Brewing sugar still in bottom of the bottle?

[Nizmoose]

Hi guys I'm new to brewing and currently have my first batch of Cerveza bottled and secondary fermenting. I've been checking up on the bottles and it's now been a week since the brew was bottled. When I look at the bottom of the bottle there is a thin layer of the brewing sugar I primed the bottles with there is this normal? Should it still be visible? I haven't attempted to shake the bottles to dissolve the sugar at all as I imagine that not the best idea? The beer does however seem to be carbonating quite nicely (giving the bottle a little wiggle makes visible bubbles near the neck) so I'm wondering if its just a matter of time ie. the next two weeks before I start seeing that sugar disappear or should I be trying to get it to dissolve now? Sorry if this is a bad question just thought I'd ask earlier rather than later? Also can anyone tell me what temperatures can do when bottled at certain times? For example I was doing some reading that keeping the bottles at the same temperature they were at primary is good for ester production and then chilling for a week will help smoothen the final taste somewhat? Based on that I was going to keep it in the 'warm' for two weeks bottled then put the batch in the fridge for another week before opening? (3 weeks bottled total)

 

[wereprawn]

Are you sure its sugar and not yeast sediment?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

The sugar will disolve and get used up. Its prob more sediment. Put them somewher dark and cool for a month and let them do there thing. Bring them out and put them in the fridge for a few days before drinking.

 

[Nizmoose]

Are you sure its sugar and not yeast sediment?

Yeah pretty sure its the sugar just mainly because it looks the same and was there since day one, the only real reason I would like it to is purely cosmetic, as in a nice clear bottle would be cool

 

[Nizmoose]

The sugar will disolve and get used up. Its prob more sediment. Put them somewher dark and cool for a month and let them do there thing. Bring them out and put them in the fridge for a few days before drinking.

Thanks for this advice theyre currently in a box with a towel over them in the shed I might migrate them to a cupboard or something

 

[NewtownClown]

They wouldn't be "nicely carbonating" if the sugar was not being consumed by the yeast. Also. sugar dissolves in beer. Sediment.

 

[burrster]

As Ducatiboy stu has said, leave it for a month, minimum, before chilling them, the sugar will dissolve and be used, and the time in the bottle will create a better flavour than drinking it earlier. There will always be a sediment layer when you bottle condition beer so don't worry. If you are using PET bottles, they will feel nice and firm once the sugar is used up, giving you a good indication of carbonation.

When you bottle you should give them a bit of a shake(if you didn't already) to help dissolve the sugar too.(with the lid on of course)

 

[indica86]

Not sugar. Sediment will begin to settle in the bottle straight after bottling.

 

[Nizmoose]

Okay thanks guys, they're glass bottles and I did give them a good shake, also the layer is very very thin and the beer appears to be quite carbonated, thanks for all the advice I'll see how she goes for a few weeks and see what happens

 

[carniebrew]

Yeah pretty sure its the sugar just mainly because it looks the same and was there since day one, the only real reason I would like it to is purely cosmetic, as in a nice clear bottle would be cool

I agree with the guys saying it's not sugar, after a week any granules of sugar would be well and truly dissolved. It'll be yeast sediment, and it's quite normal. It's very difficult as a homebrewer to avoid this, while we'd all like clear bottles, the reality is we need yeast in the bottle to consume our priming sugar and produce carbonation.

You can minimise the amount of yeast in your bottles by "crash chilling" your fermenter down to a couple of degrees for a day or so before bottling. You can bottle while it's still cold, just be careful 'coz your bottles will get slippery as the cold beer goes into them. Also, you might find it takes longer for your beer to carbonate if you crash chill, as there's less yeast in suspension to consume the priming sugar...e.g. 3 weeks instead of 10 days.

You can also use finings to drop yeast out before bottling...but really, the yeast won't do you any harm, and as long as you've had your beer sitting upright in the fridge for a few days before drinking, and you leave the last 10ml or so in the bottle after pouring into your glass, your beer should be clear of visible yeast.

 

[Nizmoose]

Cheers I guess I just assumed it was sugar because it's the same colour and appeared to be there from day one as I wasn't sure how long until it should all be visibly dissolved