Bottling beer.

[Ragman]

Hey everyone. This may be a dumb question but I was wondering is there any way to prevent the excess yeast buildup that settles at the bottom of each bottle?

Every batch Ive made has this and Im not sure if thats "just the way it is" when bottling or if I can do something to prevent that.

I just ask because I dont want to drink that and I do enjoy drinking straight from the bottle every once in awhile. If I pour into a glass I usually end up dumping the last 1/8 of the bottle that contains this.

 

[Rob2010SS]

The only way to avoid that yeast and sediment on the bottom is carbonate in a keg or in a fermenter capable of holding pressure and bottle from there.

If you bottle beer and "naturally" carbonate as you have been doing, you will always have that sediment on the bottom.

 

[Ragman]

Thanks Rob. More and more I think about it, a kegerator may be worth the investment. Growlers are easy to come by and bottling sucks.

Ill be looking for a fridge or chest freezer.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Yeah, we eliminated bottling after our second batch haha. I hate bottling with a passion.

 

[devilssoninlaw]

The sediment isn't that big of an issue, I've gotten it before in store bought beer and it was never a problem.

I don't think I lose more than an ounce of beer leaving that sediment behind and if some does get in my glass, it's only a visible problem, you can really taste it.

 

[VikeMan]

This may be a dumb question but I was wondering is there any way to prevent the excess yeast buildup that settles at the bottom of each bottle?

As already mentioned, you can't avoid it. But you can reduce it by allowing your beer to drop clear before bottling.

 

[NGD]

^^ This, but kegging is great too. If you hate bottling then go for the keg setup and counter pressure filler. Crystal clear beer in bottles for the friends and on tap.

 

[Beermeister32]

I bottle condition about 2/3rds of the time. You will always get yeast sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Some vintage beer bottles from 100 years ago would have a neck label indicating you should store upright and decant the beer off the sediment. The sediment was often called dregs. Historically, the term the "dregs of society" referred to some people in much the same way!

To make really clean beer to the bottom of the glass, the best way is with a filter and counter-pressure filler. Filtering beer is a chance for oxidation if you don't flush with CO2 properly and some don't recommend it, but you can get some good results using this method. It is usually performed keg to keg, usually not worth the effort for most beers and can strip some flavors, however I've never noticed it. This is how commercial beer is produced - huge filtering. Nowadays all other methods are used by the myriad of different brewers.

Kegging beer is a great way to avoid this altogether but many people like to bottle certain batches and store them.

Counter-pressue filled bottling can make one heck of a mess out of the kitchen. You are well advised to do it when your spouse and kids are gone to visit the grandparents and you have some alone time to restore the kitchen! Beer guns are slightly less messy.

One last note - some trace residual yeast in the bottle is actually a good thing - it helps to rid the bottle of any remaining oxygen in the beer.

 

[bwible]

The only way to avoid that yeast and sediment on the bottom is carbonate in a keg or in a fermenter capable of holding pressure and bottle from there.

If you bottle beer and "naturally" carbonate as you have been doing, you will always have that sediment on the bottom.

You do this using a device called a counter pressure filler. I have one, I think I used it once or twice in 15 years.

Once the beer is cold, the little bit of sediment on the bottom will tend to gel some. You can usually pour clear beer off if you don’t shake it up much and leave the last ounce or so behind. Not that much of an issue really.

Everybody knocks bottling, and honestly it does suck - cleaning bottles, sanitizing bottles, filling bottles, capping bottles then waiting 2 weeks for it to carb. It’s a chore nobody really likes doing. But I’ve gotten back to bottling recently for some beers and there are a couple advantages:

1) you can give away beers / share with friends / enter competitions if that’s your thing easier

2) more variety - how many kegs can you have / store / keep cold? My kegerator holds 3. I know some guys have freezers setup to hold 6 or 8. I also don’t have to make 5 gallons to fill a keg if I’m bottling. I can make 1 gallon, 3 gallons or whatever. I still buy beer and I have a beer fridge for bottles anyway.

3) aging beers like barleywine. I don’t have tie up a keg for months (or years) : )

I still keg just as much but I find myself back to bottling more. I saved some fancy bottles from Young’s Old Nick back in the 90’s. Those are fun to fill. Got some Fuller’s bottles, which are really nice just beautiful bottles. And some 16 oz bottles I use for Bitters or English Pale Ale to get a proper pint.

As an aside, I recently found Fastlabels and I love them. Basically just a clear shrink wrap you put over the bottle, stick a label inside of then heat it up by dunking it quickly into hot water. No glue, when you’re done you just cut the plastic off and the label falls right off. I also really enjoy playing with Photoshop and making labels.
Prior to Fastlabels I was putting little avery dots on the cap of every bottle with tiny printing or a cryptic code to know what was in the bottle. They fall off all the time though, then you have to try to guess what’s in the bottle, especially in a mixed case. I would also often forget what the cryptic codes I made up meant - so not the best solution. The Fastlabels are much more secure and they are even waterproof if you take your homebrew to parties where they have a cooler full of ice, etc.

(Not connected with Fastlabel in any way. I am just a fan.)

 

[TheCache]

I add Irish Moss in the boil and cold crash for 24-48 hours before bottling at cold crash temps and then letting the bottles come to room temp for carbonation. Still get the sediment in the bottom, but it seems to be less and it is fairly compacted at the bottom, maybe gel'd as bit as bwible mentioned above. I still bag the dry hop when doing IPA's. It may lessen the flavors a bit, but it is worth it to me to have cleaner beer.

From what I've read I'll probably never get rid all the sediment when bottling homebrew, but so far it seems fairly easy to decant the beer off leaving an 1/8 to a 1/4 inch of liquid in the bottom of the bottle, which is probably less than an ounce.

But unless someone can show me another way, I have forgotten about drinking from the bottle. Once the bottle is tilted back and forth the sediment is stirred and it ain't going back to the bottom any time soon.

 

[bobeer]

If you cold crash the bottles in the fridge for 5 days to a week or longer the yeast should form a nice cake at the bottom of the bottle. This helps it stay in at the bottom when you're pouring and you'll leave very little beer behind.
Kegging is nice, I have 2, but I still miss having beer in bottles. Once the keg is kicked the beer is gone and with bottling it was much easier to stash a 6er or a few bottles away and get a cellar going. The process can be kind of a pain but I like to think of bottling as the last interaction I'll have with the beer until I pop it to drink so I just try to enjoy the last step.
With that said, cleaning a keg, the faucet, the lines, the popits, the dip tube, etc, etc.. just about every time you fill a keg is no picnic either. Haha. It's all work and worth it though no matter how you package.

 

[sweetcell]

you will always have some sediment in bottle-conditioned beers, but the question is how much. as other have pointed out above, there are a few things you can do to minimize how much gets in:
- use kettle finings like whirlfloc or irish moss
- use clarityferm
- cold-crash for at least 48 hours (can't emphasize this enough, the longer the better)
- move the beer slowly and carefully after the cold-crash, don't stir things up during transpo.
- rack very carefully: be diligent about not letting the end of your racking cane go all the way to the bottom of you fermenter and suck up all the sludge. if you're serious about clearer & sediment-free beer, leave some of the beer behind: stop siphoning when there's still a half (or full) inch of beer above the yeast cake.