First Time Brewer

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

addis29

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Messages
161
Reaction score
0
Location
Marietta, OHIO
I just brewed my first batch, I used a kit to make it pretty simple. The beer fermented great and it has been bottled now for about 35 days. The beer tastes great but I am noticing some white flaky substance floating in the beer and settling on the bottom. What is it? Is there a cure? Or should I just drink it and forget about it, Making sure it's harmless. Thanks
 
addis29 said:
I just brewed my first batch, I used a kit to make it pretty simple. The beer fermented great and it has been bottled now for about 35 days. The beer tastes great but I am noticing some white flaky substance floating in the beer and settling on the bottom. What is it? Is there a cure? Or should I just drink it and forget about it, Making sure it's harmless. Thanks

Yeast and other unfiltered particles. Nothing to worry about. Drink and be merry :rockin:
 
That is just sediment. With home brew your usually always going to have some sediment. Using a secondary, which is totally optional, will help clear your beer some. When you pour your beer into the glass leave about an inch in the bottom of the bottle so that stuff doesn't get into your beer. It is completely harmless though.
 
Just pour the yeast in, it's good for you. Like taking vitamins with every beer. At least that's what I tell myself. hahahaha :mug:
 
Do not drink them. Give them all to me for examination. They could be very poisonous.
 
also beginner question. Is it possible to filter the sediment, just to make the beer look prettier?
 
Well, the resulting sediment is what carbonated your beer in the bottle, so you really can't eliminate it. A couple of things that help, though, are to do what the others said, and chill it for a few days, and don't agitate the bottle at all. Carefully pour into a glass, leaving the last 1/2 inch of beer in the bottle. If you do it all in one pour, you won't usually stir up the yeast. If you keep the carbonated beer in the fridge, the yeast cake usually settles pretty compactly into the bottom and doesn't stir up that well.

A few other tips for next time- use highly flocculant yeast, since that will compact into tight sediment on the bottom. Harder to clean the bottles, but will give you prettier beer. Another thing you can do is to let the beer stay in the fermenter longer. The longer it sits before you rack it, the less yeast sediment you'll have in your bottles. Patience is rewarded in this!

The only way I know of to avoid the sediment is to force carbonate (keg) the beer and then to bottle from the keg.
 
Back
Top