Reducing sediment from keg

I've read a couple articles about how to reduce sediment from kegs. One said to cut an inch off the out tube another to shake the keg and of course pour out the sediment. But after the beer is all gone I seem to have alot of yeast and sediment stuck on the bottom of the keg. Pretty much looking for opinions or ways you help reduce your Sediment.

Not kegging the beer too soon is the first thing you can do diminish the amount of trub in the keg. Another is too try crash cooling. It is essentially putting your fermenter in a fridge for a couple of days and then kegging. The cold temps help the beer to clear before you keg. No need to cut your dip tubes. If you take your time and don't rush the beer, you'll be able to toss the first pint and have good beer the rest of the way.

Yup, whether it's bottling or kegging, reducing the amount of sediment before it gets to the serving container is key. Long primaries, using a secondary (either one works) using finnings, and crash cooling all work. If you are using a keezer, crash cooling is easy. Just stick the fermenter in there for a couple days before racking to kegs.

But even if you can't cold crash, I get very little if any sedimentation after a month in primary.

Thanks and if I cold crash it I take it I will have to cold condition?

Gustavo said:

Thanks and if I cold crash it I take it I will have to cold condition?

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I'm not sure what you're asking. If you crash cool, you can rack it to the keg and keep it at whatever temperature you want. But I like to keep it cold, as it really clears up nicely.

I'm not one to cut my diptube. What I do is to keg the beer when it's clear, or nearly so, and then stick it in the kegerator. After about 5 days, I pour about 3 ounces of sludge out and dump it. And then the beer pours totally clear after that. There is some yeast sediment in the keg when the beer is gone- maybe 1/8 of a cup- but if you don't move the keg after you pour off the first three ounces, you won't have it in your beer at all.

Transfer from your primary to the keg.
Cold crash your beer in the keg for a week or more under normal pressure.
Then make a jumper of two OUT quick disconnects and transfer your beer to another keg at 5 psi.
Put that keg back in your keezer under pressure for another week or two and you will have great clear beer.

I just transferred a beer that I primary fermented in the keg.
I cold crashed it before transferring from the primary keg and my yeast patty was nice and firm.
Like Yooper said...small amount of trub came out initially, but the rest was clear during the transfer.
My beer is now in the second keg, carbing up, and will be ready to serve in 5 - 10 days.

I've not had any issue in my kegs. I simply give the beer long enough for the yeast to fully flocculate out, then transfer it without picking up any of the yeast cake. All the yeasts I'm using are rated high, or better, for flocculation. I also let them go at least 3 weeks before I transfer them. I also use a CO2 push to move my beer, so I'm not moving the fermenter an inch before starting the transfer. If you're using a bucket, or carboy, and not using a CO2 push, then try moving the fermenter at least several hours before you're going to transfer to keg. If you can, go a day or more between when you move it and transfer.

IMO, cutting the dip tube is a ghetto way to cover up other issues. Once you manage to figure out why you're having the issue, you'll then need to get new dip tubes to replace all the ones you cut. Those suckers are NOT cheap these days.

I have yet to see any sediment come out of my kegs when pouring (even the first pour). When I clean the kegs, there's a fine layer of sediment in the bottom of the keg, but it's below the level of the dip tube. I'm either lucky, or doing something really right.

You can use yeast that Flocks-out and also add some moss tablets during the boil and rack to a secondary before going to the keg to let everything drop again.

mikescooling said:

You can use yeast that Flocks-out and also add some moss tablets during the boil and rack to a secondary before going to the keg to let everything drop again.

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Irish moss only helps with the cold break. Also, Whirlfloc is tablet form, Irish moss is loose. Plus, Irish moss is not actual moss but made from seaweed.

I've not racked a batch of beer to another vessel in an effort to get it to clear. Knowing how to transfer cleanly will get you much better results. Practice transferring from the fermenter to keg until you get the sediment level to a minimum.

IF you have a fermentation chamber, you could cold crash once fermentation, and bulk aging/conditioning, is finished. IMO, that's really not necessary for the majority of brews out there. As I've already mentioned, I get super clear brews without cold crashing, using fining agents in the fermenter, or any of the other methods many seem to need (or depend on for other reasons).

If you don't want sediment don't keg sediment. You need to ask yourself,,, Do I want clear beer? or Do I want 5gallons? I seldom keg all the beer from the carboy, I usually never let the racking cane touch the bottom and as soon as I see splooge in the siphon we are done. Yea some times I dump a quart or two out but the beer is clear the tubes aren't cut and life is good

certaut said:

If you don't want sediment don't keg sediment. You need to ask yourself,,, Do I want clear beer? or Do I want 5gallons? I seldom keg all the beer from the carboy, I usually never let the racking cane touch the bottom and as soon as I see splooge in the siphon we are done. Yea some times I dump a quart or two out but the beer is clear the tubes aren't cut and life is good

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Hey... I looked up splooge on Google...and dude....what exactly are you putting in your fermenter???

certaut said:

If you don't want sediment don't keg sediment. You need to ask yourself,,, Do I want clear beer? or Do I want 5gallons? I seldom keg all the beer from the carboy, I usually never let the racking cane touch the bottom and as soon as I see splooge in the siphon we are done. Yea some times I dump a quart or two out but the beer is clear the tubes aren't cut and life is good

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I factor in what I'll leave behind in the fermenter when I formulate a batch. I'm normally putting 6.75-7 gallons into primary, so that I get a solid 6 gallons out. Even though I transfer from primary (a modified sanke keg) via a CO2 push, I use clear tubing so that I can see if I'm getting sediment or not. If I'm not, then it's all good. IF I ever do, I usually have a shorter dip tube I could install in place of the one installed. Although that one has done very well for me so far. :fro:

OK yeast splooge

E-Mursed said:

Hey... I looked up splooge on Google...and dude....what exactly are you putting in your fermenter???

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Must remember not to look at your avatar when brewing...

Gelatin, boiled, dissolved, and added at the end of fermentation or during secondary also helps to keep the yeasties out of your finished product.

I don't think it is necessary, I don't think people with great procedures need to bother. But is a nice safety net. You can buy gelatin (unflavored) at a decent grocery store. Don't use lime jello instead.

I brew 5.5 gallon batches so I can be sure I am moving clear beer into the keg and have it full.
I use an auto-siphon, the bottom of it makes a nice "siphon pool" in the trub bed, as the siphon starts. I'll waste a little less than a quart until it's clear for a bit, then into the keg.
At first tap, I have a few ounces with some floaters, then all clear, and never any more than a slight coating of sediment in the keg bottom, no real build up.
I think one of the most obvious, but important things is to keep the racking device perfectly still while moving the beer. Any bit of shifting is going to transfer some trub.
Also minimum 3 weeks in primary to make sure the yeast are done, cleaned up and settled.

One good reason for cutting the dip tube off is if you are trying to quickly harvest the yeast to repitch in another batch. If I wanted to ferment a beer so I could use the yeast for a bigger beer, what I would do is let the first beer ferment for about a week, rack into my keg with the short tube and let it finish there. The yeast and other stuff would settle out and I could then move the beer into another keg for serving.

By doing this, I would have healthier yeast for the repitch because they were not exposed to the alcohol and hops for an extended period of time. Other then that, I think letting the beer finish in the primary, cold crash and carefully rack to the keg is the easiest and best way to get clear beer.

+1 to "don't keg sediment." I wait til the beer clears up, then keg it, avoiding siphoning yeast and trub.

I see zero reason to cut the dip tubes. I bend them, so they leave about 12 oz behind, which allows for yeast sediment over time. When the keg blows, pour out the last 12 oz of (cloudy) yum into a glass and enjoy.

You can also use a keg as your primary fermentor and then rack to another keg for secondary (NO -- LETS NOT START THAT DEBATE). This is my usual technique. Primary ferm keg has a slightly shortened dip tube and I use low pressure CO2 to push the wort from one keg to another. Easy and clean.