Cloudy beer

Hello gents,

I brewed my first AG Belgian Blonde about 5 weeks ago, and just did a single fermentation. I just opened the first bottle to test the SG, and even for being young, its turned out AMAZING.

My question though - it seems to have a lot of sediment roaming around in the bottle. Not granular though, but sort of gooey... there is also a fair amount of sediment on the bottom of each bottle, which I believe must be from lazy pouring during priming or just leftover hops and grain matter. Is this sediment supposed to be in there, suspended in the beer? Or do I perhaps just need to wait a bit for it to settle more and leave it be?

Thanks everyone.

Most of it should settle out given enough time. Keeping it cold will help it settle a little quicker as well.

Yeah, now that you know it's carbed up, it's time to get some of the bottles into the fridge for a lagering period to crash out the haze and set the sediment. A week is good, a month is better. I'd guess it wasn't exactly clear when you bottled it so a longer primary next time will help.

If you're just doing a single stage fermentation make sure to let it sit about three weeks before bottling, and you'll have lots less crud in your bottles next time.

Also, what did you mean lazy pouring from priming? You shouldn't pour the beer, you should siphon it ("rack" it) into your bottling bucket, and then make sure you use tubing/bottling wand to fill. Maybe I misunderstood what you said, but I just wanted to be sure. And you said you opened a bottle to test the SG- I'm not sure what you mean there.

Anyway, great job on your beer! It's always a good feeling to open one and say, "Ah, I made this!", isn't it?

Yep! Always a good feeling to drink your very first beer and say! This is good. I'm with Yooper on needing some clarification on this "pouring"

Sediment in the bottom of the bottle is normal, but the beer itself should be relatively clear. The beer will clear as it ages naturally.

Here's an article on how to help clarity of your beer if this is a problem.

Brad

Thanks everyone, great advice from all.

When I siphoned it from the fermenter into the bottles, I was very careful, except some of the crud on the bottom of the carboy made its way into the siphon somehow and into the bottles. The beer itself is exceptionally clear...until I disturb it.

So time/cool temps will help set that crud in the bottom of the bottles? When pouring, do I want to leave that junk in the bottle, or try to get every little bit of goodness out of it and into each glass...?

Oh, yes, it'll compact more to the bottom especially if you used a flocculent yeast. If you leave them up right in the fridge for a few days, and then pour properly, you could leave 1/4 or 1/8 inch of beer in the bottle and get NO cloudiness or sediment in your bottle.

Someone had a neat graphic of "how to pour homebrew" that they put on their bottles for their friends. Does anybody remember who's gallery that's in? I'd love to find that again for my guests!

When you pour into the glass, you pour at an angle and gradually tip the bottle as to not stir up the sediment. You do it in one long pour, not a couple smaller ones (which stirs up the yeasty stuff).