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Yeast in my bottles

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bigwhiskey

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Hello!
I am looking for some advice; here is my situation:
I am brewing an APA that is now in my secondary, and everything has gone as planned so far. At the 2 week mark I am planning on priming (with corn sugar) and bottling.

My question:
I have read a lot about a yeast layer forming at the bottom of the bottle that makes the last 1/4 inch or so of beer poor drinking/causing stomach ache. Is there any way to avoid this?!
Also, if I stick a mesh filter in my bottling bucket (right before the spigot) will that remove the yeast necessary to consume priming sugar and carbonate my beer?

Thanks for the help!
I have read a lot about yeast


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The yeast gives some folks diarrhea. I used to toss that last inch, too. But, I noticed SOME yeast didn't bother me. Yeah, but WHY?
Turns out this batch was pitched in Oct. 2012. The yeast have been shown to be dead! Anyway, I save the last inch, exclude as much yeast as practical, in a large test tube. Let it settle, and add it to your last brew of the day. You won't notice it.
You'll likely get the trots after your first heavily-hopped IPA. Be warned.
 
I have read a lot about a yeast layer forming at the bottom of the bottle that makes the last 1/4 inch or so of beer poor drinking/causing stomach ache. Is there any way to avoid this?!

Yeah, kegging.

Also, if I stick a mesh filter in my bottling bucket (right before the spigot) will that remove the yeast necessary to consume priming sugar and carbonate my beer?

No, the yeast will go right through it. In order to filter out yeast, you would need to use a filter on the order of 0.5 microns. In that case, yes, you would be filtering out the very yeast required to carbonate your beer in the bottles.

The reason you get the yeast deposit in the bottles is because when you bottle the beer with priming sugar, the yeast wake up to find new food, and undergo a complete fermentation cycle, including multiplying.

In summary, the yeast cells you see at the bottom of your bottles weren't there to begin with, so there's no practical way you could have prevented them from ending up at the bottom of the bottles. They were created during bottle carbonation as a natural part of the carbonation process.

Just pour the beers into a glass and leave the last 1/4 inch in the bottle. Or get into kegging.
 
Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.
On that note, how do commercial breweries achieve bottled beer with no yeast issues? May be a very obvious question.


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They force carbonate. So they do filter out all the yeast and then carbonate artificially.

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Have you gotten stomachaches from yeast before? I have not, in fact, after pouring I swirl and drink the yeast straight from the bottle for the vitamin B complex. I'm sure some people do get aches, but everyone's body is different, you may not even feel anything except for a buzz
 
Ok, that makes sense.
So lets say I wanted to start kegging:
I know that different beers require different carbonation levels. How does one manage this with a keg/co2 tank?


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I know that different beers require different carbonation levels. How does one manage this with a keg/co2 tank?

You can use multi-gauge regulators that permit a different PSI setting on each line, and balance the various pressures with different lengths of serving line in order to avoid having to keep changing from serving pressure to carbonation pressure and back each time you have a drinking session.

Truth be told, I just don't worry about it. I carbonate all my beers to the same level. I put the keg in the fridge, and connect it to one of the free hoses connected to the manifold attached to my CO2 tank. The regulator is perpetually set at 12 psi. 2 weeks later, I have nicely carbonated beer.

That said, if I were entering a beer into a competition, I would probably pay a little closer attention to achieving a carbonation level more appropriate for the style. Probably.
 
You'll get accustomed to the yeast. It has b vitamins that replenish what the alcohol leaches out of you. That reduces hangovers. Those new to bottle priming should decant.as your gi tract gets used to the yeast you can consume more. I can drink beer that is still fermenting with no issue.

The least yeast I've ever seen in my bottles was after a month in primary followed by two months in secondary. Gelatin and cold crash. There was so little yeast left it took three weeks to carbonate. Was as thin a layer as in Sierra Nevada. And these were bombers@22oz.

Yeast typically well not bud daughter cells when your priming. There is too little food. They only reproduce when there is food and space (they don't like bumping elbows)

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You can use multi-gauge regulators that permit a different PSI setting on each line, and balance the various pressures with different lengths of serving line in order to avoid having to keep changing from serving pressure to carbonation pressure and back each time you have a drinking session.

Truth be told, I just don't worry about it. I carbonate all my beers to the same level. I put the keg in the fridge, and connect it to one of the free hoses connected to the manifold attached to my CO2 tank. The regulator is perpetually set at 12 psi. 2 weeks later, I have nicely carbonated beer.

That said, if I were entering a beer into a competition, I would probably pay a little closer attention to achieving a carbonation level more appropriate for the style. Probably.

+1. Competition is the only place I would ever worry about clarity. If it's too murky for someone, that just means more for me. Any good ipa will not be clear due to the hop oils. All my friends love a good ipa or murky hb.lol

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You can greatly decrease the amount to yeast trub in the bottom of each bottle and clarify the beer better by cold crashing the primary fermenter after fermentation is completely finished. I stick mine in a controlled 35-36*F freezer for 5-7 days before kegging/bottling and am quite happy with the results.
 
You can greatly decrease the amount to yeast trub in the bottom of each bottle and clarify the beer better by cold crashing the primary fermenter after fermentation is completely finished. I stick mine in a controlled 35-36*F freezer for 5-7 days before kegging/bottling and am quite happy with the results.

+1.my apa is outside right now.26° last night.7.5% abv, no freezing.

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Fellas,
All of your advice is much appreciated. Extremely helpful!
Here is one more question:
If I am kegging is it recommended that I filter out the yeast before hand? Or does it not make a huge difference?


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If I am kegging is it recommended that I filter out the yeast before hand? Or does it not make a huge difference?

It makes a difference, but it's not recommended. The same clarity can be achieved with cold, patience, and finings.

Cold crash the beer for a day or two, then add finings (i.e., gelatin). 3-4 days later, your beer will be very clear. If you employ proper technique when siphoning to the keg, you should have clear beer and find very little yeast in the bottom when the keg finally empties. The caveat is whenever you move the keg, you'll be disturbing whatever is at the bottom of it, and the next half pint of beer might be very cloudy. This will go away if you just stop moving the keg and leave it in one place, undisturbed.
 
Fellas,
All of your advice is much appreciated. Extremely helpful!
Here is one more question:
If I am kegging is it recommended that I filter out the yeast before hand? Or does it not make a huge difference?


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If you follow the practices that kombat and I have described, you won't need to filter to have very nice, clear beer.
 
Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.
On that note, how do commercial breweries achieve bottled beer with no yeast issues? May be a very obvious question.


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Sierra Nevada actually bottle conditions but they have very tight controls on the number of cells that make it into each bottle (statistically, not actually counting cells in each bottle) so that the sediment is minimal, but if you pour a bottle of SN carefully into a glass, leaving just .25 inch or so in the bottom and then swirl really well and pour that into a different glass you will see the yeast.

It's us-05 so if you want to be super cheap you could culture it up and skip buying the packet. ( I kid, I don't think you'd save any money once cost of starter wort is added in)
 
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