To Tilt, Or Not To Tilt.. That Is The Question

[chillihilli]

I'd like to get a consensus as to how much beer one would generally leave in the fermenter when bottling or racking.

I've done a few brews now, and I typically drain the fermenter until the tap runs out (ie to tap level), and sometimes a slight tilt on the fermenter to complete the last bottle. I notice that I am throwing out approximately 3 to 4 litres of good -albeit cloudy - beer.

Do people generally do it this way, or do you tilt it and get every last yeasty drop?

My 21 litre brews typically yield 25 x 740 ml PET bottles.

 

[zoidbergmerc]

I tilt, then just drink the yeasty ones while I'm drunk or give them to people I don't like very much

 

[Pennywise]

If the brew was CC'd then I tilt all the way because the yeast is pretty stuck to the bottom. If not CC'd then I generally leave about a litre in there. If your trying to avoid extra sediment in the bottle then I'd suggest once the fermenter has been straightened up once tilted not to re-tilt as the sediment will be disturbed and most likely make it into the bottle.

 

[marksfish]

when i used to bottle i did tilt but very slowly and stopped when the beer was about an inch above the yeast cake. i usually got a few more bottles out of it.

 

[Fourstar]

I'd like to get a consensus as to how much beer one would generally leave in the fermenter when bottling or racking.

I've done a few brews now, and I typically drain the fermenter until the tap runs out (ie to tap level), and sometimes a slight tilt on the fermenter to complete the last bottle. I notice that I am throwing out approximately 3 to 4 litres of good -albeit cloudy - beer.
Do people generally do it this way, or do you tilt it and get every last yeasty drop?
My 21 litre brews typically yield 25 x 740 ml PET bottles.

when i keg, i put an oven mit under one side of the fermenter and drain slowly. (i also crash chill to help compact the slurry/trub.) i'd assume if you are a bottling with a bottling wand and do this from the beginning you should be safe. its when you shake it up by tiling for every bottle you might run into drawing more sediment off and into your bottles.

Personally i find i get more sediment coming out in the beginning than i do at the end.

I always brew for deliberate loss. whats 3L of wort & beer lost to the kettle, filter and fermenter when you have 18-19L top notch beer in the keg! Its a brewery loss. deal with it!

 

[Siborg]

My last brew was cold crashed and fined with gelatine... Racked to a bulk priming vessel and got every last drop out of it. Managed 18.25L from a 20L batch, but I only racked that much into the vessel. Probably wasted a bit, 250mL or so from samples (I took too many samples, ok). So only lost close to a litre, there was a decent size yeast cake too.

 

[Pete2501]

I tilt the buggery out of it.

I like to get all that beer goodness. I'll CC which leaves a pretty solid yeast cake so once it's transfered to keg I get my bottling wand thing and bottle the rest. Tilting until I'm pouring yeast cake into my bottle.

 

[black_labb]

this is doing bottles
i tilt once no beer comes from the tap. last few bottles will have alot of sediment but i drink them first to see how the carbonation and ageing are going. the extra yeast may carbonate it quicker, but i havent tested it.

i've since been racking and bulk priming so there isnt really a yeast cake at the end anyway.

 

[EK]

Generally I tilt gently so I don't get sediment near the tap and try to get most of the beer out.

If I am planned enough, I will prop up one side of the fermenter the day before so that any stirred-up sediment can settle allowing me to get most of the beer out.

The only problems I have ever found, is to have a bit more sediment in the last bottle. Not really a problem.

:icon_cheers:
EK

 

[Mobbee007]

I tilt, then just drink the yeasty ones while I'm drunk or give them to people I don't like very much

+1
I tilt every time

 

[stm]

I tilt the buggery out of it.

+1

 

[Dazza_devil]

I don't understand why anyone would tip beer down the drain rather than decant it off a bit of settled out sediment from a bottle or stubbie into a glass and drink it.
I bulk prime into bottling bucket then use carb drops for the dregs in the primary. Gives me something to drink while I'm waiting for the main brew to be ready.
Just bottled today and wasted around 100mls, only because I'm on a zero blood alcohol limit and had to drive.

 

[Rod]

I rack my brew after 5 days until the first lot of sludge enters the tap

then bulk prime , leaving only a very small amount

 

[the_yobbo]

Ok, placing a vote against the norm... I haven't been tilting.

I rake to a secondary on bottling day so I can a) Bulk prime and B) Move the brew to a good spot for bottling without stiring up sediment.
I haven't been tilting the primary while raking with the fear of 'contaminating' the entire brew with sediment.
Once bottling from the secondary, I bottle every drop.

However, after the above posts, I'm thinking an oven mitt or similar under the far side of the primary a day before bottling sounds a pretty good idea.

 

[Fourstar]

I don't understand why anyone would tip beer down the drain rather than decant it off a bit of settled out sediment from a bottle or stubbie into a glass and drink it. I bulk prime into bottling bucket then use carb drops for the dregs in the primary. Gives me something to drink while I'm waiting for the main brew to be ready.
Just bottled today and wasted around 100mls, only because I'm on a zero blood alcohol limit and had to drive.

Shame you had to waste that 100ml. For a loss of 3L, im losing 3-4 bucks on wort/beer. Personally i see that 3L as 20 bucks of time and effort to collect, sanitite, bottle and cap extra bottles ontop of what i get kegged out of my fermenter. I allow for loss to allow for better beer in my kegs. Factoring that into my costs its SFA loss compared to buying commercial beer. Heck, its 1 can of guinness of loss.

Sometimes if i have alot of excess in the fermenter (2L) i will decant it off into a pint and serve it real ale style and knock a head on it. Although if its as flat as a tack, it will usually see the sink.

 

[haysie]

I am a waster. I tilt the boiler and leave 2-3 ltrs behind BUT i then drain that thru a towell and freeze for starters. When I cube I never run the last 2 litres off, it gets tipped with all that break and late hoip trub, good riddance. Fermenting using the Better Bottle carboys, you dont need to tilt and can take nearly every drop.
In a batch I lose the cube shite then a few samples, SFA!

 

[Muggus]

I'll generally tilt towards the end, but make sure I mark the lids of any bottles that have been filled after tilting.
Also, i'll try not a waste my good bottles/long necks, for this last part. I've always got some 375ml screwtop stubbies on standby for "Trub bottles".
Usually these are left aside, and i'll make judgement on them after they settle. Sometimes they'll settle just as well as others.
And the rest...well personal consumption obviously...but it's likely i'll only get to drink half of it.

 

[phinnsfotos]

I tilt quite a bit and mark those bottles, I pretty much try to pull 30 longnecks out of every 23 litre batch. Usually end up drinking them first to see how the beer's going before I open the main ones. I bottle in plastic so you can get a very good idea of which ones are carbing up, and the trub bottles definitely carb up quicker than the others. And if they're too yeasty I tip it out and drink another one, no hit no foul.

 

[Dutchbrew76]

well i tilt down to about the last litre then swish and tip the rest down the sink. I try to use the high sediment samples for tasting

 

[Nick JD]

A lot of the time when I get to tilt-time I grab the fermenter and swirl the crap out of it and then bottle the soup into a 600ml PET coke bottle, label it with the yeast strain, generation, brew type and date - and then fridge it.