yeast won't cake in bottle

[cageybee]

So, my first brew was an English Brown and I am very happy with it. My second brew, not so much. The Belgian Blonde tastes musty (maybe it should..) but drinkable. The problem I'm having is that the yeast isn't "caking" at the bottom of the bottle...it is sitting at the bottom, but instantly stirs when I pour and I get a cloudy glass full. I'm not a perfectionist about clarity, but I did let it sit in the secondary until it was very clear. the worst part of it was drinking all that yeast seemed to give me terrific gas (don't laugh, it was bad). it has been in the bottle about 3 weeks (at 69 degrees or so). what I'm I doing wrong?

thanks

KGB

 

[noblebrewer]

Did you use any moss or whirlfloc tablet in the boil?

 

[cageybee]

no I didn't, but with the English Brown it was not required. There is yeast at the bottom of those bottles, but you have to swirl quite a bit to loosen it.

 

[krackin]

Try egg salad sandwiches with plenty of onion and sauerkraut. That should convert the 'terrific gas' to 'hideous stench' levels. Is that what you are asking?

 

[Yooper]

Some yeast form a tighter compacted yeast cake than others. Nottingham yeast forms a rock, as does S04, while others never seem to want to settle down.

One help is to keep the beer in the fridge longer before serving, and then gently pour the beer in one pour (no up and down motion). Keeping it sitting in one place in the fridge for a week will really help with those non-flocculant yeast strains.

 

[cageybee]

oh! would that make the yeast act differently in the bottle?

 

[Yooper]

oh! would that make the yeast act differently in the bottle?

Well, of course. Yeast that flocculates well, and forms a tightly compacted yeast cake would do that sooner than yeast that do not. But cold temperatures would encourage even non-flocculant yeast to clear eventually.

 

[cageybee]

ok, I only had the bottle in the fridge for about three hours. I'll leave it in there for a week. thanks!!

 

[NewJersey]

start kegging.

 

[cageybee]

thanks for the help! should it taste musty (was that the yeast)?

 

[Revvy]

ok, I only had the bottle in the fridge for about three hours. I'll leave it in there for a week. thanks!!

That's why then.....I found a beer in the back of my fridge that was in there 3 months, and you could upend the bottle and still the yeast would not come out. Had to blast it with hot water to even clean it, the cake was so compacted and tight.

 

[tre9er]

thanks for the help! should it taste musty (was that the yeast)?

likely, yes, but belgian yeast has a flavor all it's own. One I've grown tired of lately after making a ton of belgian beers last fall/this winter. I prefer it in lighter beers, personally.

 

[Revvy]

start kegging.

And do what, dump the beer he has in the bottles that he's asking about into a keg, risking oxydation? And what about those keg thread where people have yeast in their kegs that hasn't floculated yet? What does mentioning kegging have to do with the situation at hand.

I bottle and keg, and I still don't understand why SOME keggers feel the need to make this comment whenever someone mentions bottling? Did the OP actually ASK whether he should keg or bottle, or did he ask about an issue IN HIS BOTTLES?

You can't have posted this because you were trying to be helpful in the situation at hand, since there's no way switching to kegging would actually help IN THIS SITUATION....And it can't be because you might think he never HEARD about kegs, since we've all heard about kegs, whether folks choose to use them or not.

So again HOW is this helpful?

 

[NewJersey]

dude, chill out.
it just seems like kegging can help avoid the cloudy beer problems in general.

 

[Revvy]

dude, chill out.
it just seems like kegging can help avoid the cloudy beer problems in general.

Again how is that helpful in THIS situation? And again, do you think folks haven't heard of them? People who bottle don't NEED to hear about kegging when they're having a SPECIFIC issue, not do they want to hear about it...They want help with the specific situation at hand, not someone's OPINION that kegging is better.

And MY bottled beers are sparkling clear, as our my kegs, when they've been in the cold for a long time, but drop a keg in my keezer, or a bottle in my fridge and check it after only three hours, and NEITHER would be particularly clear.

So again, kegging comment, not helpful.

 

[EPS]

And alot of people such as myself. Just don't have the money to start kegging. And to OP i had this problem with one of my batches. And as everyone said putting it in the fridge for a week solved the problem perfect.

 

[beergolf]

start kegging.

My over under on someone suggesting kegging for a bottling problem is 4 posts. At least you waited until 9.

It does nothing to help the OP with their bottling problem.

The answer is to leave the bottles in the fridge for longer..

 

[Yooper]

dude, chill out.
it just seems like kegging can help avoid the cloudy beer problems in general.

No, YOU chill out.

If you can't stay on topic, and be helpful in the "beginner's brewing forum", please refrain from posting. You input was not helpful, informative, or the least bit on topic.

It'd be like me wandering into a sours forum, and instead of offering help with a recipe saying "Sours suck. Just make good beer and don't worry about not forming a pellicle". That would be ridiculous as well as stupid.

Our policy is to stay on topic, and give good advice. "Spend $500 and keg if your bottle yeast is non-flocculant in an hour" is not the least bit on topic.

Thanks.