Clear Beer

I've seen plenty of pictures of peoples wort/beer in carboys that is crystal clear. However everytime I make a beer (whether it be a lighter or darker beer) it always seems to come out murky. Has anyone experienced murky beer and made procedural steps to make their beer clearer and been successful? The only real steps I have made to clear up my beer is use ~1tsp of irish moss for last 15mins of boil but my beer is still murky. My beermaking process is as follows:

I mash for about 60-70 mins, do 2 batch sparges of varying volume (depending on the grain bill), boil in a 7.5g pot for usually ~1h, cool down to 80 using an immersion chiller, sometimes this takes about 15-20m cause of boil volume and tap ambient temp, siphon the beer into my 6.5g carboy and pitch yeast. I leave it in primary for 7 days then transfer to secondary for 14 days and keg. Force carb by setting the regulator to about 10psi and leaving it for a week.

I am just wondering if the only way to see clear beer is to use a filter. Thanks for reading.

How about some gelatin or fish bladders in the primary two days before moving to secondary?

First thing I would leave it in primary for one to two more weeks. I bet that does wonders for you without going to the steps I mentioned above.

Cold crashing is nice, but most people who can already do. Although, time spent cold in the keg will effectively cold crash a beer and any sediment will get flushed early or not show up in your glass at all.

Do you use the irish moss that looks like a powder or the stuff that looks like tobacco? I used to use the powder but I'd always find it in clumps after draining the kettle. I now use whirlfloc tablets.

You keg, which tells me that your cloudy beer is more likely protein related than yeast related. Can someone confirm?

Boil harder?

I've never used a filter and always have crystal clear beers. Next time you brew keep your beer in the primary for 3-4 weeks before racking or bottling. I bet you will have clear beers if you let the yeast finish their job before removing the beer.

Coastarine said:

Do you use the irish moss that looks like a powder or the stuff that looks like tobacco? I used to use the powder but I'd always find it in clumps after draining the kettle. I now use whirlfloc tablets.

You keg, which tells me that your cloudy beer is more likely protein related than yeast related. Can someone confirm?

Boil harder?

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I thought the Moss was supposed to clump up in the kettle. Along with the protein. That what happens with mine. Looks nasty and cool at the same time.

I still vote for longer in primary. Mine stays murky for as long as three four weeks before clearing.

What you are describing is the desired effect, what I was seeing was like if you tried to make gravy by dumping a handful of flour into hot broth. A little ball of powder that was dry inside and wouldn't break up.

Whirlflock (or previously Irish Moss) and 2-3 week primary fermentations have worked well for me. Also, if you make really hoppy beers, they will tend to be hazy and there is not much you can do about it.

Irish moss in the kettle, Long primaries with high to moderately flocculant yeast, and Isinglass before racking (especially if yeat is a poor floccer) or gelatine in a cold brite tank.

Adn the realization that non of this mean didly if you aren't boiling the crap out of it then chilling the balls off of it.

The more sludge you see in the bottom of the kettle the better. And if the bottom of your kettle looks like a dead cat after it's been barfed up by a pit bull then, you have done all you can there.

Coastarine said:

What you are describing is the desired effect, what I was seeing was like if you tried to make gravy by dumping a handful of flour into hot broth. A little ball of powder that was dry inside and wouldn't break up.

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Yea I know exactly what you mean. And that is how I would describe it too. But I primarily got it when I added other adjuncts or DME at the same time as the moss. Lately since I've gone AG I haven't had the same issue.

Thanks all for the responses. I am now wondering if I am boiling hard enough. With my current set up there will not be much I can do to boil any harder though. I turn my burner up to boiling then I gotta really keep my eye on it cause boilovers are common, so it is rolling, but not as hard as it can be. About best I can do with my 7.5g kettle. I also worry about scorching the wort, I use an aluminum kettle and my burner is a real beast, 170k BTU, when I turn it up it sounds like a shuttle launch. I'll be upgrading the kettle to something larger just as soon as I can find something on craigslist. I also hadn't considered extending the time in the primary fermenter, I will try that next time. I just this week got my temperature control installed. It is funny that now that I have it installed I am thinking "I can't ferment at ale and lager temperatures in the same chest, I had better make another one". I guess you can never have too much equipment huh. Thanks again for the tips guys.

patrck17 said:

Thanks all for the responses. I am now wondering if I am boiling hard enough. With my current set up there will not be much I can do to boil any harder though. I turn my burner up to boiling then I gotta really keep my eye on it cause boilovers are common, so it is rolling, but not as hard as it can be. About best I can do with my 7.5g kettle. I also worry about scorching the wort, I use an aluminum kettle and my burner is a real beast, 170k BTU, when I turn it up it sounds like a shuttle launch. I'll be upgrading the kettle to something larger just as soon as I can find something on craigslist. I also hadn't considered extending the time in the primary fermenter, I will try that next time. I just this week got my temperature control installed. It is funny that now that I have it installed I am thinking "I can't ferment at ale and lager temperatures in the same chest, I had better make another one". I guess you can never have too much equipment huh. Thanks again for the tips guys.

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Yeah. Every batch I plit the wort and lager half. To solve the dual temp issue I use my beast kegorator for ales and dedicate my second freezer to lagering. In the meantime I either suck it up and drink warmer beer or stock up the drinks only side by side with bottles from the package store with a weeks supply.

I had successfully built a dorm fridge based swamp cooler that would have worked perfectly for Ales but, finally decided that storage space was more important than cobbled gear. I don't actually brew enough to justify the gear and inventory I have and something had to go.

no moss or whirlfloc or isingglas either, i skim the protiens that form as your wort is coming to a boil. once the hot break settles out then turn the heat up and finish your brew normally. 95% of the time i don't even get chill haze after a 3wk cycle(1,2,keg)

the best thing that works for me is time (4 weeks in primary only) and cheap gelatin from the grocery store = crystal clear beer.

GilaMinumBeer said:

The more sludge you see in the bottom of the kettle the better. And if the bottom of your kettle looks like a dead cat after it's been barfed up by a pit bull then, you have done all you can there.

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I think this should go in the wiki...painted a perfect picture of what to look for in the bottom of your kettle

Do an iodine test the next time you mash. A few drops of wort on a coffee filter, and add a drop of iodine. It should be pink or very light purple, not dark purple. It sounds to me like you may have unconverted starches in your brew. If you don't have full conversion after 45 minutes look at your mash pH and temps.

With your process your beer should clear. I get better results with Whirlfloc than Irish Moss but still, after a few weeks in the keg it should clear...

Saccharomyces said:

Do an iodine test the next time you mash. A few drops of wort on a coffee filter, and add a drop of iodine. It should be pink or very light purple, not dark purple. It sounds to me like you may have unconverted starches in your brew. If you don't have full conversion after 45 minutes look at your mash pH and temps.

With your process your beer should clear. I get better results with Whirlfloc than Irish Moss but still, after a few weeks in the keg it should clear...

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Is there any reason to let the mash sit longer after it passes an iodine test? Better fermentability? I should get some iodine and probably save myself about 45 minutes.

To clarify, the iodine tests shows the presence of unconverted starches. If when you combine wort and iodine (you can use iodofor) it turns blue, you have NOT fully converted and you still have long chain dextrins and starches in the wort, mash longer.

I agree that a vigorous boil may help considerably.

I think it's the boil. I boil in a 10gallon pot and that's just enough room to boil as hard as I do so I'm guessing a 7.5gallon you're are not boiling hard enough. It takes me 30 minutes to cool so I think a hard boil hot break is more important than crash cooling cold break for clear beers. Also use whirlfoc, it's basically just powdered irish moss but I find it works better than Irish moss which tends to be old/brittle by the time you get it.

I do 1.5 gal boils for 45 mins and top off with filtered tap water.

My "secret" clarifier is racking clear beer and time.

homebrewer_99 said:

I do 1.5 gal boils for 45 mins and top off with filtered tap water.

My "secret" clarifier is racking clear beer and time.

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You are my hero. I spent 5 hours from grain to placing blowoff tube yesterday.

I think my next batch will be extract. I still have a bunch from before I converted to AG. I have the ingredients for Belgian Wit including spices, candy sugar, and some washed WL Belgian Wit yeast.

80 F seems a bit warm to stop cooling. Try cooling more and see if that helps any. I use whirlfloc in the kettle and chill my beer to about 65 F with ice water recirculating through my IC before pitching. I get lots and lots of coldbreak and my beer falls clear almost immediately (I can see it clear in the hydrometer tube as I measure OG). The cold break really seems to come on strong under 75 F.

Whirfloc in boil. 4 week minumum in primary, keg directly from there. Carbed for a week or 2, sediment will settle out within a week or so and will be in first draft pulled. After that it's:


This was an extract w/ steeping grains version of Centennial Blonde Ale.

Some other beers took longer in the keg to clear, but eventually they clear nicely.

I thought you shouldn't go longer than 2 weeks in primary unless you can drain the yeast out like with a conical fermenter.

Monsterc said:

I thought you shouldn't go longer than 2 weeks in primary unless you can drain the yeast out like with a conical fermenter.

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Nope. Nothing bad will happen. I've gone as long as 5 weeks, but that's really not that long. The only downside is the wait.

Thanks for clarifying this for me.
I always thought the beer would be safer sitting under the blanket of CO2 in the primary rather than exposing it to O2 in a secondary.
Why do so many people go through the trouble
of using a secondary?

Other people have their reasons but I don't secondary without a good reason (fruit addition, etc).

Here's what I do

Irish moss in kettle
Chilling as fast as possible
Long time in primary (3-4 weeks)
Chill them for at least a week before drinking them

(If I could cold crash I would as well) But these steps worl for me.

patrck17 said:

Thanks all for the responses. I am now wondering if I am boiling hard enough. With my current set up there will not be much I can do to boil any harder though. I turn my burner up to boiling then I gotta really keep my eye on it cause boilovers are common, so it is rolling, but not as hard as it can be. About best I can do with my 7.5g kettle. I also worry about scorching the wort, I use an aluminum kettle and my burner is a real beast, 170k BTU, when I turn it up it sounds like a shuttle launch. I'll be upgrading the kettle to something larger just as soon as I can find something on craigslist. I also hadn't considered extending the time in the primary fermenter, I will try that next time. I just this week got my temperature control installed. It is funny that now that I have it installed I am thinking "I can't ferment at ale and lager temperatures in the same chest, I had better make another one". I guess you can never have too much equipment huh. Thanks again for the tips guys.

Click to expand...

I did a 5.5 gallon batch of an IPA last Friday. I literally had 1 1/2 gallons worth of a dead cat at the bottom of my kettle. Some of it even made through my strainer and into the primary. There are pictures of my primary in my photos.

Lol I don't strain when I go to my primary. Okay I am gonna get myself a big pot and start filtering into my fermenter! Also ima leave my beer in the primary for longer. Thanks for pointers! Wait what do you use to filter into fermenter, one of those nylon grain bags? I figure that would work fine myself.