bad filtering job by a rookie

[satstrn]

Yo guys,

First timer here. I just bottled my beer after a couple weeks of fermentation. The recipe tells me to let it prime and age for 3 or 4 weeks. Which is all great except that when I filtered the beer to get the dead yeast out I tried doing it with coffee filters and I think I did a pretty poor job. I noticed that the same crap that was sitting on the bottom of the barrel when I filtered it is now showing up at the bottom of the bottles, and it seems to be pretty thick. Is this normal? If that isn't supposed to happen, can I take it out of the bottles and filter it again? Its been bottled for about 1 week. Thanks a bunch.

 

[Walker]

Yo guys,

First timer here. I just bottled my beer after a couple weeks of fermentation. The recipe tells me to let it prime and age for 3 or 4 weeks. Which is all great except that when I filtered the beer to get the dead yeast out I tried doing it with coffee filters and I think I did a pretty poor job. I noticed that the same crap that was sitting on the bottom of the barrel when I filtered it is now showing up at the bottom of the bottles, and it seems to be pretty thick. Is this normal? If that isn't supposed to happen, can I take it out of the bottles and filter it again? Its been bottled for about 1 week. Thanks a bunch.

Leave it alone. Bottle conditioned beer is going to have sediment in it. It's a fact of life.

Next time, I wouldn't bother filtering it if I were you. You're likely to do more harm to the beer than good.

 

[corvax13]

I agree - homebrew is supposed to have sediment at the bottom - it is the yeast that you need in order to get the nice and carbed up. Commercial beers are filtered and the force-carbed.

And yes, don't bother with filtering - you actually want some yeast in there for carbonation.

 

[knappster]

It is supposed to happen. The yeast is fermenting in the bottles just like it did in the fermenter, so as they drop out they will form a mini "yeast cake" at the bottom of the bottle. In my limited experience it is usually not very thick, probably less than 1/16". If it is thicker than that then you may have bottled it before it was finished fermenting or added too much priming sugar. Can you provide some more information about how long it fermented and how much priming sugar you used?

Also, you will want to refrigerate them for at least 48 hours before drinking, because it helps firm up the yeast at the bottom of the bottles and that helps to keep it from floating out when you pour it into the glass. Longer is even better!

 

[pnj]

Many people leave their beer in their primary fermentation bucket for a few weeks, then move the beer into a secondary bucket or carboy. Then, it sits in that second vessel while the yeast and particles drop out of suspension.

So while it's true that homebrew will have sediment in the bottom of the bottles, you may have ended up with more then others do.

As mentioned, let them sit in the fridge for some time before you slowly pour the beer into a glass, leaving the yeasty bits behind in the bottle.

 

[TipsyDragon]

when pouring the beer into a glass don't let it chug. smooth pouring is the way to go. the chugging will disturb the yeast knocking it into your beer. rinse the bottles out as soon as possible after pouring. the longer you let it sit the harder it will be to clean the bottles out later.

 

[david_42]

Coffee filters are close to useless for filtering beer. Get the finest mess knee highs you can find and use them when you rack to the bottling bucket.

And without yeast in the bottle, you'll have flat beer anyway.

 

[dontman]

They may be useless for filtering stuff out of beer but pouring fermented beer through a coffee filter into the bottling bucket is a great way to add oxygen to the beer. Too bad you don't want any oxygen in the beer after fermentation.

 

[ifishsum]

I just bottled my beer after a couple weeks of fermentation.

This is the main reason you're getting a lot of sediment. If you let it go another 2 weeks (either in a secondary carboy or in the original primary) you will have a fraction of the bottle sediment you're seeing now - without filtering or even using finings. I get only a light dusting on the bottom of my bottles. Even just one more week of fermentation time will make a big difference.

 

[ChshreCat]

Filtering is really only applicable when you're going to keg your beer, and then it's done with special filtering equipment that is driven with CO2 in order to keep oxygen from the beer. And even then, most folks don't find it worth the trouble.