Is there a secret technique to avoid loss of beer?
I have started to drink my first bottle batch and seem to be losing a little more than I am happy with due to the sediment. Is there a way to pour to minimize this loss?
Yes, pour half, swirll the beer remaining in the bottle to get the sediment in suspension, then finish pouring. Don't waste the good stuff.
Avery
Brew on brother! SW US desert
Despite giving the beer a cloudy look, wouldn't the sediment effect the taste?
Yes there are ways to minimize the loss of beer to sediment during pouring. Pour slowly and watch the beer as it comes out. Look through the bottle (make sure there's some light because some bottles are darker glass than others.) Once the sediment starts towards the neck then stop pouring.
Also ensure that you are using a secondary carboy to minimize the amount of sediment that is moving around in the beer to start with.
I've had some beers that I can pour all the way out and no sediment will come out... it just stays stuck to the bottom. :D
Make sure you are careful with your beers as well. If you are always moving them or putting them in your fridge on their sides then the sediment will move around.
Practice careful pouring makes perfect beer!
The big advantage to using clear glass bottles is it is easy to watch the sediment.
Store bottles upright, transport gently, pop the top slowly, watch the sediment and just stop the pour as the stuff slides into the neck - easy to keep the loss to 1/4 ounce or so.
If you are getting too much head, pour slowly down the side, into a pre-wetted glass. Avoid rinsing (water sheeting) agents if you wash the glass in a dishwasher.
Sediment does affect taste, but it depends on lot of variables. High in B vitamins, usually a little bitter. Next time you pour leave an ounce in the bottle swirl it and try tasting it from the bottle.
I shouldn't just spout off. Of course, we should all try to minimize the sediment we bottle. Personally I don't use a secondary very often, impatient. But I do rake my beer carefully to the bottling bucket, and try to leave the serious trub behind. That all gets feed to the septic system where, hopefully, the yeasty beasties go to work again.
Avery Brew on brother! SW US desert
Isn't there a good reason why green bottles are used in beer making? Because it filters out harmful light I thought? "Green might be a hip and trendy colour for a bottle carrying a hip and trendy beer, but it's not an ideal colour for glass when it comes to actually storing beer. Why? Because green glass, unlike your more traditional brown glass, lets through damaging wavelengths of ultraviolet and visible violet, indigo and blue light. These wavelengths of light can create off flavours in beer in a process known as 'light strike'. Aside from beer, some clear and green bottles may also leave certain wines, medicines, personal care products and vegetable oils vulnerable to light-induced damage."
Put a clean, resealable bottle in your refrigerator. Every time you pour a bottle of beer, pour the last, cloudy, half-inch into that bottle. When it is full, pour the clear beer off the top into a glass. Enjoy your "free" glass of beer.
Karl S.
I certainly like that idea :D Thanks :D
No argument there. My homebrew will be light struck if I leave it by a window with no covering. So far I've only encountered one Heineken case in >10 years and that got some direct sunlight for close to a year. My cases have no tops, but a sheet or two of newspaper is all it takes to cut the light from the window. The case that was struck was close to a window and on top of the other cases - and the row of bottles by the window and second rank were affected.
The more damaging wavelengths are in sunlight and fluorescent lighting. And it takes time before the taste is detectable. It isn't like I store my beer on wire shelves in high intensity fluorescent lighting (the way supermarkets store Heiny).
It is probably less of a problem than most homebrewers think - but then it depends on lighting conditions in the storage places. And some hops may be more susceptible than others.
Flat beer?
Very carefully. Just pour slowly. You should be able to get down to the last 1/4 ounce which I always pour down my gullet. Nothing wasted that way and it doesn't taste any different than the rest of the beer.
Doug
close your eyes and enjoy it you are following a hype program of crystal clear beverage. well only water is crystal clear, never beer. beer looks like piss
you were programmed puppy learn how to break the program close your eyes and love it.
remind me to keep you outta my bedroom. sheesh
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