Woodforde's Wherry Kit - sediment

[Alex NG]

Hi there.

I have recently completed my very first brew - a Woodforde's Wherry kit, which I bottled up about 3 weeks ago.

The bottles all have a layer of sediment at the bottom, and I've got a few questions about this.

- Is that normal?
- What will happen if I drink it, will it just taste yeasty (?) or will it upset my tummy

And finally, what is the best way to stop this happening next time? Is it just a case of being more careful when siphoning?
Or would using a secondary fermentation vessel help stop this (as most of the sediment would be left behind when I transfer it out of the primary vessel).

Any hints and tips would be much appreciated, thanks.

[Dances]

This is normal - it is the yeast settling to the bottom.

All bottle conditioning does this - just store them upright and pour carefully to stop it going into your glass (although some people prefer it in aswell )

[scottmoss]

As Dances says.

The reason this happens is you add sugar into the bottle when bottling, the yeast then "eats" the sugar creating alcohol and CO2 making the brew fizzy, this is why you have sediment as the yeast simply multiplys and drops when there is no more sugar.

[Alex NG]

Okay, thanks for the replies.

I've drunk a few of the bottles already, and I've just been pouring it carefully. It's not too difficult to pour a nice clear pint once you get the hang of it.

While I'm on the subject of bottling... what is the best sugar to use?? For some reason I used demerara brown sugar for this batch, and I added it in directly as grains. Was this a mistake; are there better methods & sugars to use?

Thanks again

[Cheshire-cheese]

Demerara is fine, bog standard white sugar is probably the most popular.

[mickhew]

If the sediment annoys you, some say chilling the bottles makes it more compact, and that Safale S04 yeast produces a more solid sediment. I prefer not to chill my bottles, ale ones anyway, I like mine "cellar temperature"

[Dances]

I find the best method (found from using this forum) is to make a solution using a small amount of boiled water and dissolve the standard white sugar into it.

This then goes into my bottling barrel and the beer is syphoned on top of the sugar solution to mix once it has cooled.

[JT.]

I too have had trouble with sediment being too easily re suspended upon pouring from my bottles for both Wherry and even worse is a Muntons Premium Gold kit despite the blurb that claims "our very own gold yeast - a brewers grade yeasmt with superior ale making characteristics and good "crusting" properties to brew crystal clear beer".

Best by far have been the Coopers Kits which have formed that nice hard crust at the bottom of the bottles thats not easily disturbed when pouring.

Anyone know why the difference? (i.e which strains?)

And will my next kit - a fixby Gold come with a good crusty yeast or am I better off getting a Safale 04 as someone suggested earlier?

Cheers

[At. Ailbhe's Brewery]

I just drink the lot, yeast an' all.

Down the hatch!

[dedken]

Hi there.

I have recently completed my very first brew - a Woodforde's Wherry kit, which I bottled up about 3 weeks ago.

The bottles all have a layer of sediment at the bottom, and I've got a few questions about this.

- Is that normal?
- What will happen if I drink it, will it just taste yeasty (?) or will it upset my tummy

And finally, what is the best way to stop this happening next time? Is it just a case of being more careful when siphoning?
Or would using a secondary fermentation vessel help stop this (as most of the sediment would be left behind when I transfer it out of the primary vessel).

Any hints and tips would be much appreciated, thanks.

I had loads of sediment in my first Wherry.

It won't do you any harm, but if you're like me you'll like a clear pint unless unless you're drinking some of the abbey beers. Just pour it carefully if you don't want the sediment, some people even use a torch to help them see when the sediment reaches the lip of the bottle. It may be a good idea to pour a whole bunch of bottles into a big jug if you're going to have a sesh as some of the sed will settle again before you get round to drinking it.

Leave it a few more weeks - mine was much better at 6weeks+

[At. Ailbhe's Brewery]

It's a beautiful drop, mine's all gone!

[Alex NG]

Thanks again for more replies!

6 weeks?? Wow, I've been nowhere near as patient as that! (Although, in my defence, it was my first ever brew) I think the instructions said 4 days in the warm, then 2 weeks in the cold.... as soon as that day came around I was drinking it. That was about 2 weeks ago - and I've still got a dozen or so bottles left now. Maybe I'm kidding myself, but they do seem to taste better now.

Anyway, I also prefer a clear pint. I'm using PET Bottles, and I have no problems seeing the sediment starting to flow out with the beer. To be honest, I can usually pour about 90% of the beer from the bottle before the sediment comes out, so it's no real issue.

And also, it seems that the longer I leave the beer, the harder the sediment becomes.... i.e the longer I leave it, the easier it is to pour a clear pint.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to share my results....

[Naich]

I left my bottled Wherry for a wheek in the wharm and then moved it outside into the beer hutch about 12 days ago. I cracked one open last night and it was still slightly cloudy, but with fairly solid sediment at the bottom. I'm going to try to leave it for another 2 weeks before drinking any more. Actually, that's very unlikely so I'll rephrase - there might be a couple of bottles left in a couple of weeks when it'll be nicely matured. There was a slightly claggy aftertaste to it, which my first brew had when it was not matured, but which disappeared after a few weeks of maturing.