Sediment In Beer – What It Is, Why It’s There, And What To Do About It

Thick Brush Stroke
Thick Brush Stroke

You will find sediment in beer if it has been bottle conditioned or if it has been aged in the bottle for some time. The sediment is made up of yeast and protein particles that clump and fall out of the liquid, resting at the bottom or floating inside the beer. Generally, older beers have more sediment. 

These days, it’s actually fairly common to find sediment even in commercial beers and, in fact, sometimes it’s part of the style. 

What is the sediment in beer?

Beer drinkers that encounter sediment or floaties for the first time probably got a little weirded out and might have thought that something was wrong. 

Yeast leftover from conditioning

Either way, yeast is a completely natural part of making beer and it won’t cause any issues with the flavor of the beer. In fact, many beers, such as Hefeweizens, are meant to have a nice dose of yeast mixed into the beer to complete the flavor profile. 

What if the beer is just hazy or cloudy?

1. The beer had yeast sediment at the bottom that has been mixed back into the beer 2. It’s an unfiltered IPA, usually dry-hopped, that has a ton of extra polyphenols from the hops that bond to proteins in the beer – often called ‘chill haze particles’

How to get rid of or avoid the sediment in homebrew beer

Your only real option is to keg your beer, in which case you will simply use the CO2 tank to force carbonate your finished beer and you won’t have to worry about naturally fermenting it. 

Why does commercial beer have no sediment?

Most commercial brewers, at least the big ones (think Budweiser etc.) actually force carbonate their beers directly in the can or bottle. They can do this because they have fancy machinery that does it for them. 

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