Sediment rising when bottles are chilled

[Daigoro]

My latest brew (extract/partial grain, hops, sugar, SafLager S-23 yeast) was bottled about 4 weeks ago and has cleared perfectly. There is quite a lot of very fine sediment in the bottles which is VERY easily disturbed. My problem is that when I refrigerate the bottles the sediment is rising and clouding the beer - it's definitely not a chill haze. We tasted an unrefrigerated bottle and it tasted great. Does it just need to mature for longer or is there a fundamental problem? I've never experienced this before.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

[Daigoro]

No finings - I've never felt the need to fine my beers. I'll leave it to mature for longer and see if that helps the yeast settle a bit more firmly. Otherwise I'll just have to drink it warm!

Thanks.

[scottish69]

I find some yeasts do poorly flocculate. Ive gota pilsner at the moment thats behaving similar to yours.

I usually condition int eh cold garage for a few weeks and i find this helps the yeast "pellet" at the bottom of the bottles compared to just being sat around the house and then chilled before drinking.

[Daigoro]

The yeast packet describes the sedimentation as "high" - which it certainly is. I used this same yeast a few years ago (albeit with a slightly different recipe) and, while the bottles did have a lot of sediment, I didn't have this rising sediment problem. I tried opening an unrefrigerated one at the weekend and the sediment shot up from the bottom as though there were CO2 bubbles trapped in it. It is a bottom-fermenting yeast so I'm hoping it just hasn't finished maturing.

[Daigoro]

I just thought I would update this thread in case it helps someone else. It seems that a lengthy conditioning period (4-5 months) has resolved the problem (not that many bottles have made it this far!). The beer no longer clouds when chilled and the sediment is much more stable. I find 6-8 weeks is generally the minimum conditioning period so this was pretty much twice as long.