setiment in bottles

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smellycarp

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Hi everyone. I just bottled my 2nd batch and while doing so, consumed the last 2 bottles from the first batch (poor timing, at least 2 weeks with no home brew).
My first batch, a blonde ale, was brewed on 11/27 and fermented for 2 weeks, then was bottled on 12/11/11. we drank the first bottles Christmas eve and all was great.

My question is this.
While i expected some sedimentation, i found that over time, the sediment was less dense and floated up. the first bottles had a very this layer of sediment that stayed put as I poured, with some light shaking and rinsing, it came right up.
The last bottles had sediment floating up, even while just sitting in the fridge. so after 4 weeks the sediment was really loose and fluffy looking in the bottom 1.5 to 2 inches???

Is this normal?

Cheers,
Mike
 
It is if you bottle too early before the yeast settles to the bottom of primary. You'd have to have done that to get 1.5 to 2 inches of dregs in the bottles. Let it settle in primary till the beer is clear or only slightly misty. Then rack to bottling bucket. It'll drop clear in a couple of days after being bottled.
 
I agree. Not enough time in the primary. Let is go 3-4 weeks in the primary and you should see different results.
 
Thanks guys
I think i was unclear in my post.
Blonde ale spent 2 weeks in primary
2weeks at room temp in bottles
Then a few days in fridge. Efore first tasting.
Originally the dregs settled nice and compact in a barely noticeable layer in the bottom.
After about 3 weeks in the fridge the dregs broke free and became floaters if you will, as if they'd been shaken??
This didnt happen on my second batch. And 3rd batch was just bottled 2 days ago. I let both batches sit 3 weeks before bottling
We'll se how this last one comes out
 
Did something change in the bottling process? I am thinking of something that might have caused some bottles to get a dose of the lees from the fermenter somehow. I use a plastic bucket primary and a glass carboy secondary. The primary will end up with a dense layer of yeast up to an inch thick after a week. The secondary will have a smaller amount of less dense material fall out of suspension over 1-2 weeks. The I transfer to a bottling bucket (siphon) being careful to avoid stirring up the lees from the secondary. I have never seen anything I could describe as "light" or "fluffy" that is 1" to 2" deep, but all bottles have had some sediment.
 
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