Sediment in Beer

[Senneffe]

I am currently drinking my way through my first batch of homebrew from extract malt. The sediment seems unreasonably high. It is difficult for me to pinpoint what caused this as I am still trying to remember how I did each step in the brewing process. Any ideas on what causes this and the best way to remedy it?

 

[Zamial]

did you pour it slowly, in one "tip" as to not slosh the beer in the bottle?

was there a big "foam over" when you uncapped it? causing the beer sediment to mix?

did the beer condition for 2+ weeks in the bottle and then 48 hours in the fridge?


If the answer to any of these are: no,yes,no then that is the problem!

 

[japhroaig]

If the beer is bottled, wait longer and slowly pour the beer out as to not disturb the sediment layer in the bottom.

To reduce sediment in subsequent brews use Irish Moss for the last 15 minutes of the boil, and just have patience. The more sediment/trub/yeast you leave in your bucket or carboy, the less will be in your finished product.

There are clearing products you can purchase, but I am of the opinion that unless you known exactly why you need them, then you don't need them. Patience is the best beer clarifier. Cheers!

 

[shanecb]

You're talking about sediment like yeast and stuff, right? It could be as simple as you not letting it clear enough in primary or secondary before you bottled it. Did it seem like everything in suspension reasonably fell out before you bottled? Some sediment in bottles is inevitable, especially when bottle conditioning.

 

[Phoenix60]

If you bottle using a bottling bucket let it sit every time you move the the bucket before you bottle. This allows the sediment to settle and you will get less sediment in the bottles. If you move the bucket to a table then immediately bottle then you will most likely have disturbed some of the sediment that you have and it will get into the bottles.

 

[Senneffe]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I am going to brew up a Belgian Ale tomorrow and I will keep these things in mind. :fro:

 

[Justibone]

If there is a lot of sediment you can put a cheesecloth or grain bag or something porous over the tip of the siphon/cane, so that it will let the beer through but will leave the larger chunks of sediment behind. (You should probably sanitize it first, of course.)

As for the small stuff, you can use plain gelatin from the grocery store to help clarify your beer, or some of the additives available from LHBS/AHBS.

Cold crashing before bottling may also help.

+1 on Irish moss (actually seaweed, I believe, not moss).

In the end, though, I personally decided to worry about it less. It's not necessarily part of "homebrew", but it's part of how *I* homebrew, so there ya go!

 

[Malticulous]

There are two ways I know of to get very little sediment. A good cold crash in secondary (1 week at 30F,) add 1 gram yeast and bottle. Or, bottle from a well conditioned keg. There is a third but it's about like the second--filter and force carb.

Nothing is wrong with sediment. Just learn to deal with it.