Consistency Out Of A Fermentor

[fergi]

while i was putting my brew into a second fermentor to leave for another week ,and also to put in my hops, i suddenly thought when we pour our brew out into bottles are all the bottles going to be the same,reason being as the brew slowly drops the yeast out of suspension its seems logical to me that the beer at the bottom of the fermentor would surely be heavier ,with yeast particles that have not quite reached the bottom of the fermentor and the beer at the top would be a lot cleaner than that at the bottom,also maybe the whole mass of beer is maybe holding some pockets of beer that have not mixed through with the rest of the brew, and therefore have different characteristics,i know the guys that bulk prime maybe would not have this problem because you probably stir your brew around just before bottling ,but as i dont bulk prime i am wondering if this thought could have some possibilities,also apart from the yeast could it be possible for any of the fermentables and non fermentables to slowly start drifting to the bottom as well
cheers
fergi

 

[barls]

i was wondering the same thing about the yeast about 4 days ago but havent given it anymore thought. so im interested in this as well

 

[Kai]

Geez fergi, some paragraphs would help. My head hurts now.


The in-bottle ferment is a really small part of the ferment so any small difference in yeast quantity won't affect it much. When I used to bottle prime I wouldn't notice much of a difference in sediment levels other than the last five stubbies which involved tipping the fermenter up on an angle. Those ones would have a bit more sediment but never really tasted any different.

 

[fergi]

kai your right i just reread it myself and now my head hurts,anyway i re-edited .
i know what you mean by the end of the brew when you tip it up they definately taste different.it was just a thought so even in what you are saying about tipping the last few bottles out of the fermenter then to me this would mean that the top half is surely a bit different from the bottom,this is probably what i mean by the consistency.i know somtimes if i open a bottle of beer it tastes really nice then maybe the next day you grab another one and i think to myself,well it doesnt taste as good as the one i had yesterday,maybe just a ****** mouth taste at that time does it ,not sure but what does everyone else think
cheers
fergi

 

[jayse]

Hi fergi,
The 'consistency' will be fine, if there is visible yeast in suspension than to me its to early to bottle yet anyway. Ussually you pull more yeast out in the first 500ml, i just ditch that bit, after that all the wort should be the same. If its clouded with yeast after pouring of a litre than its not yet ready to bottle.
either way after pouring of a litre it will all be 'consistenly' cloudy OR clear.
Some yeast strains you have too get the beer colder to get the yeast to drop quickly but most the ones i like you don't. The ones that stay in suspension longer when you condition at 15c I have always used the term 'dusty' for as apossed to those that clear up fine at that temp.
Oh yeah if you move the fermentor when theres lots of yeast on the bottom then i guess your 'consistency' goes out the window!


Jayse

 

[Kai]

so even in what you are saying about tipping the last few bottles out of the fermenter then to me this would mean that the top half is surely a bit different from the bottom,this is probably what i mean by the consistency.

No, I found it was usually because tipping would upset the yeast cake making some of it go into the bottle.

 

[Trev]

I can remember when I used to bottle a lot and wasn't doing bulk priming (yeah, I know I'm just being a smartarse because I keg just about everything now) that I would get some bottles with a lot more carbonation that others. I was using a very measured amount of sugar so it wasn't so much tied up with the amount of priming sugar.

There are of course some infections that will cause this as they chew their way through the otherwise unfermenteable dextrins etc, but as I recall none of the volcanoes tasted any different to the rest of the batch - just more carbonation.

What I think was happening was that towards the bottom of the fermenter there may have been a higher level of fermentables (do malt sugars stratify?). I also think that it may have only been noticable on a batches that I didn't leave to well and truely ferment out completely.

Has anybody else struck this?

Trev