Far too much sediment :-(

[The Clampsta]

I bottled my 4th batch of homebrew about 6 weeks ago and have been drinking it little-by-little because it's come out quite poor.

The problem is that there seems to be far too much sediment at the bottom of the bottle and so when I un-cap it the fizz brings it all to the top so I am left with a densely-clouded beer that tastes powdery! I think the error in my brewing process was that I had to carry the fermentor to a different room before bottling - causing the contents to become agitated and unsettled.

Is there anything I can do to improve these bottles of beer? Or do I need to just pour them away or grin and bear it?

Cheers for any advice

 

[Dude]

I bottled my 4th batch of homebrew about 6 weeks ago and have been drinking it little-by-little because it's come out quite poor.

The problem is that there seems to be far too much sediment at the bottom of the bottle and so when I un-cap it the fizz brings it all to the top so I am left with a densely-clouded beer that tastes powdery! I think the error in my brewing process was that I had to carry the fermentor to a different room before bottling - causing the contents to become agitated and unsettled.

Is there anything I can do to improve these bottles of beer? Or do I need to just pour them away or grin and bear it?

Cheers for any advice

This is common with bottle conditioned beers. Just don't agitate your bottles before you pour it. Open it carefully and leave a little bit of the beer in the bottle when your glass gets almost full. Most of that sludge will stay behind.

 

[Beer Snob]

Sounds as if you might have not allowed it to settle in the room you moved it too before bottling right?

I had a friend who forgot to add carbonation sugar... he gentle poured everything back in the secondary and started over again, but I am not sure the same could be done here in this case.

 

[The Clampsta]

Sounds as if you might have not allowed it to settle in the room you moved it too before bottling right?

Yeah that's right I'm afraid. I was hung-over after a night out with friends and it was taking ages to sterilise the bottles and everything so I will need to exercise more patience next time!

 

[usmcruz]

I bottled my 4th batch of homebrew about 6 weeks ago and have been drinking it little-by-little because it's come out quite poor.

The problem is that there seems to be far too much sediment at the bottom of the bottle and so when I un-cap it the fizz brings it all to the top so I am left with a densely-clouded beer that tastes powdery! I think the error in my brewing process was that I had to carry the fermentor to a different room before bottling - causing the contents to become agitated and unsettled.

Is there anything I can do to improve these bottles of beer? Or do I need to just pour them away or grin and bear it?

Cheers for any advice[/QUOTE

Was it an all-grain batch, extract, or partial? The powdery tast your tasting sounds like an astringency happening somewhere in the brewing process. I dont think stirring up a little sediment would lend such a taste to your beer. Powdery tastes are caused by mashing at high temperatures like 160 degrees or above, or steeping grains too long at higher temperatures, or even the hop tannins could of lent the astringency to your beer. Its too late to fix it, but if it happens next time then add poly-clar to your carboy and let sit a day or two before bottling. The poly-clar is a protien that is designed to bond to tannins and drop them out of your beer, thus eliminating the astringency or powdery taste as you call it. If i have a bad batch thats undrinkable i bottle it and use it as a marinade. Makes a damn fine turkey, and gravy on thanksgiving

 

[The Clampsta]

Was it an all-grain batch, extract, or partial? The powdery tast your tasting sounds like an astringency happening somewhere in the brewing process. I dont think stirring up a little sediment would lend such a taste to your beer. Powdery tastes are caused by mashing at high temperatures like 160 degrees or above, or steeping grains too long at higher temperatures, or even the hop tannins could of lent the astringency to your beer. Its too late to fix it, but if it happens next time then add poly-clar to your carboy and let sit a day or two before bottling. The poly-clar is a protien that is designed to bond to tannins and drop them out of your beer, thus eliminating the astringency or powdery taste as you call it. If i have a bad batch thats undrinkable i bottle it and use it as a marinade. Makes a damn fine turkey, and gravy on thanksgiving

It was a lager home-brew kit. Cheers for the advice, I might get some of that Poly-clar to have by in case of emrgencies.

 

[usmcruz]

It was a lager home-brew kit. Cheers for the advice, I might get some of that Poly-clar to have by in case of emrgencies.

Glad i could help

 

[Kaiser]

Did you use a secondary?

When I bottled my first brew straight from the primary, I got a lot of yeast sediment into the bottles. The beer tasted fine up untill it was about 6 weeks old. Then it developed a slight taste that might be what you call powery. I opened one bottle last night (8 weeks after pitching yeast) and this taste was pretty strong. I poured most of it away. Now I have only one bottle from this batch left.

 

[usmcruz]

Did you use a secondary?

When I bottled my first brew straight from the primary, I got a lot of yeast sediment into the bottles. The beer tasted fine up untill it was about 6 weeks old. Then it developed a slight taste that might be what you call powery. I opened one bottle last night (8 weeks after pitching yeast) and this taste was pretty strong. I poured most of it away. Now I have only one bottle from this batch left.

I use a secondary in all my beers i make. The secondary conditions the beer and drops out more yeast, but after a week in the secondary it still has more then enough yeast suspended to carbonate your brew. What happens is that just like in your fermenter, if you let your beer sit on the yeast too long it start to develop off flavors thats why in most of the recipes you see it recommends a secondary racking. Good new is that you have only 1 bottle left, but the bad news is that even though its a pain sometimes, racking to a secondary is going to have be incorporated. If you had more of those beers left they will only get worse with age. You will get it right on this next batch

 

[Kaiser]

I started using secondaries with my second brew (called Try Again Pale Ale, because it was the same recipe as the fist one but without the mistakes I made the first time). And that definitely helped a lot.

 

[homebrewer_99]

All of mine have been secondaries except one and that one stayed cloudy for 6 months.

The best way to keep sediment out of your borrles is to not put it in your bottles.

What I mean is, when racking, do not try to get the last drop out of the primary. Same goes for the secondary. Allow for waste....yes, I said it...waste beer!

Too many times we are racking and get toward the bottom and say to ourselves...I think I can get one more beer out of this...BLAM!!! That's where it happened...when we started thinking! You just made the whole batch cloudy again.

This is the main reason why I brew 5.25-5.5 gals - racking losses! Take a loss of 1-2 bottles. I still end up bottling my 5 gals. The bottles you end up with will be clearer for it and you will be happy you did.

The beer is not really wasted per se, you can sample it, but don't rack it.

End of today's lesson.....homework tonight is to go brew something.
Class dismissed!

 

[PT Ray]

The solution may be as simple as keeping them in the fridge for a week or two. After my bottles have conditioned I leave them in a cold fridge, turning all my sediment into a thick sludge. I will pour while the beer is still very cold and then let it warm up a tad.

 

[usmcruz]

The solution may be as simple as keeping them in the fridge for a week or two. After my bottles have conditioned I leave them in a cold fridge, turning all my sediment into a thick sludge. I will pour while the beer is still very cold and then let it warm up a tad.

this would be a good solution for a lightly hazed beer, but as for his situation this wont work, but good tip.

 

[The Clampsta]

Thanks for the help everyone!

I hadn't used a secondary so I have been reading about them on John Palmer's site to see what I need to do.

Previously I had just put the beer into a 5-gallon fermontor bottle with air-lock for 2 weeks, then bottled and added sugar.

After reading about the 'secondarys' I will put the beer in a 5-gallon fermentor bottle with air-lock for a week, then transfer to a second 5-gallon fermentor bottle with air-lock (leaving most of the sediment behind) for 2 weeks. Then bottle and add sugar as normal.

Does this sound right? It'll add a week onto my brewing time so should I worry about the beer not being so fizzy?

Cheers

 

[homebrewer_99]

Sounds like a good plan.