Pouring a Home Brew - Gotta be something to keep the yeast out?

[Beergazzi]

I've searched, and I've seen people in the past asking about pouring a bottle out through a filter of some type (coffee / paper towel / gold mesh type etc) and ususally people just say pour carefully etc.

Well, I took some bottles to easter and by time they made the trip and were moved from frig to table I assume the sediment was a little looser, when I poured (sloooowly) I stopped when the 'yeast film' was right at the cusp of going in the glass. To my dismay I left a good 2 ounces in most of my bottles (darn near a whole beer in total).

I was tempted to pour as much as possible, then pour the rest through a coffee filter, but I just let it be and dumped it.

SO..is there any easily obtained household medium that one COULD pour the last parts of a bottle through that would hold bakc the yeast and not effect flavor? Just seems like there would be something...

 

[pkrath84]

How long have they been in the bottles?

I've found that after my 3 weeks in the bottle, most of the stuff at the bottom starts to compact. If you can chill it in the fridge a few more weeks, the stuff will really pack down and wont really move on a gentle pour.

Otherwise, its not a huge loss maybe an ounce or so. Not a huge loss IMO but I feel your pain.

You can always filter your beer before bottling too. This might be an option youd want to consider to make super clear beers.

 

[beergolf]

The longer they condition and the longer they sit in the fridge, the yeast will compact at the bottom of the bottle. Some yeasts will pack down tight enough after a week in the fridge that you can almost turn the bottle upside down and it will not come out.

Certain yeasts are more flocculant and pack down better than others.

Just give them time.

 

[Lyghtnin]

Meh, yeast is good for you. I am just fine with a bit of yeast in my beer. In fact, some of the settled yeast makes many beers taste better. If you must have crystal clear beer, yes, use more flocculent yeast, use fining agents, and wait for the yeast to compact itself in the bottom of the bottle. Also be very careful not to jostle the bottles in transit and keep them upright of course. I dont swirl and dump bottle conditioned homebrews like with some unfiltered wit or hefe commercial varieties, but i have had good luck not getting too many chunks in the pour. Filtering the beer as you pour it will remove almost all of the carbonation of the beer, and filtering before bottling may remove too much/all of the yeast to get good carbonation, depending on your filter size. As Bell's says, If God wanted us to filter our beer, he wouldn't have given us livers! One thing that i have run into however, is when pouring homebrew from bottle into more than one vessel. I bottle in larger bottles than 12 oz most of the time. Its better when bottling and sharing, and i never really thought 12oz was a good serving size anyways When pouring to several glasses, keep the bottle tilted very close to spilling when switching to a different glass and pour out the whole bottle into glasses at once. This prevents the yeast cake from getting loosened too much from beer sloshing across it when making six different pours.

 

[dstranger99]

OP said he had taken the Bottles out for Easter, during his trip or whatever it sounds like the yeast came loose after warming up. Which is not much you can do about except to carefully pour it...

 

[Beergazzi]

OP said he had taken the Bottles out for Easter, during his trip or whatever it sounds like the yeast came loose after warming up. Which is not much you can do about except to carefully pour it...

Yea, it was a car trip then I moved them a couple times as the food was going in and out of the fridge, then carried 6 bottles at one down stairs...the cake was a little loose by then I guess.

Oh well, the beer was good, got rave reviews on my stout ('taste like guiness', which is as good as it will get from my family of lite beer drinkers).

If I think of something, I'll kickstart it!

 

[JPR]

Keg it and bottle from there. That's my plan!

 

[tampa911]

I saw a review for these on youtube and the guy was pretty pleased. http://sedexbrewing.com/

They are caps that you use when bottling. You keep the beers upside down for the duration of bottle conditioning and the sediment falls into a void in the plastic cap. When your beer is finished up, you pull off the resivoir with the yeast and can store/refigerate the bottles in any orintation you like. Supposedly there is no sediment left to mix up when transporting. I looked and it was an extremely expensive option with shipping to the US, but maybe it is a good option for somebody...