My brew looks like apple cider ,,and most I have seen look like that also. I have noticed that when I see it looking like this my brain tricks my mouth into tasting apple cider in the beer. What are some easy/cheap ways to clear the brew without to much effort? Will it just clear in the bottles?
easy ways to clear beer?
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Tall_Yotie
Well-Known Member
There are a few ways to clarify your beer; during brewing, chilling, after fermentation, and in the bottle.
When brewing, adding some Irish Moss helps with clarity. It grabs the proteins and clears up the brew.
Getting the wort down temp quick also helps (using an immersion chiller, etc), from what I have read.
If the brew is too cloudy for your tastes when in the fermenter, before bottling add some gelatin. Search the forum and online on how to do this, involves cooling the beer and adding gelatin for 24 hours.
As far as it being cloudy in the bottle, once carbonation is set then chill the beer good. In cold temps the yeast especially, but also other floaty bits, will tend to drop to the bottom of the bottle. Just pour carefully and leave the chunks in the bottle.
Cheers!
When brewing, adding some Irish Moss helps with clarity. It grabs the proteins and clears up the brew.
Getting the wort down temp quick also helps (using an immersion chiller, etc), from what I have read.
If the brew is too cloudy for your tastes when in the fermenter, before bottling add some gelatin. Search the forum and online on how to do this, involves cooling the beer and adding gelatin for 24 hours.
As far as it being cloudy in the bottle, once carbonation is set then chill the beer good. In cold temps the yeast especially, but also other floaty bits, will tend to drop to the bottom of the bottle. Just pour carefully and leave the chunks in the bottle.
Cheers!
hoppymonkey
Well-Known Member
+1 on Yotie. Mine are always good if I cold crash the entire carboy in the fridge for a week before I keg.
The easiest is give it time in the bottle!
I do as such:
Whilrfloc at 10-15
Rapid chilling for good cold break
3 weeks in primary ( I like high flocculating yeast like Notty)
Cold crash in fermenter
Conditioning in bottle or keg.
*If you are bottling you may want to forgo the cold crash as some of the yeast drops out and it may take longer to carb in the bottles. This is one of the reasons people suggest leaving your beer in the fridge for a few days or more before drinking. It allows the beer to "crash" and clear up.
I do as such:
Whilrfloc at 10-15
Rapid chilling for good cold break
3 weeks in primary ( I like high flocculating yeast like Notty)
Cold crash in fermenter
Conditioning in bottle or keg.
*If you are bottling you may want to forgo the cold crash as some of the yeast drops out and it may take longer to carb in the bottles. This is one of the reasons people suggest leaving your beer in the fridge for a few days or more before drinking. It allows the beer to "crash" and clear up.
Tall_Yotie
Well-Known Member
It also depends on the style of beer you are making and the yeast. If you are making a hefeweizen, for example, it will never be clear. That is just the style. A pale ale, on the other hand, can be a bit hazy or crystal clear depending on how you handle it.
solbes
Well-Known Member
For about $1, you can buy a package of Isinglass. Its derived from fish bladders, and is a very pure form of gelatin. If going to secondary, rack onto the Isinglass and very gently mix it up. Should clear brialliantly within 1-2 weeks. Worked wonders for a Kolsch I had last winter that would not floc out easily.
tchuklobrau
Well-Known Member
whirlfloc at 10-15 and cold crash work nicely for me
Time, seriously. It isnt a big secret. But being patient will clear your beer very nicely.
I recently poured a glass of my homebrew for another fellow homebrewer. He was amazed at how clear I was able to get my beer. I did use a pinch of irish moss at the end of boil, but besides that it just had time in the fridge.
It was my last 2 bottles of a batch so they were in their for quite some time but man, that was a nice clear beer.
I recently poured a glass of my homebrew for another fellow homebrewer. He was amazed at how clear I was able to get my beer. I did use a pinch of irish moss at the end of boil, but besides that it just had time in the fridge.
It was my last 2 bottles of a batch so they were in their for quite some time but man, that was a nice clear beer.
The easiest? Time.
How long has the beer fermenting. The "apple cider" taste might not be a trick- it could indicate the beer is still young or that fermentation is otherwise incomplete. Once the beer is done fermenting, give it time for all the yeast and other particulates to settle. Cold crashing/conditioning definitely helps. Irish moss or whirlfloc can help. I've tried gelatin but have never really noticed an improvement (though my beers are usually pretty clear anyway). Also, while not the popular consensus in these parts, I'm a firm believer in secondaries.
How long has the beer fermenting. The "apple cider" taste might not be a trick- it could indicate the beer is still young or that fermentation is otherwise incomplete. Once the beer is done fermenting, give it time for all the yeast and other particulates to settle. Cold crashing/conditioning definitely helps. Irish moss or whirlfloc can help. I've tried gelatin but have never really noticed an improvement (though my beers are usually pretty clear anyway). Also, while not the popular consensus in these parts, I'm a firm believer in secondaries.
bja
Well-Known Member
Not to take away anything from them, but what is so speacial about a secondary that would allow a beer to clear faster than if it were left in the primary?
Don't know if there's anything "so special" about secondaries. I can't offer any scientific evidence, merely anecdotal. I don't know if its the turbulence of transferring that knocks the last bit of stuff out of suspension or what. I've had beers in primary 3+ weeks that wouldn't clear up, drop clear within days of transfering to secondary.
The easiest way to fix a hazy beer is to prevent it in the first place!
First, make sure you get a nice hard rolling boil at the beginning. Not a simmer, but a rolling boil. Use Whirfloc (one whole tablet) with 15 minutes left in the boil. Once the boil is over, chill the beer to 65 degrees within 20 minutes by using an immersion chiller, ice baths, etc, whatever it takes.
Use a flocculant yeast like S04 or nottingham which form tightly packed compacted yeast cakes. Leave it in the fermenter for 14-21 days (until the beer is clear), chilling it for the last three days if possible, and then rack only the clear beer into the bottling bucket.
Using some ingredients will tend to cause haze- wheat, flaked barley, etc, so don't use them if you want a super clear beer.
I don't use gelatin or other clarifiers because some of my friends are vegetarians and wouldn't expect meat or shellfish products in their beer.
Just those simple things will produce a beer that looks like this:
First, make sure you get a nice hard rolling boil at the beginning. Not a simmer, but a rolling boil. Use Whirfloc (one whole tablet) with 15 minutes left in the boil. Once the boil is over, chill the beer to 65 degrees within 20 minutes by using an immersion chiller, ice baths, etc, whatever it takes.
Use a flocculant yeast like S04 or nottingham which form tightly packed compacted yeast cakes. Leave it in the fermenter for 14-21 days (until the beer is clear), chilling it for the last three days if possible, and then rack only the clear beer into the bottling bucket.
Using some ingredients will tend to cause haze- wheat, flaked barley, etc, so don't use them if you want a super clear beer.
I don't use gelatin or other clarifiers because some of my friends are vegetarians and wouldn't expect meat or shellfish products in their beer.
Just those simple things will produce a beer that looks like this:
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