Getting that great pour

Got my first brew that should be carbonated enough to drink in about a week. It's a stout.

Was wondering about the sediment at the bottom of the bottle. How careful do I have to be to keep all the sediment in the bottle and not get it into my glass when pouring. Will it be really loose, or...?

Also, when you throw your finished brew into a keg do you still have to worry about sediment when pouring?

Thanks!

:rockin:

Just pour like a normal beer, but a little slower. If you have good light, you can see when the yeast sediment starts flowing into the neck of the bottle. (Oops, you have a stout, you won't see it then because the beer is too dark...) Just pour slow and leave about half an inch in the bottle. Yeast won't kill you anyway, actually it prevents hangovers.

Different yeast will flocculate and create different consistencies of sludge. They won't hurt you and in a stout they won't effect the flavor. The best way to handle them is to watch the yeast cake as you pour, it will be pretty obvious if it is staying put or runny enough to come out. Pour relatively slowly and always pour the whole bottle. If you tip the bottle upright after pouring out some of it the sloshing of beer will bring the yesat up off the bottom.

If you do pour in the yeast it will change the flavor a little but it is not typically unpleasant unless you aren't racking carefully from your fermenter to begin with.

Also, in addition to what everyone has said, it is a good idea to put your beer in the fridge a day or so in advance - this will give enough time for the yeast to settle and form a some solid sludge at the bottom.

In a keg, any left over yeast sediment will pour out with the first glass or two.

Check this out:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyXn4UBjQkE]YouTube - Episode 014 - How To Pour The Perfect Pint Of Homebrew[/ame]

I've gotten to the point where I don't worry about the yeast, especially in a darker beer. I guess if I were brewing a light lager or something that needed to look perfectly sparkling in a glass for some reason, I'd pour carefully.
For a stout? I'd just pour away and enjoy the extra vitamin B.

That video is accurate but it always bothers me when people say that "homebrew has a yeast layer that you have to pour off of" (or similar). Any bottle conditioned beer will have this. It isn't some weird affliction that homebrew has. SNPA is bottle conditioned for crying out loud.

And not "all" homebrew is bottle conditioned. Many bottlers fill from a carbonated bright tank and have no sediment.

Just a pet peeve.

EDIT: I think it is a good habit to taste the yeast slurry at the bottom of your bottles. Some yeast/beer combos go well together and the beer may be more enjoyable with the yeast swirled into suspension. Some will be significantly worse.

I've noticed that my beers pour much better out of the bottle after they have cleared completely, not just yeast, but chill haze too. MUCH better head retention as well.

I don't fear the yeast. I bottle in 500mL swing tops so I actually get two pours out of one bottle. The first one is usually clearer than the second but they're both good.