Ready For 1st Time Bottle, But I'm Confused

My first post, so let me thank all you brilliant minds for guiding me along the way and making me a bit more prepared when I did my first brew.

I did a kit, followed the directions, have my pre-measured sugars in the bag and feel really confident about my first brew. But I keep reading and I'm confused...

I'm going straight from primary (carboy) to bottling bucket after 2 weeks (in 2 days). I didn't filter the wort and let everything go into the primary thinking the yeast could munch on it. After seeing so much stuff floating around I wondered, maybe I can filter going into the bottling bucket to clean it up some and I keep seeing mixed answers.

Some people say cold crash so everything, including the yeast, settles to the bottom. But other people say not to filter because you'll filter out the yeast.

I don't understand. If I cold crashed (which isn't an option for me anyway) and the yeast settled to the bottom and then siphoned to the bottling bucket don't I lose the yeast? And how would that differ from me filtering to the bottling bucket, again losing the yeast? My understanding is no yeast = no carbonation from the added sugars.

My goal is to have less junk in the bottom of the bottles. People say the longer it sits, the more clearer it gets...is that because the yeast just keeps eating? My concern is people saying not to drink from the bottle or you'll get the poops.

Many thanks.

Hi and welcome to HBT!

Better to ask questions first, so here we go. Cold crashing isn't necessary, but will help if you want the beer to be clearer. You didn't mention what recipe or yeast. Some yeast are more flocculant (likely to settle out) than others. My best advice is cold crash if it isn't much trouble, otherwise just don't agitate the carboy for a long time before you siphon into the bottling bucket. No matter what, if you don't filter there will be enough yeast in suspension to complete the task of bottle carbonating. Don't worry about stuff in the bottom of the bottles. It's a fact of bottle conditioned beers. It'll settle as well, and you're going to want to pour that beautiful beer into a glass anyways, right? The schmoe that drinks your labor of love from the bottle deserves what he gets

Cheers!

BeerGrylls has offered some sound advice above. Don't worry too much at this point. I would leave the beer in the carboy for 3 weeks minimum to improve on clarity, and the yeast will actually clean up by products produced as part of the fermentation process (diacetyl being a main one).

Now, I have never heard of getting the poops when drinking from a bottle of home brew, but one will ingest the settled yeast. I guess this would depend on the persons digestive abilities. Also mentioned above, most pour home brew into a glass, leaving the yeast in the bottle.

+1 on waiting 3 weeks to bottle. Your beer will be better for it.

As said, cold crashing, or just waiting longer, will settle out a bit more yeast. If you are bottling within a couple of months, there will still be plenty of yeast in suspension to carbonate the beer, even if it looks pretty clear. By now you should see a thick sediment layer at the bottom of your carboy. That is the stuff you want to leave behind.

Some commercial brewers filter fine enough to remove the yeast, then they force carbonate or bottle with a different yeast strain. That is a bit beyond the capabilities of most homebrewers. At this stage there are many easier steps you can take to improve your beer. I wouldn't worry at all about filtration at this point. For now focus on good sanitation and temperature control during fermentation.

Congrats on your first beer!

Awesome, thanks so much to the both of you. Just fyi, I'm doing an Irish Red (forgot what the yeast was) and I live in FL so there's just no way I'll be able to get it cold enough and still keep it sanitary.

Really appreciate the quick responses! I look forward to the day where I'm as knowledgeable as you guys/gals!

Cheers!

I just went through the same situation myself. Bottled my first beer last week. I too asked lots of questions here. My beer had been dry hopped, so there was a ton of hop material both on the bottom and the top of the carboy. Some said to filter, and others said not to, so I had to decide for myself. The key to me was that I didn't want to overly aerate the beer, because my understanding is that is not good. Apparently the additional oxygen in the beer can negatively affect that flavor.

So after going back and forth, I decided that I did want to filter. I bought a 5 gallon nylon paint strainer from Lowes. Of course, be sure to sterilize it first. I put it in the bottom of the bucket, and had another person hold it so that the beer wouldn't run through it and splash to the bottom. (to minimize the aeration) Then when there were several inches of beer in the bucket, I used the elastic band and wrapped it around the top of the bucket.

For me, the filtering worked out really well. A bunch of material ended up in that strainer that I wouldn't have wanted in my bottles. Plus I used a dip tube on the back of my bottling spigot to suck up virtually the last drop of beer, so that junk would have definitely ended up in my bottles.

BeerGrylls said:

there will be enough yeast in suspension to complete the task of bottle carbonating. Don't worry about stuff in the bottom of the bottles. It's a fact of bottle conditioned beers. It'll settle as well

Click to expand...

This!

Most of the yeast will floc out after a few weeks in primary but there will still be a few swimming about looking for more sugars to eat. Plus when you rack to the bottling bucket, you'll inevitably stir up a few more.

Those little guys will eat your priming sugar and carb up your beer in the bottle (at least 2-3 weeks @70F!). Once they've eaten all the priming sugar in the bottle, they'll start to floc out again, so you'll get a little sediment in your bottle. A week in the fridge will help this and make the yeast cake in your bottle hold together better for a cleaner pour into the glass (slow continuous pour, no glug glug).

A basic rule of thumb: 3-2-1

3 weeks in primary
2 weeks @ 70F to carb
1 week in the fridge

This can shift depending on OG, FG, temp., etc. But it's a good time frame to keep in mind.

You can always buy a packet of dry yeast and put a couple of grains in each bottle and they will eat the sugar.
Don't worry about your beer being cloudy it doesn't affect the taste at all it is just an aesthetic.
When you first start worry more about temperatures and sanitation

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Personally, I enjoy getting the poops from bottled beer. I realize that yeast is good for me, and that it is a part of the embolic carbohydration mineralatic process that the human body needs. So each and every time you get the liquid poops, just remember that you have just replenished your body with embolic carbohydration minerals.

I get the beer down to a stable FG,then give it another 3-7 days to clean up fermentation by products & settle out clear or slightly misty (depending on yeast strain's flocculation rate) before racking to bottling bucket. My fermenters all have spigots,& I use a length of tubing from the spigot to the bottom of the bottling bucket for racking. Everything that touches the beer must be clean & sanitized first. The racking tube keeps the beer from being aerated at this point. That can make for musty cardboard flavors later.