Yeast in bottles

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times but I'll ask again.

I've brewed about 6 different beers and after bottling there is always yeast at the bottom. I understand that this is part of home brewing and in some cases desired. But I like making beer for friends and family and not many like the yeast so here are my questions.

First, do you drink the yeast? I have always poured the beer into a glass leaving out as much of the yeast as possible.

Second, what is the best technique to bottle the beers without having the cake byproduct at the bottom?

Thanks guys

I usually avoid pouring the yeast unless style calls such as a Hefeweizen.

I keg so I use Biermuncher's bottling wand(can search the forums here for it)

I went that way for that reason. Got tired if explaining how to pour the beer to anyone I wanted to give a bottle to.

Try using a secondary and then cold crashing prior to bottling. The secondary usually ends up with about a 1/8 inch in the bottom of the secondary. The cold crash knocks down a lot of "stuff" in the beer prior to filling the bottling bucket. There is enough yeast to carb up, just add a couple days onto conditioning and you're golden. I get about 99% of my bottles with little to nothing in the bottom. Certainly not enough to worry about.

Everybody's got their own style on this. I prefer my pours to look as clear as possible.

Amatxbrew said:

Second, what is the best technique to bottle the beers without having the cake byproduct at the bottom?

Click to expand...

There's no way around this if you bottle carb. The option is to keg and then bottle from the keg after carbonation with a counter pressure filler, beer gun, or the bottling wand as mentioned.

i put a post on here the other day about how i like to drink from the bottle and that is why i use a secondary.

for your next brew, after two weeks in the primary, transfer it to the secondary and try not to suck up any of the trub. if you have to move your primary to siphon, let it settle for a few hours before transferring. give it two weeks in the secondary (more of a bright tank really) and then bottle.

some people on here disagree with me, but i get an absolute minimum of settled gunk when i do this. so little that your friends and family will never notice, whether they are pouring or drinking from the bottle.

maybe there would be less debate if we stopped calling it a secondary and started calling it a bright tank.

Sounds like a plan, I have also read about adding diluted gelatin to the secondary prior to bottling to clean some of the "stuff" out, any feelings on this?

Also I guess I just assumed that the stuff on the bottom was caused by the yeast carbonating the beer, from what I'm getting, it is actually just free particles floating around in the beer and the more techniques I use to clean the beer, less of this will be there?

And tell me more about this bright tank. Do you just mean like a carboy where light can come into contact with the beer? Sorry I've got so many questions, just really caught the home brew fever and want to learn everything.

There is some caps that when you store the bottle upside down catch the sediment and hold it there. Of course the best option it's any kind of counter-pression filler beergun or the less expensive Biermuncher's device

progmac said:

i put a post on here the other day about how i like to drink from the bottle and that is why i use a secondary.

for your next brew, after two weeks in the primary, transfer it to the secondary and try not to suck up any of the trub. if you have to move your primary to siphon, let it settle for a few hours before transferring. give it two weeks in the secondary (more of a bright tank really) and then bottle.

Click to expand...

Some folks report better results with use of a secondary, I get the exact same thing with a 3-4 wk primary and cold crash. Tightly packed cake, very clear beer going into the bottling bucket. Bright tank is just a vessel you use to let the beer sit in and clear and condition - what most of us are referring to when we say "secondary", as there is really not any fermentation going on at that point. And no, you don't want light hitting your beer.

Amatxbrew said:

Also I guess I just assumed that the stuff on the bottom was caused by the yeast carbonating the beer, from what I'm getting, it is actually just free particles floating around in the beer and the more techniques I use to clean the beer, less of this will be there?

Click to expand...

Yes, if you let the beer clear first then all you will have is the thin layer of yeast. If you let them chill in the fridge for a while the little cake gets more compact so it's easier to pour without including the yeast.

That yeast is full of vitamins and is part of all healthy beer brewers diet and is an excellent way to maintain intestinal regularity.