HELP! 1cm of 'Crap' at the bottom of my bottled beer (3rd batch)

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therigaletto

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Hey guys!
This is my 3rd batch of home brew and my SECOND 'Fail Ale'. The last two batches have had about a centimeter of (for lack of a better term) CRAP at the bottom of the bottles.

The flavors are off to say the least. I used Irish Moss too.

Can anyone help me narrow down my problem?

Everything was sterilized, but the bottles were only ran through the dishwasher.

HELP! I don't want to give up on brewing but I'm pretty frustrated.
 
Sounds like settled yeast and a little bit of trub. A layer of "crap" at the bottom of a bottle conditioned beer is perfectly normal.
 
sounds like a little bit more than normal but nothing to worry about. How long has it been in the bottle and how long was it in 1st and 2nd fermentation?

My advice would just be careful about pouring it and enjoy!
 
Initial advice would be to let your primary fermentation go longer, if you're doing secondary let that go longer too. Be sure you dont hit the bottom of the fermenter with your racking cane when transferring. "crap" will settle out in all stages, as long as you leave it behind in bottom of the fermenter at transfer you should see less in each subsequent vessel.
 
1cm is A LOT more than should be there. Let ferment in primary until clear at least (most beer types anyway), usually 3 wks or more. Use secondary if you want but you don't "need" to.
 
What's your recipe and process as well? How long was it in the primary and how long (if any) was it in the secondary. What else did you do during the bottling process?

Like everyone said, it sounds like yeast, and maybe settled protein, but a full cm is quite a bit. A few mm is pretty normal.

That you also say the flavor is off is odd. What do you mean by off? And what are you comparing it to? Was it the same recipe all three batches? And do you mean it tastes different than the first batch?
 
Thanks for the responses!

I did Charlie P's Holiday Cheer Brew.

I didn't do a secondary this time. I kept it in primary for 10days. (Wanted it ready by Christmas)

I think I exaggerated the amount a little. I think it's closer to a couple MM's not CM's.

I wish I could describe the 'off' flavors and smell but I'm not good at that and you are correct, I guess I don't really have anything to compare it to to say it's truly off since I haven't done this recipe before.

If it is normal, then no one wants to drink my beer because of the stuff at the bottom :)
Any help to clear it up would be awesome.

Thanks again!
 
Initial advice would be to let your primary fermentation go longer, if you're doing secondary let that go longer too. Be sure you dont hit the bottom of the fermenter with your racking cane when transferring. "crap" will settle out in all stages, as long as you leave it behind in bottom of the fermenter at transfer you should see less in each subsequent vessel.

I'm a newb and just learned this very thing. Transfer'd from fermenter to secondary to clear, then to bottling bucket. Each time taking less and less trub and trying to keep the siphon stick away from the bottom at all times...a bit of floaties in my first batch but not many
 
I didn't do a secondary this time. I kept it in primary for 10days. (Wanted it ready by Christmas)

Longer primary!! 10 days is pushing it!! You could also try cold-crashing your fermenter if you have fridge space. Thats where you put the whole thing in the fridge and let it cool down to low 30's. This causes the yeast and other solid matter to drop to the bottom, and you can end up with much clearer beer in your bottling bucket.
 
Good advice!

I've never heard of cold-crashing. Do you do that straight-away with primary frementation or secondary?
 
Good advice!

I've never heard of cold-crashing. Do you do that straight-away with primary frementation or secondary?

either. I dont do a "secondary" fermentation, but after primary is complete (gravity readings stay the same for at least 2 consecutive days) I transfer to a second carboy and immediately stick it in the fridge. I leave it for a week to settle out all solids before transfering to the keg and my beers usually come out really clear.
 
Ok I'll try that!

One final question. How do you check your FG? Do you just remove the lid, check it, then replace the lid?

I've honestly never done it because I thought the oxygen would ruin the beer. Lol, again...I'm a newb : )
 
Ok I'll try that!

One final question. How do you check your FG? Do you just remove the lid, check it, then replace the lid?

I've honestly never done it because I thought the oxygen would ruin the beer. Lol, again...I'm a newb : )

get a plastic wine thief of turkey baster, sanitize it an draw a sample. There is enough CO2 to blanket the beer so removing the lid long enough to draw a sample should not be an issue. You do have a hydrometer ?
 
I think I exaggerated the amount a little. I think it's closer to a couple MM's not CM's.

That's wayyyy more than the typical and perfectly acceptable man-story exaggeration of 20%. That's the standard max, 20% more than actual. So for instance if you were climbing, it can be 20% steeper and nastier in the story than it was actually, but no more. Same with brewing.

When you pour, leave about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of beer in the bottom to leave the sediment out of the glass. It's totally normal. Actually the sediment is high in vitamin B so it is said.
 
Only a few mms isn't bad. If it were cms, I'd be looking at something seriously wrong.
No matter what, as long as you're bottling and adding some sugar substance for carbonation, you're going to have the little bit of yeast at the bottom, both from what was in the beer that didn't settle, and any new yeast growth. Your best bet is to not give the bottles directly out, but instead, pour it into a glass and leave the last little bit out. I generally watch the neck of my beer and stop when the sediment creeps up. Definately not harmful, just scary to people who don't know what it is. It's the "Oh My god! There's something wierd in this drink!" factor. You can always say it's like the worm in tequila and have them down it in a shotglass if you wanted.

I've heard that sometimes it's actually drunk separate that way, and othertimes mixed into the beer to give it a stronger yeast flavor. To each their own. The only other option is to let everything including all yeast settle out and force carbonate in a keg or something.

As for the off flavors, I guess that will be harder to say. It could be the way the beer is, or it could need more bottle aging time, or could require more primary/secondary time to let the yeast clean things up.

**edit**

Found the recipe. From one of the people who brewed it, it sounds like an ager. This person primaried for 10 days but then kept it in a secondary for 3 months and then bottled saying that it was (just) starting to smooth out. Spices, orange and chocolate overtones.
 
I know i will probably get a lot of hell for saying this but you can put a nylon stocking your carboy or funnel/siphon tip when you rack to your bottling bucket and it will keep most of the crap out but still let the yeast through for bottle conditioning and carbonation.
 
If you're naturally carbonating in bottles, there's no way to completely eliminate sediment, but there are ways to minimize sediment. Things like cold crashing, secondary, and just being careful with the racking cane.
10 days for fermenting is awfully quick. There's a chance it wasn't ready yet. How long has the beer been bottled? Two weeks is the minimum needed to properly carbonate.
 
I brewed the same recipe on Nov 30, 2010, and it is still in the secondary. It is gradually clearing and though I was hoping to try some at Xmas (I bottled one flip-top around mid-December) because I had the flu I haven't tried it. The rest of the batch I will keg in Jan or Feb for winter carnival. So, think 10 days is a little brief, though cold-crashing seems to work quite well to speed things up.

Please report back when you have tasted some of the batch. I'd be curious to hear what you have to say. I am a little nervous in that ginger is not a favourite ingredient but I still wanted to try the batch.

B
 
How do you rack to your bottling bucket? Use a siphon that doesn't touch the trub and you should be fine. But you'll always will get some sediment.
I hope your friends aren't drinking it from the bottle. You have to decant properly into a glass.
3 Weeks Min. in the Primary helps wonders.
 
I like to secondary. When theres still a but of trub in the bottom of the secondary and it could have been in my beer, im a happy camper!
 
This is my yeastcake for my Sri Lankin Stout that sat in primary for 5 weeks. Notice how tight the yeast cake is? None of that got racked over to my bottling bucket. And the beer is extremely clear.

150874_473504884066_620469066_5740814_2866677_n.jpg


That little bit of beer to the right is all of the 5 gallons that DIDN'T get vaccumed off the surface of the tight trub. When I put 5 gallons in my fermenter, I tend to get 5 gallons into bottles. The cake itself is like cement, it's about an inch thick and very, very dense, you can't just tilt your bucket and have it fall out. I had to use water pressure to get it to come out.

156676_473504924066_620469066_5740815_1970477_n.jpg


Ths is the last little bit of the same beer in the bottling bucket, this is the only sediment that made it though and that was done on purpose, when I rack I always make sure to rub the autosiphon across the bottom of the primary to make sure there's plenty of yeast in suspension to carb the beer, but my bottles are all crystal clear and have little sediment in them.

Half the time I forget to use moss, and you can't tell the difference in clarity.

I get very very little sediment in the bottom of my bottles this way.
 
Just to add to several previous posts.....I leave my beers in the primary for at least a month. Then I bottle condition, or keg condition for another 3 weeks. I kept noticing that the bottles I was drinking at the last of the batch were much better than the ones I opened early. Same with the kegs, the last third of the keg was much better than when I first tapped the keg.

So, I'd just say to slow down and let it chill out.
 
i added about 4" of stainless braid at the end of my autosiphon. i frequently dry hop so this keeps all the hop mess from entering. as the trub is as fine as silt im not positive that it helps at all with that but i do produce some very clear (not filtered clear of course) beers.
but it sounds as if your jumping the gun also. my cure for the "i wanna drink it now" blues is to brew another batch. that way when you've got more than one poppin' your not near as anxious to "bottle , drink, crap your brains out from all the trub".

but by all means, keep brewing. and yes, patience is a virtue in this hobby/obsession.

just another persons 2 cents...
 

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