First ever brew !

[Linkoln]

Good day fellas,

Just finished bottling my first ever brew (whery). Everything went as it should, but still come up with couple questions you may help me with.

The kit I using states I can make 40pints(23l) of beer, but I managed to get just 20.5liters of beer, I lost about 2.5liters due sediments on the bottom, does it seems about right ? How much liters you loose when transfering from FV to bottling bucket ?

While was syphoning from FV to bottling bucket and transfered about more than half of the bucket, the yeast-cake at the bottom started to break down and unstick from the bottom and float to the top of the bucket, the less beer was in FV the more frequently and bigger chunks started to break and float to the top. Is it normal ? I checked few yt video, and everyone left with smooth 'cake' at the bottom.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Alan Reginato]

I don't transfer. Could cause cold side oxidation or contaminate the beer. And you have much more hardware to clean, in the end. Also, it's a problem only in large conical fermenters, because the yeast at the bottom has a increased difficulty in heat dissipation. The hydrolysis of that yeast may be the cause of off flavours, so in industry, they collect them, after primary was over.

 

[RM-MN]

If you followed the instructions "to the letter" you should have gotten close to the 23 liters but....most often the instructions will have you bottling the beer too early and the sediment still has a lot of CO2 in it. That CO2 is released when the pressure drops as you transfer the beer to the bottling bucket and it carries trub (yeast and proteins) up with it. Leaving the beer longer before bottling can alleviate that. It also lets the yeast cake compact more so you don't lose as much beer. I usually wait 2 to 3 weeks from pitching the yeast to bottling.

 

[Linkoln]

If you followed the instructions "to the letter" you should have gotten close to the 23 liters but....most often the instructions will have you bottling the beer too early and the sediment still has a lot of CO2 in it. That CO2 is released when the pressure drops as you transfer the beer to the bottling bucket and it carries trub (yeast and proteins) up with it. Leaving the beer longer before bottling can alleviate that. It also lets the yeast cake compact more so you don't lose as much beer. I usually wait 2 to 3 weeks from pitching the yeast to bottling.

Mhh, I kept in FV for 11 days, maybe the turb started breaking down, because I was opening lid quite frequently to have a look. I know I shouldn't do that, but didn't knew that before.

 

[Dinadan]

To me, sounds like everything is good. I think some loss due to leaving the dregs on the yeast cake is normal, for me, anyway. I do not transfer to bottling bucket anymore. I used to do that, but now I just try not to disturb the yeast cake when I add sugar and bottle.

My only thought about the yeast cake breaking up as you transfer is that maybe you were letting the syphon touch or get too close the the yeast cake. It is not normal for it to break up unless your disturb it.

 

[Alan Reginato]

To not disturb the trub, I use a syringe adition straight to the bottle. Just some maths and you can calculate for a full one. Usually end up with some leftovers, but it's sugar, right? Add it to coffee or something else.