Sediment issues

[Lister]

Hi everyone

I have fermented and bottled my first ever try at lager, the lager in question is youngs definitive.
i bottled it into 2 litre fizzy drink bottles mainly because my thinking was that they are made to withstand the higher pressures, anyways i thought i would have a little taste 2 weeks after bottling (priming) it has a bit of a bitter taste (i know i need to be patient but its sooo hard) although it is still very drinkable the problem i have come across is lots of sediment after the first pint or so no matter how careful i am in pouring.
i have attempted to rebottle it but always with the loss of fizz.

i have currently taken the top part of clear decent lager off two bottles and put the remaining cloudy bit into a clean bottle with some more priming sugar. is this a good way? will the yeast still be active?

if anyone can give me any tips or advise on how to keep the fizz but not the sediment would be much appreciated.

[trucker5774]

Hi Lister

Welcome along. Sorry to say, I have never heard any good reports on the definitive kits

As for your sediment and carbonation issues. Be patient and give it a couple of weeks more to mature. The sediment will settle better. Make sure it is cold when you pour. Pour the whole bottle in one steady motion into a jug, then into glasses.

The final point is a bit of "suck it and see" I have opened bottles and added sugar then left them. They have usually built up pressure again. Any sugar I always disolve in a little boiling water, cool then add

I have also transfered from large bottles to smaller ones for transport. By filling to the brim they have kept the fizz for at least 6 hours (best kept cold and no movement)

[Lister]

yes i have heard the same about the definitive kits unfortunatly AFTER i bought it lol

even after chilling in fridge a bottle when poured ends up cloudy (did i bottle too early you think?)

and great tip on the sugar does it make a difference like in granulated etc?

thank you
Mark

[trucker5774]

The safe way to know if you bottle/keg at the right time is to take a hydrometer reading. It should be stable for 2 days to ensure fermentation is complete and be around the final "expected" gravity.

I dissolve the sugar in boiling water then cool. I then add to the brew. The best method is to tranfer the brew to another bucket (no splashing, thereby keeping the oxygen out) then bottle using a "little bottler" bottling stick. You could also use a syringe to prime each bottle with the sugar solution as an alternative. If going in a keg the solution can go straight in without the bottling bucket stage. White sugar is fine as it's just to create carbonation. If you move on, some recipies may call for other sugars.

Just being in the fridge can cause a haze in some beers. If it is down to the sediment mixing up, you could try changing the kit yeast for a different one. Lager can be a bit of a downer as a first brew. Try something darker or a "premium kit" ....2 cans rather than 1 can plus sugar.

[ianac1]

The issue is the size of bottles you're using lister. You have to pour the whole bottle at once really.

As trucker says you would be better either pouring the whole bottle into a jug, then into glasses from there or better still use smaller bottles when bottling, say 500ml or so then you don't have this problem.

Get yourself a capper and some caps, bottles are easy to come by as stated using various methods in a few threads, buy them from a supermarket, ask for empty magners bottles from your local, go to the bottle bank or buy some from your LHBS, just brown 500ml Ale type bottles.

Either that or try and get your hands on some smaller plastic bottles.

If they're not fizzy enough move them back to somewhere hot for a week then to somewhere cold for another week, if they are but just cloudy then leave them somewhere cold for a bit to clear adn refrigerate before pouring.

I'm quite new to the game too m8 but just a couple of suggestions that might help.

[EoinMag]

Yep, I agreee, the size of the bottles is the problem. When I pour from my half litre weizen bottles I pour it in one draught then I leave a little bit in the bottom or else I end up with a cloudy pint. There is no solution to this in 2 litre PET bottles. Having said that you could do weizen beers in those bottles or coopers pale ales where the beer is allowed/supposed to be cloudy and hazy and that's the problem solved.

[sonicated]

I use 2 litre PET bottles (I use Tesco Value Still Water to brew and use the bottles it comes in) and I decant in to a jug. It does loose some fizz but pitchers in pubs are fine and I over prime anyway

[EoinMag]

I use 2 litre PET bottles (I use Tesco Value Still Water to brew and use the bottles it comes in) and I decant in to a jug. It does loose some fizz but pitchers in pubs are fine and I over prime anyway

Only "problem" with this is that you can't just have a pint on a weekday or two, I wouldn't like it if I "had to" have 4 pints when I only wanted one, especially on schoolnights as said already.

[Lister]

Thank you all for your help and comments i think i have now prefected the art of using 2 litre bottles and have also invested in a pressure barrel (plus s30 cap and bottle)

[sonicated]

I have discovered that if you fill the jug up with water when you've finished and just leave it you can rinse it out and pour into again and you hardly loose any fizz at all.

..and I always bottle some beer in 500ml glass bottles for when I just fancy a pint in the week QA testing of course.

[trucker5774]

I have lots of brews in 2 litre bottles. I often take 3 nights to drink one..........(ok so I have 4 different ones open) but they keep in the fridge for 3 days with only a very slight drop in fizz. They may have a little chill haze and may even be a little too cold for the style of beer, but we were talking about lager to start with. I use So4 quite a lot and even after tipping the bottle thare is such a small amount of disturbance that it's not worth worrying about

[sargie]

I use 1 litre pet bottles bought from my lhbs. I have no problems whatsoever with sediment as long as they have been left long enough to settle a minimum of 2 weeks I get about 1 and 3/4 of a pint out of one bottle so it takes 2 pours and all i need to do is leave a drop in the bottom of the bottle.