Strawberry Blond is Cloudy

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jayhoz

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My strawberry blond (see my recipes) has been in a tertiary at about 38F for 4 days and shows no signs of settling. Any ideas?

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Is there any airlock activity? Did you measure FG? What was it?

Only thing I can think of if you've dropped the temp (which you have) is to put some gelatin or similar in there, and that really only works if you keg (the regulator and tank tells me that you do). You could also just let it chill out and hope for the best.
 
No airlock activity. FG prior to racking onto the strawberries was 1.013 or so. It then sat for 13 days on the berries.

What do people think of using Polyclar? I'm assuming the haze is some combination of proteins and maybe pectins (less likely due to low pectin levels in strawberries and the use of pectic enzyme)?
 
Bump - anyone have any ideas on clearing up this bad boy? Polyclar?
 
Well, I don't think 4 days is really enough time. I usually let mine sit at 38 for at least a full week. The gelatin is a great idea though. Very simple and VERY effective.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'll give the gelatin a shot. What temp should my secondary/tertiary be at for best results? Will its current temp of 38F shock the gelatin out of solution or is cold temps better for settling?
 
Room temp is best...it keeps the gelatin from becoming Jello.

Since it's been in the cold for a time take it out to warm to room temp. It should not endanger it in any way. ;)

You should start seeing results in about an hour or so. Overnight is good, but 2 days is better. Then you'll be ready to bottle/keg.

Try not to syphon any gelatin with the brew, but if you do it'll fall out again. :D
 
we let ours sit for about 2-3 days at room temp and it cleared right up, looked disgusting but when we bottled it was looking like the blonde it should...
 
DeadYetiBrew said:
we let ours sit for about 2-3 days at room temp and it cleared right up, looked disgusting but when we bottled it was looking like the blonde it should...
Let it sit with gelatin? or it settled out with no finnings?
 
Update: I added the gelatin. I didn't see a real dramatic improvement in 2 to 3 hours like I have seen posted. I am seeing a very gradual clearing after a couple of days. I can't say if the gelatin helped or it was just time.

I'm surprised at how slow this is to clear. I'm guessing that unless I give it a couple more weeks I'm going to be getting sediment from the keg when I pour.
 
Was it cloudy when you dropped the temp on it? If not then that is probably a chill haze and if left to settle long enough (a week or two) it will settle out. That is the reason the big breweries cold filter their beers, in order to filter out the chill haze. It is also the reason that the last half of a keg is clear when the first half is cloudy.

Cheers
 
wop31 said:
Was it cloudy when you dropped the temp on it? If not then that is probably a chill haze and if left to settle long enough (a week or two) it will settle out. That is the reason the big breweries cold filter their beers, in order to filter out the chill haze. It is also the reason that the last half of a keg is clear when the first half is cloudy.

Cheers

It was cloudy before I chilled, during chilling, and after.
 
I don't make fruit beers, but I do make wine. You may have a pectin haze from the strawberries. I think you mentioned that you already used pectic enzyme, but maybe it wasn't enought? Just a thought.
 
Yooper Chick said:
I don't make fruit beers, but I do make wine. You may have a pectin haze from the strawberries. I think you mentioned that you already used pectic enzyme, but maybe it wasn't enought? Just a thought.

Do not pectins only occur if the fruit is brought above a certain temp?

Honest question because from what i heard you don't need enzyme as long as it's around 150-160... Though, looking at it he didn't specify how he sanitized the berries.
 
Pectins are pectins, no matter what the temperature is. If you heat it up, however, you "set" the pectins (think jelly or jam).

Here is a long boring write up of pectin:

From BYO (Mr. Wizard): Pectin is a type of carbohydrate found in fruits that act as a structural member of the fruit, kind of like beta glucan in cereal grains. In cooking, pectin is useful for its ability to form a gel when heated in a sugar solution with a low pH. This is why jams and jellies are thick and stay on your toast or bagel instead of running off.

Although all fruits contain some pectin, many do not contain enough for making jams and jellies and many fruit spreads use pectin from other sources than the fruit being used. Certain varieties of apples, such as Granny Smith, are well-known for their especially high pectin contents.

When it comes to brewing and winemaking, pectin levels are usually kept low for two main reasons. The first is the haze pectin can cause; pectin hazes are due to the very large size of the pectin molecule and the tendency for the molecule to form gels. This is analogous to starch hazes. This is a cosmetic issue that some of us don’t worry too much about, depending on the beer style being made. My strawberry wheat beer was cloudy, but wheat beers are typically cloudy and the cloud looked cool in that beer.
To check for the presence of pectin, simply add one part of the wort, beer or wine to one part 70% alcohol. Ethanol and iso-propanol both work. I use iso-propanol (rubbing alcohol) because it’s cheap. This test will cause pectin to gel. When this occurs, the sample becomes cloudy and the pectin begins to precipitate and will eventually settle on the bottom of the sample glass.

Although this method is not quantitative, you can get a feel for the pectin concentration. If the haze is detectable, but very slight, you may decide not to worry. If the sample looks like orange juice after adding the alcohol, you probably will choose to deal with the pectin. Fortunately, it’s simple to address this problem. The easiest thing to do is to add some pectinase to the fruit mush before adding the fruit to your beer. You can use dry or liquid pectinase — follow the recommendations with the enzyme regarding usage rate. The other approach to take, especially if you don’t like adding stuff unnecessarily to your beer, is to do a test after fermentation is complete and the fruit has been added. If the sample indicates a pectin problem, then add your enzyme at this stage.

As I stated earlier, all fruits contain some pectin. According to my handydandy book entitled “Preserving” (1981, Time-Life Books), tart apples, citrus fruits, cranberries, currants, gooseberries and sour plums all have “high” pectin levels. Interestingly, all of these fruits also rank high in natural acid levels and these fruits make great jams and jellies without requiring an exogenous (outside) source of pectin. Strawberries, peaches, pear, pineapple, apricots and rhubarb all have a low pectin content. Cherries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries all have a medium level of pectin.
 
Ah, ok, thanks yooper. Learn something new everyday. Next time I do a fruit beer i'll have to get some just in case, didn't have any problems with it this time, but you never know.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. It is looking much less like strawberry quick and much more like beer at the moment. :)

Yooper, when the pectins settle what do they look like? What has settled out of mine is ultra fine white particles. The particles seem to clump together once on the bottom. The clumps look to have the consistency of small bits of scrambled eggs.
 
I don't know what to expect when things settle out, but I'm not really surprised at the "scrambled egg" look. You've got all kinds of things in there from yeast clumps to proteins, etc. When I make wines, I often get a fine dusting of particles but I never really thought about what it was that is settling out.

Glad to hear that you're getting a better looking beer! :mug: (But you never did say how it tastes!)
 
I am reserving judgment till it is chilled and carbed. It has a very distinct strawberry aroma at the moment. It seems to be a little bitter. Not hops bitter, but unripened fruit bitter. This could just be my nose smelling strawberries and mouth expecting sweet.

Time will tell.
 
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