul, when you bottle...

...are you bottling from primary FV?

If not and you are racking to a bottling bucket and bottling from there then the little red doodah is redundant... the racking process should be leaving all the yeast behind in the primary.

That's a good point, although I'm sure I still manage to transfer some crud to the bottling bucket.

 

[WelshPaul]

My usual process is:
- 1 week in primary
- Rack into secondary for 1-2 weeks
- Rack into bottling bucket and batch prime for bottling

 

[calumscott]

Then I'm really surprised at the level of sedimentation you report!

That's a really good process.

When you say that the yeast "does not make for great drinking" what do you mean? Are you unable to pour a clear pint?

 

[PD]

are you using a good quality yeast or a general " beer " yeast

the last few days in your secondary are you moving it to somewhere cool, ( standing on a stone floor is good )

 

My usual process is:
- 1 week in primary
- Rack into secondary for 1-2 weeks
- Rack into bottling bucket and batch prime for bottling

hi paul ...
iv only bottled 1 lot of brew as iv only just started brewing ...

but scottm told me...

always keep it in the 1st fv for 10 days ...
then syphon in to the 2nd fv leave that also 10 days ...

each time there was sediment left in the fvs...

then dissolve my sugar in a half pint of boiling water ..
add this to my 3rd fv...
then syphone the brew in to there and bottle ...

leave in the warm 14 days ...
then into the cold minimum 1 month....

as i said iv only done one batch but....

i had 3 bottles fall over in the warm....
i didnt think to move them ...

but when i did there was this line of sediment along the side of the bottle ...

but it was very thin /not much at all...

i hope this helps ....

regards mick... :hat: .
and its still in the shed

 

[WelshPaul]

are you using a good quality yeast or a general " beer " yeast

US-05 is my usual yeast of choice unless I am making a wheat beer. I also got a LOT of sediment when bottling a beer made from Wyeast 3787 Trappist yeast recently.

 

[bunkerbrewer]

My usual process is:
- 1 week in primary
- Rack into secondary for 1-2 weeks
- Rack into bottling bucket and batch prime for bottling

For the next one, you could try doing without the secondary altogether. I've never bothered, and many people that use a secondary are coming round to the idea that all it does it stir up beer which was already well on its way to settling.

Just leave it in the primary for 2+ weeks and see if you get less sediment.

 

[Baz Chaz]

You might want to have a look at your method and have a change :hmm:

I take mine from the FV when its finished, put into second FV with syrup solution and batch prime from there.

I've been using Safale05 over the last 12 months and sediment in bottles is quite low.


I have my bottling stick attached direct to the spare FV tap, if you're syphoning you may be picking up more sediment from the FV

Even tipping the FV to get the last of the beer out doesn't disturb what sediment there is in the FV.

 

[WelshPaul]

No, there's no syphoning going on: all of my FVs have taps fitted.
For the next one, I'll transfer it to the bottling bucket and leave it in there for a few hours to see if any sediment is being transferred.

 

[PD]

well you seem to be doing everything right....all I can suggest is longer time before bottling

 

[calumscott]

well you seem to be doing everything right....all I can suggest is longer time before bottling

And a longer time in the bottle for the yeast to pack down properly. :thumb:

 

[rpt]

No, there's no syphoning going on: all of my FVs have taps fitted.

My LHBS wasn't keen on taps because he said it causes the beer to swirl up and mix up some sediment. I use the tap on my FV to take hydrometer samples during fermentation but I always syphon to the bottling bucket (or secondary if I'm using one). Also, the syphon has a sediment trap.