First homebrew cloudy during fermentation...

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itsernst

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Hi there,

Been lurking for a while and figured it was time I just ask away. My first homebrew is underway and I just transferred for secondary fermentation. What I do see is that in the carboy it seems fairly cloudy. This is a Pale Ale recipe, and I apologize in advance if I am not providing the proper information. Is this normal and will it clear up when I bottle it? Currently it has been fermenting for about 6 days and I plan to bottle around day 13 or so.

Is there anything I could do to clear it up some if so? OG before first transfer was 1.048 and OG at second transfer was 1.011.


Thanks in advance!


Sean
 
The secondary is considered a clearing vessel:)

Leave it alone for 7-10 days and everything will drop and clear. If you have a fridge big enough to hold the Carboy you can cold crash it for a few days as well.
 
The secondary is considered a clearing vessel:)

Leave it alone for 7-10 days and everything will drop and clear. If you have a fridge big enough to hold the Carboy you can cold crash it for a few days as well.

That makes sense! Thank you sir.
 
I have heard that depending on the ingredients used, some beers will never become completely clear. An example would be a recipe which involves wheat. But with time in the secondary and in the bottles your beer should become much more clear.
 
WiscoMan said:
I have heard that depending on the ingredients used, some beers will never become completely clear. An example would be a recipe which involves wheat. But with time in the secondary and in the bottles your beer should become much more clear.

Eventually it'll clear and due to time. I've made a wheat that was clear and had to agitate the yeast at the bottom of the bottle to get it cloudy like wheat beer should be. Dunno why other than the yeast doesn't stay in suspension like commercial Wheats do and what do I need to do to keep my wheat hazy?
 
You shouldn't be racking cloudy beer. In future, let it finish/clear in the primary, and then rack to secondary. Many here will tell you to not use secondary anyway.

13 days to the bottle is generally way too soon. Leave it a few weeks. You will get less sediment in the glass, and ensure the beer is finished. I think my average time to bottle is 6 weeks.
 
You shouldn't be racking cloudy beer. In future, let it finish/clear in the primary, and then rack to secondary. Many here will tell you to not use secondary anyway.

13 days to the bottle is generally way too soon. Leave it a few weeks. You will get less sediment in the glass, and ensure the beer is finished. I think my average time to bottle is 6 weeks.

Thanks for the info. Problem is primary was bucket beer and I could not really tell. Plan to replace it with another carboy in the near future. I was following the recipe for bottling time, but thank you very much for the tips. So you think just waiting on the carboy to clear up is the best indication?
 
phatspade said:
Eventually it'll clear and due to time. I've made a wheat that was clear and had to agitate the yeast at the bottom of the bottle to get it cloudy like wheat beer should be. Dunno why other than the yeast doesn't stay in suspension like commercial Wheats do and what do I need to do to keep my wheat hazy?

Depends totally on the yeast, not the grist. A true top cropping Hefeweizen yeast will not flocculate well unless you leave it sit for a long time and as a wheat you want it cloudy to style. Remember that commercial beer also gets a lot if transportation which agitates a lot. The proper way to serve I bottled wheat is to gently roll the bottle to stir the sediment prior to pouring:)
 
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