Clarity, another question

Hi Brewers,
yet another question on clarity. I have brewed many batches, was lost for 2 years and now starting up again. I have always had problems with clarity, i have never had a clear beer. My first batch i did 3 months ago, i did an American Cream Ale, and added apple extract to make an apple beer. I now know just to order an apple ale.

Every batch i do, i have at least 3 bottles that i bottle, which are clear, i use newcastle bottles. I do this just to see what is happening. In the closet when the bottles are aging, they are crystal clear. But when i put them in the fridge, anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks, i pour in a glass and it is real cloudy looking, like a wheat beer. I read in the fridge, it will dissappear. But has not. I also did a secondary.

Also, when pouring my wort into the primary, i have always poured everything into it. But now reading not to do that, will that extra stuff on the bottom make for a cloudy beer too? I thought all the stuff helped make the beer. Now i will either try to filter it into the primary, or do siphoning, right? What's the best way?

Thanks all in advance for your advice and help. This just proves, when you think you know what your doing, you do not.

Pouring all the "stuff" into the fermenter won't affect clarity, so don't worry about that! Most of my stuff still ends up in the fermenter just because of the way my system is set up.

It sounds like you've got a bad case of chill haze. That does really go away with several weeks of chilling, but it seems like it's not doing that for you.

A couple of questions- how do you chill your wort? Do you use whirlfloc or Irish moss in the kettle?

Quick chilling and using a kettle fining can often prevent chill haze in the first place.

I think that what you are describing is chill haze? Also, do you use any kettle fining agents such as irish moss or whirlfloc?

Yooper said:

Pouring all the "stuff" into the fermenter won't affect clarity, so don't worry about that! Most of my stuff still ends up in the fermenter just because of the way my system is set up.

It sounds like you've got a bad case of chill haze. That does really go away with several weeks of chilling, but it seems like it's not doing that for you.

A couple of questions- how do you chill your wort? Do you use whirlfloc or Irish moss in the kettle?

Quick chilling and using a kettle fining can often prevent chill haze in the first place.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I have never used a kettle fining before, but i did order irish moss in my last order for the first time. So, i will use that and see how it works. I usually cool my wort by a kitchen sink with ice in it. next time i will also boil water, fill it in 32. oz bottles, and start to freeze while cooking. Adding that ice cold water to the primary with wort, should cool it down to yeast temps. Thanks again.

PhoenixCoyote said:

Thanks! I have never used a kettle fining before, but i did order irish moss in my last order for the first time. So, i will use that and see how it works. I usually cool my wort by a kitchen sink with ice in it. next time i will also boil water, fill it in 32. oz bottles, and start to freeze while cooking. Adding that ice cold water to the primary with wort, should cool it down to yeast temps. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

I think that you'll find that Irish moss will really help, and chilling faster down to 70 degrees will also help.

I personally found that whirlfloc worked better for me, but Irish moss is fine as well. I also found that rehydrating Irish moss when I start my boil (one teaspoon in a 5 gallon batch is fine) and added at 15 minutes left worked better than not rehydrating. I just put a teaspoon of IM in a cup, added a bit of water from the tap (about 1/4 cup), and stirred it well so it was wetted. That worked very well, until I switched to Whirlfloc.