Sediment in bottom of keg.

[rsnake2]

Newbie question. Just brewed Mr Beer porter and lager. Porter looked good. After bottling lager I found about 1/8" of yellowish sediment remaining in the bottom of the keg. Is this normal? Is my beer ok?

 

[lumpher]

Should be. Sounds like normal sediment. Taste it. Did it taste good? That will tell you more than we can.

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

I assume you fermented in a bucket or some such then transferred to kegs to carbonate, either with priming sugar or force carbing and then bottled from carbonated keg?
In any case some sediment at the bottom is completely normal and nothing to worry about, it's yeast and some proteins most likely that has separated and sunk down.

 

[JakeBowden]

That sediment is mostly the yeast from the fermentation. When you add that small packet of yeast, it reproduces to a much larger cell count. After fermentation finishes, the yeast succumbs to gravity and settles to the bottom, which is exactly what we want to happen. When you bottle your beer with the priming sugar, there is still a small amount of yeast in the beer, which will ferment that priming sugar to produce the CO2, which carbonates the beer.

 

[hotbeer]

If you kegged the beer while it was murky with stuff suspended in it, then that's your sediment and your beer is probably coming out cleaner than it went in. Likely a lot of it is yeast.

Note murky and hazy are two different things. Hazy can be desirable for some beers.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Only 1/8"?

 

[rsnake2]

Only 1/8"?

About...yes. Mr Beer kits. The porter didn't have this. The lager did. I'm a newbie and want to be sure that what I bottled is ok.

 

[eliastheodosis]

About...yes. Mr Beer kits. The porter didn't have this. The lager did. I'm a newbie and want to be sure that what I bottled is ok.

You probably haven't been around long enough yet to know Mr @Clint Yeastwood is being sarcastic. Helpfully sarcastic, but sarcastic

The amount of sediment is fine and very normal. If it's neon yellow then maybe I'd be concerned. Dull yellow would be fine. I assume it's in bottles carbonating now. If you're worried then pour the first bottle when it's ready and smell it. If it smells like beer then give it a small taste. If it tastes like beer then drink it.

It's normal to worry at the beginning. Fermentations can look weird when you're new to them. It's normal for people to be worried but also normal for those worries to be just new brewer anxiety. If your fermentation seemed to go okay then there is no reason here to think it's not okay to drink.

Also, don't want to stress you but the porter probably didn't have much sediment because it's in your bottles. Sediment is very, very, very normal with beer.

Cheers

 

[rsnake2]

You probably haven't been around long enough yet to know Mr @Clint Yeastwood is being sarcastic. Helpfully sarcastic, but sarcastic

The amount of sediment is fine and very normal. If it's neon yellow then maybe I'd be concerned. Dull yellow would be fine. I assume it's in bottles carbonating now. If you're worried then pour the first bottle when it's ready and smell it. If it smells like beer then give it a small taste. If it tastes like beer then drink it.

It's normal to worry at the beginning. Fermentations can look weird when you're new to them. It's normal for people to be worried but also normal for those worries to be just new brewer anxiety. If your fermentation seemed to go okay then there is no reason here to think it's not okay to drink.

Also, don't want to stress you but the porter probably didn't have much sediment because it's in your bottles. Sediment is very, very, very normal with beer.

Cheers

Thank you! It was dull yellow and was afraid yeast didn't do it's thing. In the Philippines the local San Miguel always had sediment...not filtered. Thanks again. I'll find out in about 3 weeks.

 

[eliastheodosis]

Thank you! It was dull yellow and was afraid yeast didn't do it's thing. In the Philippines the local San Miguel always had sediment...not filtered. Thanks again. I'll find out in about 3 weeks.

No problem! Sounds like there was a good chance fermentation happened then. Like you said, you'll find out. No reason to worry yet. Report back and let us know.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Actually, my brain malfunctioned. I thought we were talking about a fermenter.

 

[eliastheodosis]

Actually, my brain malfunctioned. I thought we were talking about a fermenter.

Sorry, didn't mean to assume Still probably close enough here, I think.

 

[OleBrewing]

Sorry, didn't mean to assume Still probably close enough here, I think.

well in a mr beer depending on volume? In my mind it is one of those brown sideways jugs maybe a gallon?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Newbie question. Just brewed Mr Beer porter and lager. Porter looked good. After bottling lager I found about 1/8" of yellowish sediment remaining in the bottom of the keg. Is this normal? Is my beer ok?

Sorry, man, but I think you lost your beer. It sounds like there is something really wrong with it. I won't be able to tell you what until it's properly sampled and the cause identified. You'll have to send me whatever beer you have left. I will make sure it is properly dealt with.

 

[rsnake2]

well in a mr beer depending on volume? In my mind it is one of those brown sideways jugs maybe a gallon?

Yes and 2 gallon.

 

[eliastheodosis]

Yes and 2 gallon.

Yeah, that's what I was envisioning. You could probably make some updates to your process to improve the overall beer quality, but you don't need to worry about that right now as you're learning. Once you have more experience you can update your fermentation equipment if you're enjoying the hobby. It will improve your beer, for sure. For now, don't worry about the sediment. If the beer seems okay then drink it

 

[rsnake2]

Yeah, that's what I was envisioning. You could probably make some updates to your process to improve the overall beer quality, but you don't need to worry about that right now as you're learning. Once you have more experience you can update your fermentation equipment if you're enjoying the hobby. It will improve your beer, for sure. For now, don't worry about the sediment. If the beer seems okay then drink it

Thanks! Once I'm comfortable with this what's the next step for equipment...baby steps?

 

[eliastheodosis]

Thanks! Once I'm comfortable with this what's the next step for equipment...baby steps?

There isn't one exact answer for this. There is some general guidance but you'll have to read up some and figure out the best order of upgrades that works for you. It's been over 10 years since I last used a Mr Beer but I remember that barrel fermentor being pretty rudimentary. Upgrades to your cold side will improve the flavor of your beer quite a bit. Getting a fermentor where you can do a closed transfer to a purged keg will keep out more oxygen and improve the flavor and shelf life of your beer for sure. There are expensive options, of course, but there are also some decent improvements you can make on a modest budget too. Here is a huge, helpful thread about closed transfers with a fermonster...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...lete-closed-transfer-system-for-cheap.680992/

If you have a decent hot side process then I would start with the cold side of fermenting and kegging. Others might disagree but I think that would improve your beer more than going from extract to all grain or getting fancy equipment to mash and boil if you are already all grain.

I will assume you are extract right now so correct me if I'm wrong. One cheap, easy upgrade you could do for the hot side when ready is to go all grain BIAB (brew in a bag). If you have a large enough brew pot then all you need is a bag and you're ready. I think all grain gets you more in touch with the process and gives you the ability to explore different malts and malt combinations, if that's what you want. BIAB is an easy way to get a pretty high quality wort for boiling, too. If you want more advice I recommend starting a new chat in a different section with a title specifically for this You'll get more opinions that way. There are people much more experience than me on here who can also help!

 

[Broken Crow]

^^ That! Agreed with everything @eliastheodosis said and in that vein, here's a link to Fermonsters:
https://www.brewhardware.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=fermonster&Submit=
I really like to watch new brewers journey as it gives us a chance to revisit our own and sometimes rethink a part of our own process and maybe improve on it. Since there are almost as many ways to brew as there are brewers, the options range far and wide. So yeah; Start a new thread and tell us what equipment you have so far and where you want to go with brewing...batch size preference especially as I know those Mr Beer kits are small but have many satisfied users, though in your case if you're happy with the batch size, a 3G Fermonster would probably be easier to work with even as shipped without the mods....you'd be a bit future-proofed should you decide to mod it later and reducing or even minimizing O2 exposure in any batch size is one of the most significant relatively cheap improvements you can make.