sediment in bottles

I have brewed and bottled an Ipa after 2 weeks in the primary and 3 weeks in bottles, I have much to work on but it tastes pretty good. I used some grolsch, fisher and ABA bottles, especially in the grolsch there is about a quarter inch thick yeast cake at the bottom(is yeast cake the proper term). Is this normal, any body with some info let me know.

you may want to try to get less of the yeast cake from the carboy into the bottling bucket next time, that is why a lot of people use a secondary carboy for clearing after fermentation finishes.

1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary is the general rule of thumb for ales. That will clear out alot of that stuff. Also if you move to bottling bucket, try not to get all the stuff from the bottom of your fermenter into it.

Yup, don't be greedy when your racking...

Thats why you see a lot of recipes that are designed for 5.5 to 6gallons so you can loose a little at each step and end up with 5gallons of bottled minimum sediment beer

And as long as you are bottling, you will always have that yeast sediment there- that's what carbonates your beer! It helps if you let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days before drinking and then when you pour, pour it carefully down the side of the glass without it "chugging" out and then leave the last 1/4 inch of beer. All of the sediment will stay in the bottle.

Oh, and rinse it right away after pouring! If you wait, it'll be like concrete in there when you do try to clean the bottle to reuse. If you rinse it right away and turn it upside down, there'll be no scrubbing when you refill!

a 1/4" is a lot...it means you had a lot of yeast in suspension when you bottled.

next time, do a 2 week secondary so the yeast can fall out. you'll still have god's plenty yeast for carbonation at bottling.

You are following the faulty 123 method. It doesn't always work. Go buy and learn how to use a hydrometer and don't rack until the gravity has dropped 75%.

Do not try to get the last drop out either. You want to try to rack the clearest beer possible at all stages. This will result in the clearest beer out of the bottle and into the glass.

I'd recommend patience. Try 3 weeks in the primary and 4 weeks in the secondary before bottling.

h-99

it looks like he did a 2 week primary, then straight to the bottle...zero secondary.

I do agree though...123 method is just a starting place...the hydrometer will reveal all

malkore said:

h-99

it looks like he did a 2 week primary, then straight to the bottle...zero secondary.

I do agree though...123 method is just a starting place...the hydrometer will reveal all

Click to expand...

All we can do is try to fill in his blanks...so to speak...

If I skip the secondary-I usually leave it in the primary for 3-4 weeks at least before bottling.

thx brew meisters I will go buy a seccondary fermenter today, preferably plastic, I still have sore feeling to glass carboys after I broke mine after one brew.

Hey hopsalot...I just found out that the Liquid Town on Airline is now selling homebrew supplies. I haven't been yet, but i'm going after work to check it out. So, I've got no idea what they carry but maybe give that a shot. the BASH site www.beer-bash.com also says that there will be a brewer there on Friday and Saturday evenings to answer questions.

Just a heads up

hopsalot said:

thx brew meisters I will go buy a seccondary fermenter today, preferably plastic, I still have sore feeling to glass carboys after I broke mine after one brew.

Click to expand...

if you have the basic two bucket kit, you already have a secondary and have no need to buy another vessel.

do the primary in the bottling bucket. the spigot can be turned so it can sit on the floor or shelf or where-ever. to transfer to secondary, just turn the spigot back to dispensing position and attach some siphon tubing, and let it drain into your other bucket (or carboy) which will be your secondary fermenter.

i like this method and have been using it with buckets to carboys, then racking into a keg. makes the transfer from primary to secondary fast and easy

when secondary is complete, transfer back to bottling bucket and bottle away. simple.

have fun

Could I use my Mini Jet wine filter to filter beer before bottling?