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When preparing to bottle a cerveza style beer (from a kit), I moved my beer into the primary fermenter so that I could mix in some sugary water before bottling to make my beer bubbly. The beer had been especially cloudy since it was in the primary fermenter but had cleared significantly. As I siphoned my beer I noticed clumps rising to the surface, falling down, and disintegrating into the beer. Overall the beer is getting super cloudy again. I did mange to eliminate some sediment at the bottom but I feel that it is not up to my regular standards. Should I go ahead and bottle or let it settle once again before bottling?

Also I wonder what could cause this. I believe I had left the beer in the secondary fermenter for a full 3 weeks, often I procrastinate/ am too busy to go ahead and i leave it longer but I understand 3 weeks in the secondary should be sufficient. Am I right on that? Is this something to do with Cervezas?

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3 Answers 3

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Have you already mixed in the sugar? If so, you'll want to bottle it now before fermentation begins.

I've also observed clumps of yeast rising from the bottom of the fermenter when racking, but I have no explanation of why this happens. I think you're fine to bottle it as is. The beer will clarify in the bottle, if left long enough, and the yeast will form a compact mass at the bottom of the bottle.

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  • Thanks, While I have not yet added the sugar or bottled I find your advice encouraging. Maybe I'll bottle tomorrow, and see if anything settles out again int he meantime. I do want to get this bottled before the temperatures around here start getting summery / above regular room temperature.
    – Peter
    May 16, 2015 at 15:37
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Options 1) You moved your fermenter so that you can siphon the beer off. This lead to the yeast bed being disturbed. There was some CO2 caught in the yeast bed and because of the broken bed the CO2 and the accompanying yeast rose to the top. 2) Same as above, but your raking cane caused the break. 3) Your beer was warming up during the siphoning process and caused a renewal in fermentation.

And, as Tobias said, beer will clarify in the bottle.

A nice trick to help get very clear beer: Chill your beer to around 2C before bottling. This causes most of the yeast to fall out and creates a more solid yeast bed.

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  • Yeah, looks like your first guess applies: I moved the beer from a closet to a high spot on top of a table to siphon it. My second try at bottling went much better by the way (which was later in the same weekend) must be the CO2 was allowed to escape when it got mixed up. I suspect this problem could have been avoided if I agitated the beer occasionally during it's time in the secondary.
    – Peter
    Jun 8, 2015 at 10:47
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I ran into some of the same issues when I started. I've had success in getting a clear beer by mixing 1 tsp of unflavored gelatin in a cup of water, heat to 150F, cool, and add to beer stirring carefully. Wait two weeks and the majority of the sediment will be at the bottom of the carboy or bucket. Siphon carefully, from the top to the bottom, just above your sediment, on top of your priming solution in a clean carboy, mix a bit, then bottle. Conditioning will leave a bit of sediment at the bottom of the bottles, but not really an issue. Cold storage will help the solids settle, and will help clear the beer, especially if done in conjunction with the gelatin finings.

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