How do I get a really firm sediment in my bottles?

[damian1978]

Hello everyone. My Milestone Olde Home Wrecker is nearing the end of it's fermentation and according to the instructions as soon as the gravity is right, I should be adding the priming sugars and bottling it. I'd like to avoid too much sediment in the bottles, although I accept there will be some. My plan is to rack the beer off the gunge, into a fresh FV when fermentation is complete, adding the priming sugars at the same time to ensure even distribution. I then plan on bottling straight away and leaving until (hopefully!) Christmas time.

Do you think it would be wise to add a sachet of gelatin along with the priming sugars prior to bottling? - my thoughts are that this could help the sediment stay in the bottle when I'm pouring a beer and hopefully keep the pint nice and star bright.

Any advice on this matter would be very much appreciated!

Cheers
Damian

[ianac1]

The beer should be bright when you pour it anyway, don't pour the whole bottle in.

Leave a couple of centimetres or so in the bottle.

I'd guess if you leave it untill christmas then the sediment should be stuck down there pretty good anyway, it's all down to pouring the bottle i think.

I'd just leave as is.

[J_P]

Chilling the bottle prior to pouring it will help keep the sediment nice and firm

[mickhew]

SAFALE S04 is considered a better yeast than kit supplied Muntons, produces a more firm "trub" at the bottom of the FV. Plus (as already mentioned) refrigeration is good . Bottles generally clear on their own, without finings. Nothing more annoying than having clear beer, that goes cloudy when you pour, I agree.

[pauljmuk]

agree with all of the above

1. Time - let it condition
2. Temperature - cooler storage aids settling
3. Yeast - So4 is brilliant - almost solidifies to a jelly on the bottom.