is letting people drink out of the bottle @ a party a bad idea?

[jigidyjim]

I'm in charge of bringing beer to an upcoming gathering, and I don't want to spend the whole party explaining to people to pour the beer into a cup, but don't pour the last bit, etc...

Is this just going to turn into a party of stomach aches and farts? Or is drinking out the bottle really not that bad?

i guess I could try a few bottles myself before the party and see what happens.

 

[Jumbo82]

It won't be bad until they get to the last sip and get a mouthful of yeast. No harm really, just not something most people want or expect when drinking a beer. I would put a sign in plain sight near where the bottles are set up explaining what to do. If people ignore it, they'll pay the price.

 

[ChshreCat]

I'd make a general statement about how to pour a homebrew and why you do it and then leave it up to them. If folks just want to slug down the yeast, that's up to them.

I had some friends over for beers and pizza when we moved into our house. I poured the first round for everyone and then left them to their own devices. They all did proper pours after that.

 

[iron_city_ap]

I think it depends on the specific batch. What do you have whipped up or planned? I've had a couple beers with no or very little noticeable sediment at all and others with far too much. Check to see what you have and go from there. If you have low sediment, that don't sweat it. The party isn't about the beer so if you can keep it simple, the do so.

 

[l1ranger]

+1 on the sign

 

[kanzimonson]

I'd love to say, "screw it, let 'em drink how they want," but I don't want those same people down the road thinking, "Yeah, I've had homebrew before and it wasn't that great."

It is definitely not just the last sip out of the bottle that sucks - every time you tip that glass up and down, the yeast get kicked into suspension. I hate that yeast flavor so much. I would hate for somebody to think that flavor is representative of my beer.

This is especially a problem if you're like most homebrewers and using 001/1056/US-05 in your beers. Stupid low flocculation yeast... that's why I've nearly sworn off using that strain.

 

[milwaukee]

Concur on the sign. Then you can go have fun, and not explain bottle conditioning. Though you could do that on your sign, if you think your friends would get a kick out of learning what bottle-conditioned means.

Depending on how many beers you're bringing--you should consider bringing cups too... so your host isn't scrambling to accommodate your beer instructions.

 

[Challenger440]

I agree with the sign idea. Or you could go with a hef and then it won't really matter.

 

[blaster]

I say just tell them at the start. Word will get around, everyone likes to initiate/educate someone even if they were just initiated/educated themselves. Anyone that asks you after that is just interested in the brewing process and you can talk about your hobby. Unless you don't want to talk about brewing at all then +1 for the sign.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Plus juan on the sign. Make one and draw some fart bubbles on it. They'll get the idea.

 

[jigidyjim]

Awesome. Sign and cups it is. I like the idea of the drawing for the fart bubbles

I'm going for "most like-able by everyone", so I'm doing the centennial blonde with the nottingham yeast. Never used a dry yeast before (isn't that backwards from most people's experience?) so I don't know if there will be sediment or not. I'll find out in a few weeks.

 

[FallsDamBrewery]

well here is my question about this whole situation...when you bottle condition...will you ALWAYS have sediment in the bottom of the bottle, or is there a way to stop this from happening?

 

[Yooper]

well here is my question about this whole situation...when you bottle condition...will you ALWAYS have sediment in the bottom of the bottle, or is there a way to stop this from happening?

Always, unless you don't want your beer carbonated. When you bottle, you add some priming solution to the beer so you get a mini-fermentation in the bottle. The carbonation can't escape since the bottles are capped, so it goes into the beer. When that's finished, and the priming sugar is gone, the yeast will fall to the bottom of the bottle.

Using nottingham yeast, the yeast cake should be nice and compact and not easily disturbed after chilling. If you can chill the bottles before the party, and not move them too much at the party putting them in a cooler, the yeast cake should stay nice and tight in the bottle, making the pours easier.

 

[DavidSteel]

Dude, a wasn't liking the sign idea until I remembered bottles of Unibroue telling me how to do it and I thought it was awesome. Turn a beer drinking night in to a celebratory GREAT beer drinking night. Celebrate with the sign! haha

 

[steakandale]

There's Hefe/wheat-everything on store isles now, and some of those have sediment deposits in the bottles. I think people won't be thinking it's too far fetched. When I had my first homebrew, (years ago) the host told me about not pouring or drinking that last little bit and I was like "Oh cool! real beer that someone made?"

 

[jigidyjim]

I'm still a little confused as to why some yeasts you actually do drink, and other's you don't. Is it just that some yeast tastes ok? I think I was drinking a belgian beer and it said after pouring to pour the yeast on top as a special treat or something.

 

[aidanfriesen123]

if you want to get good feedback on your brew, i'de get everybody to pour into a cup and explain how to do it. if not, i like the sign idea.

 

[fatbob]

You will also want to make sure that the glasses or cups are big enough so that they can be poured in one try, so that you don't have to tip the bottle upright, then pour again. When you do that it will tend to mix up the yeast.

 

[shelly_belly]

Teach them...never drink beer from a bottle.

 

[uechikid]

Most of the people that I give beer to drink it out off the bottle. They all love the beer. The last sip will be a little yeasty but they probably wont notice. Just go and have fun. Enjoy all of the complements.