Yeast Layer

I was reading the online book by Palmer, and he was talking about the yeast layer in the bottom of the bottle. He said that you have to be careful when you pour your home brew, not to disrupt the yeast.

So the question is, will every homebrew i make have a undrinkable portion of the bottle or is their exceptions to this?

Any experiences in this situation?

If you bottle carbonate, you will always have that yeast layer. Sometimes, if you use a highly flocculate yeast, it will be a very tightly compacted layer and super easy to pour off. If you let any beer sit for a period of time, it'll be like that. I've "perfected" it so that I actually only "lose" about 1/4 or much less of beer/sediment.

As you get better there should be a smaller layer of yeast. Mine has become a thin "film" on the bottom that does not cause too much beer to be wasted when pouring.

I did, however, brew my first beer without using a secondary, and there is A LOT of "crap" floating around!!!

I do NOT recommend NOT using a secondary...get it?

Unless you filter your beer and force carbonate your bottles, you'll always get a yeast layer. The yeast that carbonates your beer eventually settles out.

You can minimize the layer somewhat by using a secondary.

I have the secondary.

What do major companies that sell beer in stores do to prevent the yeast layer?

EDIT: Whoops. they filter their beer.

How do they filter it?

Is it possible for a homebrewer to do so?

What all would be involved in doing so?

you could use a secondary and cold condition to minimize and you could possibly filter if you were using a keg, but to bottle, you need viable yeast in the bottle or it won't carbonate.

not all yeast is that gross. i sometimes pour the whole thing in and just let the it settle in my glass

you pretty much pour the entire beer out anyway, just pour slowly and it will stay at the bottom of the bottle and you'll still get 99% of your brew...not really a big deal

kash said:

How do they filter it?

Click to expand...

With something like this.

Yeast is good for you. Personally I don' worry to much about it but as others have posted you can minimize it by a long secondary/conditioning stage, 3+ weeks in the bottle, use a good flocculating yeast and practice your pour.

What is that in the picture above?

What site did you get it from?

Why do you want to get rid of the yeast? If it is a cosmetic thing, then you should try to get over it. If you want to pack around your beer and drink it without a glass or something, then I can start to understand.

Yeast in your bottles is a GOOD thing. It helps prevent your beer from staling. In fact, many homebrews will continue to age and improve in flavour through time, but you they won't if you filter your yeast (filtered commercial beers DEFINITELY won't improve with age -- only get worse in flavour!). Also, consuming some amount of yeast from home brew is actually quite healthy for you. Lots of great vitamins in there that can be hard to get from other sources (that's why packaged brewer's yeast is so popular as a health food supplement).

Learn to love the yeast! Homebrewers celebrate their yeast! Don't fear the yeast, man!!! :fro: