Did I bottle too early?

[timothio]

HI all,

Just a quickie for you...

I bottled my first brew yesterday, all seemed to go well and I was happy as larry. Got up this morning, had a look, and I have a horrible sediment at the bottom of my bottles, looks the same as was left in my FV after I'd finished bottling. I'm 90% sure the initial fermentation had finished, my brew was 13 days in the FV and I took 3 hydrometer readings of 1010 (or thereabouts) over a period of 4 - 5 days.

Is this sediment normal, will it clear with time, did I bottle too early, have I runied my first brew, am I worrying for no reason?

Thanks in anticipation!!

Tim.

[Garth]

13 days and a hydro of 1010 is ideal. You haven't done it too quickly. A yeast sediment is normal when bottling beer, this is the normal way of getting 'fizz' into your beer. The muck at the bottom will stay there and get more compact on the bottom the longer you leave it. I expect you added half a teaspoon of sugar to each bottle? This will be converted by the yeast and create a tiny bit more alcohol and CO2 which will give your beer sparkle and mouthfeel.

I'm assuming that the muck is only a thin layer on the bottom, and not an inch worth?

Usually I brew for about a week then rack off into a cornie, I pressurize the cornie slightly and leave it in the cool for another week or two, then I bottle priming each bottle with 1/2 teaspoon sugar/glucose. The bottles are then left in the warm for a fortnight, so the yeast uses the priming sugar, then moved back to the cool for a month after which they are in a good condition to drink.

[WishboneBrewery]

You get sediment from the yeast using the priming sugar to make your fizz, everything I have bottled has sediment, its something you leave behind when pouring your beer (Unless its a Wheat beer)

[WishboneBrewery]

Oh yeah...!! what he said!!! Just beat me!

[timothio]

Its just a little bit of sediment, couple of mm really, certainly not an inch worth, but it still had me worried. Newbie's first brew and all that...

But no more!! All is now good in the land of beer!

Thanks for sorting that one out, now I've just go to play the waiting game and hope I dont get any explosions... I got the landlord coming round next week, you can guarantee if anything will expolode, it'll do it on that particular day... The law of sod says so.

Thanks again!!

[Garth]

there are techniques which allow you to bottle sediment free, carbonated beer but it requires quite a bit more gear than just bottle condtioning your beers.

much easier and more natural to do it the way you are now, enjoy your first one in a few weeks

[Wolfdog]

Ive just finished a Geordie Yorkshire Bitter + 1000g of light spray malt, level tea spoon of suger in the bottle for priming, then conditioned.
I to found settlement of yeast, not a problem, the brew taste fantastic!!! I will do this again in a breath!
Also I have read that you can use the settlement as a start yeast for brewing, your thoughts on this anyone?