Cheese Cloth

[20000Barrels]

So I am rookie with just 3 batches under my belt.

I did a triple IPA and it turned out very good. I have a lot of sediment in the bottles.

Has anyone used cheese cloth to filter into the priming bucket?

 

[bjl110]

I'm a rook too, but I've done it with 3 out of 4 brews. Works great. I just put the sanitized cloth over the primary and secured it with sanitized clothespins before I dumped it out of the cooled kettle. My stout that I didn't do this with has more sediment in the bottles than my ipa, which obviously had over twice the hops.

 

[Chrisl77]

I wouldnt do that with fermented beer you risk oxidizing it and turning it into liquid cardboard. How long are you letting it sit in primary? Also dont try to get every drop out of the fermenter when you transfer to your priming bucket.

 

[bjl110]

Read again. Do it BEFORE the primary. Before you aerate it. If you have problems still with sediment, put sanitized cheese cloth over the intake of your racking system when you rack to the bottling bucket.

 

[weirdboy]

You shouldn't have a lot of boil sediment in the bottles unless you're doing something wrong when you transfer the beer. That stuff drops out and ends up on the bottom of your fermenter, so to get it in the bottle you are either sucking it up with the siphon or otherwise disturbing that layer to get it off the bottom when you are racking.

What is your process for moving the wort/beer from start to finish?

 

[Calder]

Batch #189 is currently in the fermenter, and I have never had that problem. My guess is you are just bottling too soon. Wait another couple of weeks before bottling to let the beer clear before bottling.

 

[20000Barrels]

What is your process for moving the wort/beer from start to finish?

I brew in the kitchen. Then I use a ice chest with wort chiller.
I have an aerator with a stone (20 minutes) before pitching. Once in primary tank I move it to the basement. Will transfer to 2nd tank after fermentation process has slowed way down. Around 5-7 days.
When I bottle I move the tank back upstairs (I think this might be the problem) The sediment/tube is being disturbed on my stairs.

I really don't have the option of fermentation upstairs so I guess I will use the cheese cloth.

I just bottled a blonde Ale last week and it did not have nearly the sediment that triple IPA had.

 

[bjl110]

That makes me even more sure that it is just hop particles, not boil sediment. Either dumping your IPAs through cloth pre-fermentation, or using cloth on your intake pre-bottling will probably work. But like was stated by others, don't try to "get it all" if you don't like the hop particles. Maybe let it rest ~20 min in place right before you rack to the bottling bucket as well.

 

[Chrisl77]

If it where me i would leave it in primary for more then 5-7 days. The yeast clean up after themselves once they are done fermenting if you take the beer off the yeast cake they have a hard time cleaning up. If you want to limit the hops particles you could pick up a paint strainer bag and make a hops spider.

 

[weirdboy]

Why are you transferring so soon, or at all? If you aren't doing something like adding fruit or lagering, there is probably no reason for you to be transferring to another container, ESPECIALLY after 5-7 days.

I would also suggest that when you do rack to e.g. a bottling bucket or a keg, that you try to limit the movement of the container before you do so. Is there a reason you cannot rack to the other container in the basement?

 

[20000Barrels]

The kits that I am using suggest transferring to the 2nd tank within that time frame after fermentation has happen.

I am following the directions. This was also the advice from the shop I bought my brewing equipment from.

From this thread I have learned that when I transport the 2nd tank up the stairs it is disturbing the sediment. I do think it is the hops in IPA as the blonde Ale does not have the sediment issue.

I sanitize everything in the kitchen so that is why have the additional step.
There is no room upstairs to anything but store bottles. (wife & 2 kids)

Thank you for the feed back!

 

[bjl110]

I store in my beer in my (unfinished) basement as well because it stays ~64 degrees, and do all of the work in the kitchen because my basement is dirty. It really shouldn't hurt you that much if you are careful going up the steps and let the beer rest before you rack.

I would also NOT follow the advice to rack in 5-7 days. The only reason that this was done is to get the beer of off the yeast cake so as to prevent autolysis. This does not happen in home-brewing. Only if you are making mass amounts of beer (like 50 gal at a time) is this a potential hazard. People or directions who suggest this seem to be a leftover from the early days of home brewing (1970-80). Search the forum and the recipe section and you will see that most people leave their beer on the yeast cake anywhere from 2 weeks to a month, with two weeks being thought of as the absolute minimum. If you wait AT LEAST two weeks the yeast will clean up off flavors better and will stick to the bottom of the bucket better.

Good Luck!

 

[Homercidal]

That is advice from the Brewing Supply store. This is my advice:

Leave your beer in the Primary for 3 weeks. It won't hurt the beer, but I think it will not only help clear it up, but also make it taste better. That is my standard primary time, which is sometimes extended for stronger beers.

Also, if you want clearer beer, try not to move the beer at all until you transfer into the bottling bucket. It doesn't usually take much agitation to stir up the stuff on the bottom. I usually just try to be very careful when carrying my fermenter into the kitchen on bottling day, but a better idea would be to place the fermenter in a location that would allow you to siphon without moving (countertop, table, shelf).

You could rack to a secondary after a week, if you like, but I find that a usually unnecessary step in the brewing process. I think it's been shown that a few weeks on the yeast does no noticeable damage to the flavor of beer, and may actually speed the conditioning.