Clarity -- did I miss a step

During the boil I did not skim off the break. It was a pure extract brew. I stirred to keep the extract from burning and the crap fell back into the wort. Would it have settled into the trub or would it have suspended? Should I have? My fermentation after 6 days is still very murky.

This is coming from a total newby here but I just finished bottling my first batch. (all extract) I did not skim any thing and my beer is very clear.Also I did not use a hop bag so I had a bunch of trub that eventualy setteled out. I did not use a secondary either. I just racked from my primary to bottling bucket.

Give it some time as fermentation may still be happening. The yeast might take two weeks plus to completely drop out (flocculate). A lot of it depends on the style of beer and the type of yeast you used. If you are after clarity I would recommend using whirlfloc or irish moss with 15 minutes left in the boil. They are both great products but personally I prefer whirlfloc as I have had better results with it.

It depends on what you brewed and what yeast you used. I wouldn't expect any beer to be clear @ just six days. You can cold crash it after it's hit FG and sat in the primary for a few weeks if it's still cloudy.

Your beer is murky because the yeast is still working. Let it finish its job and give it time to settle out. I never skim the top. You can expect it to start clearing by the end of the second week and be pretty clear by the end of the third. My tendency is to try to rush my beer so I can sample what I have made but my best tasting beer sat 4 weeks in the primary. It might have been better yet in 5 weeks but I couldn't wait any longer.

RM-MN said:

Your beer is murky because the yeast is still working. Let it finish its job and give it time to settle out.

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The wort wasn't clear before I pitched the yeast. Should it have been?

ed_brews_now said:

The wort wasn't clear before I pitched the yeast. Should it have been?

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I wouldn't worry about how clear the wort was when it went into primary. With everything floating around in it, it's damn near impossible (but not completely impossible) to have clear wort. But, given enough time, the heavier particles, including yeast, will settle out into the bottom of the fermenter.

I have a pale ale that's been in primary for almost two weeks now. I pulled a sample earlier today, to check on it's gravity... It's a bit lower than what Beer Smith pegged the FG at... I'll check on it again in a couple of more days to see where it's at. It was murky going into primary, but now it's really clear.

For lighter ales, 2-3 weeks in primary is a good start. Secondary if you really want to, but modern wisdom is to keep it in one vessel to allow the yeast to clean up after itself. Heavier beers could need more time in primary. I actually racked an old ale into secondary, to add some oak chips, as well as harvest the yeast, after a month in primary. I put the chips into a mesh bag, so that I can pull them out when it's time, and not need to rack again. I might leave it in secondary for another few weeks/month after the chips come out too. The secondary is a corny keg, so I'm not worried about things so much...

I'm planning on getting a couple of more corny's to use for either primary, or secondary, very soon. I really see why people like to use them now. I guess it's like riding a Harley... Unless you've been on one, you don't understand why people love them so much. Same thing with using corny's for fermenting (primary or secondary/aging)... I do see myself getting more (also) to use for aging my mead in bulk. So that will be at least one more 5 gallon and two more 3 gallon corny's right there...

Yeah you won't have really clear beer until it has sat for a bit with no yeast activity. I bet if you give it another 2ish weeks most of the yeast etc will drop out for a nice clear beer.

Bottenbrew said:

Yeah you won't have really clear beer until it has sat for a bit with no yeast activity. I bet if you give it another 2ish weeks most of the yeast etc will drop out for a nice clear beer.

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One of the advantages of using a carboy is you can see the progress of fermentation and flocculation in the brew.

Also keep in mind, that even if things are settling out, it doesn't mean that everything is finished. As others will tell you, there are plenty of brews that would benefit from another week, or more, in primary. I'm getting into the habit (since starting to read these threads) of going for longer primary times... I'm also getting into the habit of using secondary only for adding flavor, or aging, elements. Or, when I need to harvest a yeast cake and don't want to wait any longer (after 4 weeks in primary)... I'm also getting into the habit of not even checking on a brew until at, or within a day of, the two week mark from when placed into primary.

I fully expect to be learning, and adjusting, how I brew for at least another year or three. Even then, I suspect it will take more than a few times brewing a style/type of beer before I have things tweaked to get steady results. That's at least part of the fun of home brewing. While we all do, basically, the same steps, how I do it could be different from the next person, in some way. Just like how we can adjust recipe's to suit our own tastes and preferences, and still get good beer out of it.

Above all else... RDWHAHB

Being my first brew, I could not resist, so I stuck a thief in and checked the gravity OG was 1.035 now it is 1.025. Its got some time to go I guess.

It was reasonably clear too. But it tasted flat, still a little sweet for me. But not much alcohol and some hops but not as hoppy as the commercial beer I am now drininking.

ed_brews_now said:

Being my first brew, I could not resist, so I stuck a thief in and checked the gravity OG was 1.035 now it is 1.025. Its got some time to go I guess.

It was reasonably clear too. But it tasted flat, still a little sweet for me. But not much alcohol and some hops but not as hoppy as the commercial beer I am now drininking.

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A week into fermenting and it's only gone down 10 gravity points?? Are you 100% sure you read the hydrometer correctly? Also, in my opinion, a 1.035OG for a brew is going to be very light (in alcohol content). You'll be lucky if it hits 4%. More likely, you'll be in the mid 3% range.

Check it again after 2 weeks in primary. I actually checked a brew started on 1/2/11 and it had dropped from 1.044 to 1.010 as of yesterday (almost two weeks)... So depending on when your yeast actually started working, will determine when it will be finished.

Golddiggie said:

A week into fermenting and it's only gone down 10 gravity points?? Are you 100% sure you read the hydrometer correctly? Also, in my opinion, a 1.035OG for a brew is going to be very light (in alcohol content). You'll be lucky if it hits 4%. More likely, you'll be in the mid 3% range.

Check it again after 2 weeks in primary. I actually checked a brew started on 1/2/11 and it had dropped from 1.044 to 1.010 as of yesterday (almost two weeks)... So depending on when your yeast actually started working, will determine when it will be finished.

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Yes. I tasted it. It is pretty watery. I over diluted after the extract boil.