Filtering Before Bottling

[DarrenTheDrunk]

Hi all

Just new to this brewing caper although having done it many years ago. I remember the sediment at the bottom of the bottle which did not taste too good. I was wondering if anyone strains/filters their brew at the stage of bottling to avoid this settlement?

If this can be done, I would be keen to use stubbies as well as long necks.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers and Beers

Darren

 

[mtb]

Do you cold crash before bottling? Also have you considered using a fining agent like gelatin?

 

[mtb]

(welcome aboard!)

 

[Rocker1986]

If you filter the beer before bottling it and remove what will become the sediment in the bottles, you will also remove the carbonation.

Bottle conditioned beers rely on fermentation of a small amount of priming sugar in the bottle, which produces the CO2 gas. With the bottles being sealed, the gas obviously has nowhere to go so it absorbs into the beer and carbonates it. This obviously requires yeast, which then settles out as sediment after it's finished.

You don't have to drink this stuff if you don't want to - just carefully pour the beer into a glass to leave the sediment behind in the bottle.

Cold crashing will help drop more yeast out before bottling, combined with something like gelatine (not a fan personally) or isinglass (much preferred)*, it will drop even more out, but still leave enough yeast behind to be able to carbonate the bottles.

*For some reason I always found gelatine led to a fluffy, easily disturbed sediment in the bottles, which completely defeated the purpose of it in my mind. Maybe I wasn't using it properly, or too much or whatever, but I switched to isinglass which does the same thing, except the sediment is nicely compacted and stays put. Pretty easy choice for me these days.

 

[mtb]

Slighty OT but I've been keen to try isinglass, a quick search online turned up only very expensive options..

 

[TheWiggman]

As above, you're screwed if you bottle condition (i.e. add sugar when bottling). There will always be sediment if you bottle condition. If you want no sediment in a home brew setup you'll need to get into kegging and fill bottles from a keg.

 

[earle]

As above, you're screwed if you bottle condition (i.e. add sugar when bottling). There will always be sediment if you bottle condition. If you want no sediment in a home brew setup you'll need to get into kegging and fill bottles from a keg.

You're really only screwed if you want to drink from the bottle as each time you take a swig it mixes the sediment back into the beer. When I was bottling I could get very clear beers with no sediment when poured into a glass without using gelatine, finings or anything else.

Crash chilling the beer before bottling will help it drop clear. Then pour it from the bottle in one movement leaving the last bit of beer and sediment in the bottle.

 

[Batz]

I've filtered and bottled (bottle condition with added sugar).
Always found there is enough yeast to give normal carbonation with much less sediment in the bottle. Works well, is it necessary, no.

 

[TheWiggman]

OP said "I remember the sediment at the bottom of the bottle which did not taste too good. I was wondering if anyone strains/filters their brew at the stage of bottling to avoid this settlement? If this can be done, I would be keen to use stubbies as well as long necks."
I'm assuming he wants to drink beer straight out of the bottle, in which case there's no solution if bottle conditioning. There are of course ways to minimise/reduce/harden the sediment but not to avoid to altogether.

 

[Rocker1986]

Slighty OT but I've been keen to try isinglass, a quick search online turned up only very expensive options..

I got mine from Craftbrewer, can't remember the price of it now but you only need 0.5g-1g per 25 litres. I bought it over a year ago and I'm still probably not even half way through the packet yet, so I suppose up front it's more expensive but it lasts for ages.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

There is a solution, after all MC wines are bottle conditioned but perfectly clear. There are alginate gel encapsulated yeasts available which ensure that virtually all the yeast comes out even if your tirage technique is poor.

Millipore once developed a special insertable membrane filter which was attached to the tirage cap and separated the yeast from the medium whilst allowing the medium to percolate through. When the conditioning was finished the cap was removed and the yeast went with it. The system was not commercially adopted because it was priced by Millipore.

 

[Mardoo]

mtb, same as Rocker. Get it from Craftbrewer if you want to give it a go. I've noticed little noticeable difference between gelatine and isinglass, clarity-wise. Isinglass will of course re-settle if it gets into the keg, unlike gelatine. That's the main reason I choose isinglass when I do.

 

[Black n Tan]

G&G have it also, it is called 'deltafine', it needs to be refrigerated.

 

[Mardoo]

The advantage of G&G's is its pre-prepared. Isinglass preparation can be a bit fiddly. If you have a stirplate it's no problem, but it has to be under 10C, ideally colder, and get stirred for half an hour, IIRC.

 

[mtb]

mtb, same as Rocker. Get it from Craftbrewer if you want to give it a go. I've noticed little noticeable difference between gelatine and isinglass, clarity-wise. Isinglass will of course re-settle if it gets into the keg, unlike gelatine. That's the main reason I choose isinglass when I do.

thanks guys, that's better. I think I'll give this a go next time instead of gelatin. Searching via Google Shopping all I could find was a 100ml solution that would treat 23L (maybe the ad was poorly written)

 

[DarrenTheDrunk]

Great. Well i certainly learned at lot from that. MTB, I needed to Google "cold crash" and that sounds like a great way to do it without adding anything. Ill be on the lookout for a small fridge to do this. Cheers and Merry Christmas to all.

 

[manticle]

Darren:

Just to clarify - if you were considering running your beer through a strainer (rather than a purpose made beer filter) you run the risk of oxidising it which can send it stale very quickly.

Filtering is fine if done properly and as Batz said, there should be enough yeast to carbonate. Otherwise cold, time and/or finings help reduce the amount.

There was also a product on the market which reduced/strained sediment in bottles if drinking from the bottle - no idea if it's still available and they were pricey from memory but apparently very effective. Avoid adding a sediment reducer to your fermenter tap though. Waste of space they are.

 

[wereprawn]

If you put a heap of ready to drink bottles of your brew into the fridge a week before you're intending to drink them, the yeast tends to stick to the bottom of the bottles anyway and you will only waste a tiny amount of beer. One bottle out ,one in to replace, and bob's ya uncle . The beer will taste better after the week or more in the fridge too.

 

[wynnum1]

If you put a heap of ready to drink bottles of your brew into the fridge a week before you're intending to drink them, the yeast tends to stick to the bottom of the bottles anyway and you will only waste a tiny amount of beer. One bottle out ,one in to replace, and bob's ya uncle . The beer will taste better after the week or more in the fridge too.

Agree with week in cold fridge and the smaller the bottle the less sediment to disturb but are a pain to fill.

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Could you potentially cold crash and use finings of some sort, siphon to a secondary vessel and cold crash once more to drop as much yeast as possible, then add a small amount of dry yeast to each bottle? I cold crash and dry hop at 1 degree for 4-5 days but still seem to end up with a lot of yeast in the bottom of the bottle after carbonation and conditioning. It's a bit more effort but might work? I like the portability of bottles when going to BBQ's, friends places for dinner etc. and pouring into a glass isn't always and option. Bottling a few from a keg would be ideal but I don't have the funds to do it at the moment.