Ordinary Bitter and Clarity (Or Lack Thereof)

Batch Size: 5.25 gal
Boil Size: 6.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.034 SG
Estimated Color: 7.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 32.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
---
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Thomas Fawcett Golden Promise (2.7 SRM) Grain 83.33 %
0.50 lb Amber Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
0.50 lb Simpsons Medium Crystal (55.0 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] (60 min) (FiHops 15.7 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (20 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] (15 min) Hops 7.1 IBU
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [800ml starter]



This beer turned out great! Only about 3% ABV but chock full of flavor. Caramel and bready flavors some mild fruity esters and a nice earthy quality from the fuggles with a well balanced finish. I can't exactly pinpoint what the EKG brought to the table, but I'm quite happy with the overall result.

For some reason it didn't clear up though, even with 1 week cold crash. Everything I've read says WLP002 should flocculate right out. It's not chill haze either, as the beer is cloudy whether warm or cold. What could have caused it to be so cloudy? I did the same thing I do with all my beers and they all came out nice and clear. The only thing I didn't do was use Irish Moss. Does Irish Moss really make that much of a difference?

Looks nice! It makes a nice change to see someone else brewing low grav.

The Goldings are more subtle than the Fuggles. I tend to use only one or the other for the aroma hop for that reason. As for clarity, I always use whirlfloc for my bitters, and they always come out crystal clear. Maybe it was the cold crashing that caused the haze? I dunno.

The Irish Moss does make a difference wrt proteins. If you didn't add it, they'll stay in suspension for awhile. Just keep in mind that in most cases, time clears all beers.

Thanks for the replies. The clarity issue doesn't really bother me since it tastes so good, but I was just curious why the difference between this and my other few beers (APA, IPA, Cream Ale) which were all crystal clear. Now that they have been conditioning for 3 weeks and fully carbed, I'm gonna stick them in my fridge for a few weeks to see if that haze will drop out at all. All I know is I'll never forget to use a clarifying agent again, lol.

I find that keeping my bottled bitter in the fridge after it is conditioned actually gives it a chill haze whereas the unrefrigerated bottles remain clear. I keep mine at room temp and pour it in a chilled glass to get it at around 55F.

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

I find that keeping my bottled bitter in the fridge after it is conditioned actually gives it a chill haze whereas the unrefrigerated bottles remain clear. I keep mine at room temp and pour it in a chilled glass to get it at around 55F.

Click to expand...

if you leave it in the fridge long enough (difficult to do, i know!), the proteins/polyphenols causing chill haze will drop out. often takes weeks, tho.

Strange, I've had this beer in the fridge for three weeks now. Looks exactly the same as when I put it in. Cloudy. It's not sediment, mind you, or other "floaties." Just cloudy. Never had a beer not clear up after 3 weeks in the fridge....and 6 weeks since I bottled.

The use finings is perfectly acceptable in British beers. Hit it with some gelatin and it will clear right up.

Lordsoth said:

Strange, I've had this beer in the fridge for three weeks now. Looks exactly the same as when I put it in. Cloudy. It's not sediment, mind you, or other "floaties." Just cloudy. Never had a beer not clear up after 3 weeks in the fridge....and 6 weeks since I bottled.

Click to expand...

Send it to me. I have a couple of kidneys that will filter it nicely.

BuzzCraft said:

if you leave it in the fridge long enough (difficult to do, i know!), the proteins/polyphenols causing chill haze will drop out. often takes weeks, tho.

Click to expand...

+1 in keeping it in the fridge extra long. I've had hefes drop out and get completely clear doing this!

Yeah next time I brew this I will definitely A.) Use Irish Moss and B.) Add gelatin. By the by, the cloudiness doesn't concern me much, it tastes great and most of the batch is already gone, lol. So I'll def be brewing up another soon!

What was the calcium in your water?

My beers all clear up and I use no finings other than Irish Moss. I've noticed for me that getting the calcium above 50 (usually around 100 for bitters for me), using 1 tsp of Irish Moss in the boil and leaving the beer in the bottle for 3 weeks makes them all clear up.

How rough was your rack? If you took too much stuff over, the bottom of the keg gets covered with trub and you will never pour a perfectly clean pint because just a little bit of trub gets sucked up every time you pour. With a small amount in your keg, it will all get sucked up and then pour clear. But too much, it won't.

How fast was your chill? All my bitters are super clear with WLP002.
I go form 210f to 60f in about 15-20 mins and I get tons of cold break.

Many things can effect beer clarity. Step mashing can improve clarity. It can be that it is not fully converted(unlikely). Could be tanins. Could be the boil was not vigorous enough. I learned lots from listening to the brewstrong podcast about clarity. You should treat yourself to it.

I just picked up a 55# sack of Simpson's Golden Promise. How do you like the malt Characteristics overall? There maris otter is nice but i'm finding the malt definitely blends with certain hops better than others.

To answer a few questions: I did adjust the calcium level for this beer. My city's water is ~52.1 ppm, I added 5 grams of gypsum to get it up to 73.8ppm. The rest of my water profile was as follows: Mg: 21.2, Na: 2.8, S04: 98.7, Cl: 6.3, HC03: 84.4.

RE: racking: I racked like I normally do, which is to whirlpool while chilling and use an autosiphon to move the cooled wort from brewpot to fermenter, leaving the last .25 gallon or so of trub behind, so I don't think that would be a problem.

RE: boiling & cooling: I boil on an SQ14 in a 10 gallon SS pot, and can get a very nice rolling boil going which I maintain through the boil. I cooled to pitching temp in 15-20 minutes as usual. Nothing different there from my other beers.

RE: Golden Promise, IMO, I found the character to be a touch sweeter and less "biscuity" and "toasty" than MO, but this was my first time using it so I haven't really formed a solid opinion about it yet.

I just find it odd that my other beers have cleared fine with pretty much the same process, but this one is so cloudy. I thought I had nailed the clarity issue in my beers. Also the main reason I didn't use any clarifying agents is because I had read that the English Ale yeast is incredibly flocculant so I didn't think I would have any problems getting it to clear up.

Wow old thread...just thought I would add, that I am certain the haze was caused by unconverted starch. I recently ran into a similar problem with some pilsner malt, only I caught it during the vourlaf and was able to get the mash temp up a bit and rest a little longer and the runnings cleared right up. It looked just like this beer when I first started draining, basically like chocolate milk, except lighter in color. Lesson learned I guess.