Wasted Beer - need help about siphoning

I think i "sinned" yesterday and wasted beer. I was siphoning from the fermentor to the bottling bucket and was trying not to get the "sludge". So, I stopped short and ended a few bottles short of two cases for a 5 gallon batch. Last batch, I was one bottle short of two cases.

Should I not worry about the sludge and just keep siphoning? Will it just fall to the bottom of the bottling bucket and not get in the bottles? If it gets into a bottle, should I not worry about it cause it will fall to the bottom of that as well?

Confused...

Advice?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

If you have the beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks (as you should) then the yeast will often form a fairly firm 'cake' and will stay behind for the most part. However, even if you get some in your bottling beer, yes, it will settle out as the beer carbonates. Not to worry, unless you're getting two cups of yeast!!

B

Place a small block under the edge of your bucket to slightly tilt it. I use a hockey puck under my carboy.
Do this as carefully as you can in order to avoid sloshing the beer. This now enables you to siphon from the lower, deeper side of the bucket and get all the beer you can with a minimum of yeast sediment.

Don't worry if you get a bit of the yeast sediment, as it drops back out of suspension fairly rapidly. It will end up in the bottom of your bottling bucket or in the bottom of your bottles/kegs.

Pez.

Cold crash for a day then when you rack and put a 5 gal nylon paint strainer in your bottling bucket. Transfer as usual into the priming sugar keeping the strainer under the beer level to avoid introducing oxygen. Tilt like already mentioned and try and get as much as you can, but if you hit grub, it will come out when you remove the strainer.
Even if you get some cake in the bottles, you will be fine. Just relax and enjoy your brew!

I don't worry too much about the yeast. When I bottle, most of the yeast stays in the primary fermentor. When I open a bottle and gently pour it into a glass, the yeast stays in the bottle. Not a problem.

NRS

I just bottled a batch yesterday too. I left a little wort on the yeast (not even 1/4") since I wasn't about to pull up too much of the cake. In the past I've done more to try and pull every last drop out. I wanted to do a bit better this time.

I bottled 18L out of the full 5 gallon batch (I use 500ml bottles)... I even left just under a bottle worth in the bottom of the bottling bucket. When I looked into the bucket, I'm glad I left that last bit in there. There were particles in the bucket that I would not want in my bottle of beer.

So, what I'm trying to say is, it sounds like you did just fine. If you want closer to a full 5 gallons into bottles, make batches that are closer to 5.25-5.5 gallons going into primary.

For the record, this batch was on the yeast for almost 6 weeks. I had moved it to the siphon location almost 2 weeks ago. I did have just over 5 gallons in the primary. Maybe about 5.25 gallons. Looking forward to trying the first bottle in 2-3 weeks...

Remember... RDWHAHB Sacrificing a bottle or two to the beer gods is not a crime.

Thanks everyone! As usual, good advice.