No More Sediment

[Crusty]

Hi all,
Just back from visiting rello's in Brisbane & went to my cousins work mates house for a few All Grain beers. He is using the Brodie sediment catchers on all his bottles & has about 150 of them. He has a kegging system as well which he is getting rid of & is bottling exclusively from now on. I sampled a Pale ale, Irish red & JSGA clone from the kegerator & from the bottles using the Brodie sediment catchers. I can tell you first hand that the kegged beer is definately not as good as the bottled beer, no way.
Why is that?
Both samples were 4 weeks old & about 4 deg temp. Bottled beer was definately smoother & heaps better. He has done a lot of research on forced carbing vs natural bottle conditioning & he reckons the bottles win hands down. I am totally convinced he's right.
Looks like I may have a keg setup for sale.

Crusty

 

[Aus_Rider_22]

Cool thread. I've noticed alot of people say naturally conditioned beers taste "better" than force carbed ones.

I have taken up carbing my kegs up with sugar. They need a month or more to age anyway plus it saved some Co2!

 

[thesunsettree]

Cool thread. I've noticed alot of people say naturally conditioned beers taste "better" than force carbed ones.

I have taken up carbing my kegs up with sugar. They need a month or more to age anyway plus it saved some Co2!

yeah, why not natural carb the keg (if natural carbing is your thing). saves a hell of a lot of pigrooting around with bottles. u cant beat kegs for convenience (especially if you already have the setup) so naturally carbing the keg would be the way to go wouldnt it? personally i cant wait a month, 40hrs is enough time lapse for me

cheers
matt

 

[daemon]

Naturally carbonating in the keg will reduce the amount of oxygen just like a bottle, how good is the process you use for filling the kegs? Do you purge with Co2 first? Is there any splashing in the keg? Oxidisation could be the difference if you're force carbonating the keg.

 

[Crusty]

Won't natural carbing the kegs result in sediment in the bottom of the keg? I hate the taste of that crap.
I have a couple of taps on my kegerator & the fridge holds 4 corny kegs. Super convenient to steralise one keg instead of 70 odd bottles per batch but I am in no hurry. I spend 5 hours or so doing my All Grain before getting it into the fermenter. I had a really good look at the Brodie sediment catchers & I have to say their bloody awesome. He has some in the 3 week carbonation stage & all that yeast sediment in the catcher from carbonation will be removed once he unscrews the sediment catcher part. I picked up an 80 bottle bottle tree & a pump bottle washer / streriliser that sits on top of the bottle tree, this speeds the process up if you use a no rinse sanitiser. $322.00 delivered for 150 of the Brodie Sediment catchers, that's $2.15 ea. I reckon thats pretty good since you never need to buy bottle caps again or need a capper & most importantly, NO SEDIMENT. I can't get over these things, their fantastic.

Crusty

 

[haysie]

have heard really positive results coming from comps with these, would i bother for a little personal taste diffrence, no way! For a comp entry it well may well sort the shit from the clay, but I doubt it. On the other hand, if the bottle was conditioned long enough for the setiment to settle and not be easily disturbed whats the difference? You would still have a bottle conditioned beer that would be no different other than they are hard to balance and store upside down.

 

[Wolfy]

Yep the sediment catchers are well designed and work well - as long as you put them on standard twist top bottles (they don't work on anything else).
I have and use some, but I still don't think they are worth the excitement that you've expressed.

When you consider the over-all cost, add the the time and effort involved in cleaning bottles all the time, plus the space to store all the bottles ... I just know if I had $300 to spend on either sediment extractors or a kegging setup - I'd take the keg's without a moment's hesitation.
Having said that a few of the sediment extractors are a good idea for for a couple of special-bottles each batch, ones that entered in a comp or the like, however with decent process and conditioning combined with careful pouring the extractors are over-kill for every day drinking.

 

[brettprevans]

Brodie catChers have been discussed to death already. Everyone has their camp. Personally they are a wank. Learn to brew (methods, ccing, secondary etc) and u get bugger all sediment in the bottles anyway.

Sure u can naturally carb kegs....u still need gas to get the beer out of the kegs. So it's kinda redundent and as mentioned you increase the amount of sediment in the keg which is counterproductive.

As for bottle carbonated v gas carbonated, there should be bugger all differance except for the additional taste of beer sitting on yeast which should be minimal if the if yeast us dead/dormant.

But hey neveryone is entitled to their own opinions.

 

[Crusty]

CM2,

Maybe you could enlighten us amateur brewers in the secret technique of getting bugger all sediment in a beer in a bottle that is primed with sugar for carbonation. I'll let ya in on a little secret, NOT POSSIBLE! Doesn't matter how expert some of us think we are, or how long we let the yeast settle, if we filter or not or if we crash chill our beer, you will still get sediment in the bottle, PERIOD.
As far as my amateur pallete is concerned, there was a marked difference in the beers I tasted this weekend. My cousin's mate ain't no amateur either, he has a pretty good Herms system that pumps out some fantastic beers. As far as costs go, I payed well over a grand for my keg setup & I am a bit tired of paying $154.00 per year to rent a VT cylinder & $62.00 for the gas refill. As you said though, each to their own & I guess the wank factor is good for some of us. I am certainly not trashing keg setups as I have one myself but am now looking at the financial costs of it all. Continually spending money on Co2 to get the same result from bottling is kinda taking away the enjoyment of brewing if it's costing me too much. Am I getting a little excited about being able to drink from a regular twist top bottle with no sediment, SHIT YEAH! Bloody oath I am.

Crusty

 

[haysie]

As for bottle carbonated v gas carbonated, there should be bugger all differance except for the additional taste of beer sitting on yeast which should be minimal if the if yeast us dead/dormant.

The yeast wont be dormant if its bottle carbonated, eventually it will be. Then the beer sits on it and sits on it, producing a different beer that was conditioned en masse in the keg.
My keg beers vrs bottled beers are worlds n styles apart. Saying that i dont think a brodie whatsaname will improve the bottled beers, or. maybe the fact you get it off the yeast is the key? Food for thought though. A couple in the haus maybe worth a go.

if these things have been done to death, i didnt read it.

 

[Crusty]

I missed all the hype too haysie,
When you said your kegged beers vs bottled beers are worlds & styles apart, do you find the bottles beers of the same style are better or not?
I am not concerned about the yeast being in contact with the beer at all, just happy that I can drink a fully carbonated beer straight from a stubbie without stirring up the sediment. How people can swallow that stuff is beyond me.

 

[brettprevans]

Off topic. If ur paying that much in gas rental but a bottle. U come up in front after a couple if years. It find somewhere that rents D cylinders. Rental on my 22kg bottle is just over $20 per year and lasts prob about 3 yrs before refill.

Do what makes u happy. As I said it's my opinion. And yes you can reduce sediment in bottles. Mine have bugger all in them.

Haysie - kidding? U haven't read all the banter? Started I think 2 yrs ago. They were like $5 a cap hopefully they are a he'll of a lot cheaper now. Cause at $5 it's a fkn rip

 

[haysie]

I missed all the hype too haysie,
When you said your kegged beers vs bottled beers are worlds & styles apart, do you find the bottles beers of the same style are better or not?
I am not concerned about the yeast being in contact with the beer at all, just happy that I can drink a fully carbonated beer straight from a stubbie without stirring up the sediment. How people can swallow that stuff is beyond me.

Crusty, inconsistent would be my first thought, i have had better beers via the bottle and vice versa,,,,,,,,, but never "same as". i recently bought a cpbf to hopefully get around this. I agree a sediment free stubbie or bottle is good beer, not beer with mud.

 

[haysie]

Haysie - kidding? U haven't read all the banter? Started I think 2 yrs ago.

:lol: I missed it mate! was probably serving a suspension :lol:

 

[Crusty]

CM2,
How the heck are you getting bottles that cheap?
I rent mine from BOC gas & they are damn expensive to rent. I priced a D size cylinder & it was $350.00 to buy in Brisbane & $42.00 for exchange refills, a bit better than I'm paying.
I too bought a CPBF & it is really good for filling out of the keg for takeaways but still gas this, gas that. As part of my brewing shedule, I primary all beers for 1 week, transfer to secondary for another week & transfer to keg, gas & chill overnight. Next morning I filter from keg to keg because I use hop pellets & will look at hop flowers in the future. I waste quite a bit of the goods bummin around doing all this & thats another reason I am looking at simplyfying the whole setup & going back to bottling. Don't get me wrong, I love the gadgets & crap & a high tech kegging system is pretty awesome to own but my wallets takin a hammerin.

 

[rendo]

Crusty,
Looks like this isnt the first thread you have started about these devices!

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=43338

They look great, I am a bottler & might give them a go, but ...if you are looking to sell them or flog em to the guys here at AHB, just post this in the retail forum and u might get more buyers that way. Including me

Anyway

CM2,
How the heck are you getting bottles that cheap?

Crusty

PS. No affiliation with twang, no profits being made, just like the sound of it.

 

[Bribie G]

My bottle conditioned beers definitely taste different to my kegged ones of the same batch. Like many, I brew to 23 L and so have a few bottles over after kegging. I think the difference is that many if not most home keggers get a beer cleared out and carbed in less than a week and probably drink their way through the keg long before the bottled version is at its prime for drinking. A maturation thing. The real test would be to fill, flush and force carb the keg then store it alongside the few bottles of that batch for a few weeks then taste alongside each other.

For a bottle of lovely clear perfectly carbed beer to enter into a comp or take somewhere to impress people then:

linky


No need to drink sediment whether you are quaffing at home or out to a BBQ or comp or visit the rellies. Mine works great. Hey, Haysie did you get yours ironed out yet? :icon_cheers:

 

[Crusty]

rendo,

The first topic I started about the sediment catchers was asking anyone on here if they have used them as I am looking to buy some. The second similar topic was started 4 or so days later after I seen them in action.
I don't sell these or want to sell these to anyone on the AHB forum. The only thing I will probably be selling is my keg setup.

BribieG,

I got that exact CPBF from Ross, works a treat if you want to fill bottles from the keg. I am looking at moving away from the kegs at this stage.

 

[brettprevans]

Sorry I didn't mean that the d size are cheap to buy. I'm on iPhone now but will have a search on AHB tomorrow and find the discussion thread on the bottles. If ur desperate to read stuff tonight search 'gas options' 'co2 options' 'gas rental'

basicly the old massiv. Steel cylinders aren't popular now and don't get rented, so they are rentedc out cheaply until they reach their end of useful life. I also thinknits only cheap to rent them thru a secondary party ie not directly from BOC or Liquid Air etc.

 

[rendo]

ahh well....whatever....

either way, I am intrigued by them....can you hook me up with some samples..hahaha

sorry, I'll stop being an a$$.

rendo

rendo,

The first topic I started about the sediment catchers was asking anyone on here if they have used them as I am looking to buy some. The second similar topic was started 4 or so days later after I seen them in action.
I don't sell these or want to sell these to anyone on the AHB forum. The only thing I will probably be selling is my keg setup.

BribieG,

I got that exact CPBF from Ross, works a treat if you want to fill bottles from the keg. I am looking at moving away from the kegs at this stage.