Bottle sediment

Boundaryman

Is there a method to avoid bottle sediment. Could the first brew be syphoned off into another fermenting vessel containing the new sugar and left for a few weeks then bottled leaving the bulk of sediment behind,or does the second vessel have to be completley air tight and pressure proof as with bottles.eg plastic barrel with screw lid.How many weeks would this secondary fermentation take before the brew could be safely bottled and not end up with bottle sediment.

Answers or advise welcome.

HBO_Staff

There are a few things you can do, it's a common question and a great way to improve your finished brew, check out this link to a few points we believe work, including using a little bottler and 2 stage fermentation;

http://homebrewonline.vanillaforums.com/discussion/457/cloudy-brewsediment-a-guide-to-reducing-sediment-clearing#latest

Just bear in mind, it is the second lot of sugar you add, the priming sugar, which makes the brew carbonated and pressurises it, so you either need to add the sugar to your bottles or barrel and seal them up airtight, or if bottling some people prefer to dissolve the sugar into the mix (after previously leaving the sediment behind) and then bottle it already mixed in - rather than add a bit of sugar to each bottle. Secondary fermentation needs to happen in the final vessel it will stay in, and this takes anywhere from a couple of weeks upwards, depending on temperature etc, but the brew is best left for at least a few weeks for the flavours to improve