Beer clairty and yeast presence!!

Hey guys,

I need a little help. Most of my beers always seem to be cloudy and have a very strong yeast taste. I brew all grain.

I have used irish moss when I first started brewing a couple of years ago but have not lately. Do any of you swear by the stuff and if so, how should I be using it?

I also used to filter by beer through 2 paint strainers when going into the carboy. I have stopped this and have not noticed a difference in clarity just more trub at the bottom of the fermenter.

I cold crash occasionally. Not as often as I would like because I can only do one carboy at a time. I usually do it for 2-3 days at about 40 degrees. This should only be done after secondary is complete right?

Also sometimes I do not secondary. Do most of you always secondary?

My beers also seem to change color as they age quite a bit. Not talking months but within weeks it seems as if they will get quite a bit darker in color.

I am using Notty and Safale-05 a lot. Which I thought were pretty neutral yeasts. Also have used California lately. All are leaving a large yeast taste to the beer.

I want to brew an extremely clear and light Pal Ale. Does anyone have any suggestions on doing so or a recipe that they like which will let me try and possibly compare the results from what you have brewed?

I appreciate any help, suggestions and advice that any of you have!

Thanks

I use Irish moss in all my beer and its added at 10 minutes.

Be sure you are doing a good vorluef for as long as it takes to get clear runnings both at initial drain and sparge

Be sure you are allowing the beer enough time to clear and settle in primary. 2-4 weeks ideally

Cold crash if possible to force settle and be careful not to re-disturb if you have to move the vessel

Refine your racking skills. Place the racking cane well above the trub, start siphon and slowly lower the cane as the level drops and continue until just above the trub. You can carefully tilt the vessel if you want

Allow enough time in the fridge to chill, at least 3-5 days.

Carefully pour your beer from the bottle without disturbing the sediment in the bottom.

Combined, all these practices should improve the clarity of your beer and eliminate the presence of yeast in your pour

Can you be more specific when you say "yeast" flavor? That's like saying a salad that you are eating has a strong "plant" flavor.

Are you pitching too much yeast? Are you over oxygenating? Are you having solid complete fermentations? What are some of your typical FGs?

I have had good luck clarifying beers by transferring to secondary and using gelatin finings.....as well as letting them set in fridge for at least a week or 2 to settle out "stuff" onto bottom of glass.....pour beer slowly in glass and leave last 1/2 to 1 oz in bottle....

Not sure about the "yeast" taste though....

I looked up both of the yeast strains you've been using. Looks like US-05 is a low to medium flocculation strain. Couldn't really locate decent info (on flocculation) on Nottingham though. I would try a yeast with a higher flocculation rating (at least 'high') for the next few batches. While I know you've been using dry yeast, try using Wyeast to see if you get anything different. I've been using 1335, and 1882-PC for most of my brews. I'll occasionally use 1318 or 1728 for a batch. With 1335 and 1882-PC being highly flocculant strains, they settle into a nice (compact) yeast cake once fermentation is done. NO cold crashing required. I also don't transfer to a second vessel and/or use fining agents post boil. I get super-clear brews this way.

Something else to consider. What temperatures are you allowing the beer to ferment at (not ambient)?? US-05 has a recommended range of 59-75F. If you've been in the upper half of that range, try fermenting cooler. Notty has a recommended range of 57-70F, same recommendation as above.

BTW, since it sounds like you're not happy with what you're getting, it's time to change what you can. Just because dry yeast is cheap and, most often, easy to use doesn't mean you can't use something else. Especially if you don't like what you're getting now. Time to consider all possible sources for what you're getting and either confirm they're not the source, or change them if they are.

Maybe try the white labs WLP_001. I just tried some for the first time in a pale ale. I. Can't fully state my findings yet because its on week 2 in the primary. But it looks pretty damn clear as of now... I use Irish moss in every beer. Its cheap and is supposed to help.

Friedclutch said:

Maybe try the white labs WLP_001. I just tried some for the first time in a pale ale. I. Can't fully state my findings yet because its on week 2 in the primary. But it looks pretty damn clear as of now... I use Irish moss in every beer. Its cheap and is supposed to help.

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WLP001 is (arguably) the same as US-05.

Nottingham is supposedly a very high-flocculating yeast.

To specifically answer OP's questions:

A lot of us use Irish Moss, and most of us don't secondary. Irish Moss helps coagulate/settle proteins (hot and cold break), as does a strong boil and fast chilling. And a lot of people (myself included) just dump all the break material from the boil directly into the fermenter. But none of this has anything to do with yeast.

Are you chilling the beer for a few days before you crack a bottle? Are you carefully leaving the sediment behind when you pour?

Thanks for the suggestions and help!

I just brewed up a Ginger ale and an IPA. I used irsh moss in the ginger and actually forgot to use it in the IPA. We will see if there are any noticeable differences. Both are fermenting with US-05 in the same fermentation chamber. I lowered the temp down from 68 to 62 so we will see if that helps also.

I plan to pull 5 gallons of each, keg and carb when ready. The remaining 5 of each I may secondary and cold crash and see the difference.

Thanks again!