Munton's Carb Tab Question!

I just used these tablets to carb my FatTire clone. They've been in the bottle almost a week, so I haven't popped one yet to see how they've carb'd....but there is a healthy layer of this stuff at the bottom of the bottles. The package said use 3-5 tabs per 12ox bottle and I used 4 per.

What is that white layer? Have any of you used these tabs and NOT liked the results? I'm sure they'll carb nicely, just wondering how the head and retention is, being that they state on the package that this helps in that area as well.

Thanks!

They've worked well for me, pretty comparable to the carb drops or using corn sugar. You've probably just got some yeast at the bottom of the bottle. 4 per bottle should be right for most beers.

I added half a pack of dry yeast to the bottling bucket because I had crash cooled this batch for a couple weeks....but I've never seen that kind of layer at the bottom before until I used the tabs (even when adding some dry yeast to ensure carbonation would occur).

Does anyone know if it's the heading powder, or the actual sugars that are settling? I would have thought that the sugars would have been consumed for the most part!

bottle conditioned beer always contains sediment at the bottom.

the carb tablets do seem to add a little extra white sediment.

for the record a couple weeks of crash cooling, you probably didn't need to pitch yeast for carbonation.

someone here did a 4 month secondary and their bottles carb'd fine. really depends on the yeast though.

Yes, I'm used to sediment in the bottom...but this is ALOT more than what I've always had from using priming sugar in the bucket.

And everything I've ever read says that more than just a couple days at 34*F will need some yeast added to carb (see the lagering section of our wiki even). The best carb'd beers I've made I've done that way, but not with these tablets.

So anyone else have input? Is it indeed the heading powder that I'm seeing? It's much more solid than the normal yeast at the bottom....I had to turn a bottle over 10 times or so at lunch today to break that up and get it into suspension.

I have used those tabs on a few occasions. They have never produced any more or any less sediment than plain old corn sugar. I doubt it has anything to do with the tabs. It sounds to me like you have a lot of yeast coming out of suspension. Did you notice that you sucked a lot of yeast off the bottom of the fermenter when you racked to your carboy?

Regardless, it shouldn't matter much in the end, except that you might want to store them on the cool side if you don't plan on drinking them within a few months.

I'm betting it's normal yeast sediment. You added a 1/2 pack of yeast which has to go somewhere after it's done. Seriously, that is a more yeast than you would normally have when you bottle condition. Plus it's probably more flocculent because the stuff the normally survives the secondary and racking process is the stuff that's least likely to drop out of suspension. What you added didn't get the chance to drop out earlier.

The batches I've added yeast to never has this much at the bottom though....anytime I've crash cooled at 34 for a couple weeks or more, it is VERY clear at bottling time. Several batches that I didn't add some dry eyast to never carb'd well....this has always wpoked nice.....the only thing I changed this time is the tabs. Oh well, at least this junk, whatever it is, is more solid/sticky at the bottom of the bottles for pouring!

I did an experiment with a lager that I'd had in the secondary for 4 months. I bottled 1/2 the batch normally then I added a full packet of rehydrated yeast to the second 1/2. Both carbonated fine, though the 1/2 without the added yeast took a bit longer. However, the bottles that had the extra dose of yeast had much more sediment on the bottom.

what kind of yeast was used in primary? how clear was the beer at bottling?

if you used a strain that doesn't floccuate well, then you may have had more yeast still in suspension than you're used to, even with a 34 degree crash cooling.

I used Nottingham for primary...about 2 weeks primary, 3-4 weeks secondary at 34*....it was VERY clear at bottling. Added Nottingham at bottling as well.

I tried some of the Muntons carb tabs on a six pak of 22 oz. bottles just to see how the worked.
They did the job of carbonating just fine, but left little white chunks of whatever floating at the top of the beer. Won't be using them again.
AP