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Author Topic: Lare amounts of sediment in the bottle!  (Read 7104 times)

Offline freemasonjason

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Lare amounts of sediment in the bottle!
« on: February 08, 2011, 01:18:41 am »
Hey everybody!
I just got started homebrewing and I am also a newcomer to the forum.  I recently purchased a homebrew kit with a IPA kit from Brewers Best.  I had been reading "Joy of Homebrewing" and other books and magazines on the subject before getting started, and felt pretty confident about diving in.
So I followed the in package directions for the IPA, and at the end of the boil, there was still HUGE amounts of (hop?) sediment.  After I cooled it off, I strained it into the fermenter and my strainer kept clogging.  I had to clean it out 5 or 6 times to get all the beer into the fermenter.
I let it sit for a week and when it was in FG range, I mixed it with the priming sugar, also straining it again to prevent some of the leftover sediment from getting in.  Then I bottled it.
The instructions stated that I should leave it in the bottle for 2-3 weeks before sampling.  I had reached 2 weeks when I held one of the bottles up to a light and noticed there was still TONS of sediment IN THE BOTTLE!
I'm confused as to what I did wrong.  The whole batch is shot.  I just did an American Amber by Brewers Best and it was totally clear.  (The instructions were nearly the same too)

Any ideas?  Thanks in advance

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Lare amounts of sediment in the bottle!
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2011, 02:00:32 am »
You can expect a lot of sediment in a very hoppy beer, it's not like the hop particles will dissolve.  When you say you "strained it into the fermenter", where you dumping it?  Or were you racking it?  If you don't already have one, get a racking cane with a nipple on the bottom so you can leave sediment behind when racking.  That should help you keep the strainer from clogging.

When you're racking, don't use a strainer, it will only introduce more air in to the beer and that is generally bad after fermentation.  But don't give up, the beer isn't completely ruined.  Just pour carefully and leave the sediment behind in the bottle.  Of course, wash the bottles out right away so you can use them for the next batch ;).

Welcome to the forum and to homebrewing! ;D
Tom Schmidlin

Offline oscarvan

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Re: Lare amounts of sediment in the bottle!
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2011, 05:19:12 am »
Quote
I let it sit for a week and when it was in FG range, I mixed it with the priming sugar, also straining it again to prevent some of the leftover sediment from getting in.  Then I bottled it.

Not exactly sure what you did here but a generally accepted technique is to syphon it off the goop (trub and yeast cake technically speaking) in the fermenter without disturbing same, into the bottling bucket. Like Tom said, at this point you want as little movement, splashing/aeration as possible. Go to the brew supply/on line and get yourself an autosiphon well worth the <$10 and it does a very gentle job. Let it sit in the bottling bucket for 10-15 minutes (you can loosely cover it with the lid of the fermenter) and any particles floating round will settle down. Then bottle through the spigot. When you get to the end just tilt slightly.

If you're not worried about getting every last drop of beer out of the fermenter/bottling bucket you can get a very clean beer siphoned off.
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Offline tygo

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Re: Lare amounts of sediment in the bottle!
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2011, 07:32:52 am »
Let the bottles chill for a good long while as well before drinking them.  That will help to compact the sediment and make it easier to decant off the clear beer.
Clint
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Offline novabrew

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Re: Lare amounts of sediment in the bottle!
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2011, 08:28:18 am »
Some of that sediment will be yeast, not just hop residue.  Just pour carefully and most will stay in the bottle.

Offline tomsawyer

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Re: Lare amounts of sediment in the bottle!
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2011, 08:47:42 am »
Do you mean there's 1/4" of sediment in the bottom, or that the beer itself is cloudy?

A lot of the sediment in the kettle is denatured protein, and that is tough to filter out.  I pour through a large wire mesh colander type of thing, it catches a lot of the hop stuff and some of the protein trub.  I pour this into a bucket, then I let that sti for a few hours in a cool place and then rack the celear wort off the stuff thats settled out.  You can let it settle out in the kettle and carefully rack the clear wort off the top, but I find the skinnier/taller bucket lets me get more wort.  I also pour whats left in a pitcher, cover and let it sit overnight in the fridge, then decant what clear wort I can from that.  I can usually get another quart or more by doing this.  If you don't want to bother thats fine too.

Sounds like you are rushing your beer.  Let it sit in primary for two weeks, then things will have settled pretty well and you can bottle without getting so much stuff carrying over.
Lennie
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Offline euge

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Re: Lare amounts of sediment in the bottle!
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2011, 11:06:22 am »
Based on your other thread http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=5760.msg69939;topicseen#msg69939 It might be that you are bottling too soon. Large amounts of yeast are still in suspension even though FG has been reached. This is further compounded by yeast strain. Regardless, even though FG has been reached it is still a good idea to let the beer sit for longer.

Once fermentation is apparent (visible signs of fermentation- ie foam) it usually only takes a couple more days for it to ferment out. However, the beer is not done at this point even though you see your expected FG. This may be on day 5, but it would be wise to let it sit undisturbed for another 9+ days. This will give the yeast and other gunk a chance to settle out and also clean up the taste of the beer.

Then carefully transfer (rack) to the bottling bucket, keg or secondary.

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