Really Bitter Bitter ... with next to no sediment! :^)

My beer brewing continues to be plagued by ending up with lots of sediment in the bottle. The beer itself is very tasty and I'm pleased with it. However, the sediment makes pouring the beer a bit of a pain (I struggle to keep the sediment out of my glass, as I figure it spoils the taste).

I have experimented with the latest batch of bitter. My theories about the cause of sediment are:

• it is related to the amount of sugar in some way
• the sediment needs (more) time to settle out

I've tried to have the second fermentation in a barrel before, but the results were similar to before. This time a few things were different (not very scientific, I know) - though only one was deliberate:

• the original mixture was a little less diluted (higher O.G.)
• the primary brew was left for longer (2 weeks) before syphoning off
• less sugar was used for the second fermentation
• the second fermentation was left for longer (1 week - in a barrel

The result is very pleasing. I had intended to leave the second fermentation for an extra day or two. In the end, it was left for a week. After two days the pressure dropped as usual. Firstly, there was less sediment in the barrel; secondly, there was less sediment in the bottles.

A few weeks in after bottling, the beer is gaining fizz, and there is very little sediment. The beer is, however, _really_ bitter! It's also a bit stronger at 4.4% compared with about 3.8% before. (I put this down to the higher O.G.) It's very tasty, and I'm pleased with it, but it might not be to everyone's liking.

Next time, more sugar ...