Amount of yeast in a conditioned bottle?

[davidabcd]

I get about an 1/8" of yeast in a 16oz bottle with any beer I make. It seems like a lot but maybe there isn't. It is just something I noticed but I was wondering if there is a correct amount? Could anything above a "dusting" on the bottom mean that I've used too much yeast during fermentation?
I'm just curious if there's anyone with knowledge of this.
Thank you.

 

[Keith81]

IMO that's not too much. I get about the same in 12 oz bottles.

 

[davidabcd]

IMO that's not too much. I get about the same in 12 oz bottles.

Thanks. I don't mind it all. Depending on my mood, I leave it in the bottle or pour it in the glass (I don't care about cloudy). Anyway, what got me started on this was that I was looking at some of the bottle conditioned beers on the store shelves and I've never seen in one of those what I see in one of mine.
I'm not one for going crazy (buying lots of equipment or adding stuff) but if there's some reasonable tweak like an exact amount of yeast to use, I'll look at it. For the past five years, I just pop in two dry yeasts whenever the target ABV is above 8%. I'll say it: less than scientific.

 

[beermanpete]

1/8" seems like a lot. The amount of sediment is not related to how much yeast you pitch. You could let the beer age and settle longer or cold crash for few days in the fermenter before bottling.

 

[RM-MN]

How long are you leaving the beer in the fermenter before bottling?

 

[George MacDonald]

cold crash in a secondary fermenter for at least 5 days before bottling... I usually do a week. I used to get way too much dregs in my beers in the beginning until I realised cold crashing your beer before bottling actually helps with the clarity, amount of bottle sediment and also improves the taste of the beer a bit...

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Anyway, what got me started on this was that I was looking at some of the bottle conditioned beers on the store shelves and I've never seen in one of those what I see in one of mine.

In the UK at least, they tend to drop out or even centrifuge out all the production yeast, and then reseed with a carefully controlled amount of yeast for bottle conditioning - for instance Fuller's reseed with 0.5 million cells per ml, which is almost invisible. So you don't need a lot of yeast for bottle conditioning to work, and in your position all you really need to worry about is dropping out as much yeast as possible before bottling.

So I'd look at eg cold crashing, use of fining agents such as gelatine, and maybe moving to a yeast strain that drops out better. What yeast are we talking about here? If you're using two packs anyway then it might make sense to use one pack for flavour and a different one for brewing performance.

 

[davidabcd]

In the UK at least, they tend to drop out or even centrifuge out all the production yeast, and then reseed with a carefully controlled amount of yeast for bottle conditioning - for instance Fuller's reseed with 0.5 million cells per ml, which is almost invisible. So you don't need a lot of yeast for bottle conditioning to work, and in your position all you really need to worry about is dropping out as much yeast as possible before bottling.

So I'd look at eg cold crashing, use of fining agents such as gelatine, and maybe moving to a yeast strain that drops out better. What yeast are we talking about here? If you're using two packs anyway then it might make sense to use one pack for flavour and a different one for brewing performance.

Thanks for the info. It makes sense now about how the pros do it. I use T-58, S-04 and US-O5. I don't need my beer to be super clear or anything; I just was wondering how the pros got so little yeast in their bottle conditioning.
I think I might try using two different yeasts. That sounds really exciting!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Thanks for the info. It makes sense now about how the pros do it. I use T-58, S-04 and US-O5. I don't need my beer to be super clear or anything; I just was wondering how the pros got so little yeast in their bottle conditioning.
I think I might try using two different yeasts. That sounds really exciting!

Hmm, if you're using the likes of T-58 and US-05 then no wonder you're having some problems. You may have more joy with liquid yeasts - WLP090 San Diego is a better-dropping derivative of Chico/US-05.

Windsor with Nottingham 48h later is kinda a classic combination that allegedly reunites two members of an original multistrain, you could do the same with T-58 as it's a distant cousin of Windsor.

The other thing that the pros do is physical filtration, although that gets into all sorts of debates about whether you're stripping the flavour.

 

[Oginme]

For the majority of my beers, I hold in the fermenter for 2 weeks before cold crashing. Most of my bottle condition beers end up with a very thin film of yeast on the bottom.

 

[davidabcd]

Just to reiterate, I was looking at a bottle of bottle-conditioned beer and it had no yeast on the bottom that I could see. I didn't consider my 1/8" of yeast to be a problem but was mostly curious. You all have answered my question so thank you.