cloudy

I now have 3 batches on the go although I don't have any completed. One is about ready to bottle (hydrometer consistant for over 3 days) but Im gonna leave it where it is for a total of 3 weeks.

I had a little sip and it tastes great already but it is still very cloudy (meant to be a lager). Kinda like an elephant has cum in it Im sure it will clear up some during the "conditioning" phase but...

Is a little cloudyness to be expected when home brewing or can you truly get golden clear like commercial beer.

How much of a difference does irish moss make?

SeanyP321 said:

I now have 3 batches on the go although I don't have any completed. One is about ready to bottle (hydrometer consistent for over 3 days) but I'm gonna leave it where it is for a total of 3 weeks.

I had a little sip and it tastes great already but it is still very cloudy (meant to be a lager). Kinda like an elephant has cum in it I'm sure it will clear up some during the "conditioning" phase but...

Is a little cloudiness to be expected when home brewing or can you truly get golden clear like commercial beer.

How much of a difference does Irish moss make?

Click to expand...

Like an elephant has cum in it? I just through up in my mouth. It will clear up great especially if you used Irish Moss. You can put some gelatin in there and it will clear up faster.

will gelatine clear it up...better or just faster?

ta

My ale is really really dark also and I did use irish moss. Didn't really do much.

Are you going to cold condition your bottles, or were you planning on moving to secondary and lagering for a while that way?

was planning on cold conditioning bottles. I can do either but wanted to keep carboy free for next batch!

Gotcha. Try making it again sometime when you can use a carboy to lager for 4 weeks and see if you notice a difference at drinking time.

whys that? ?? will a plastic fermenting bucket do the trick? Will gelatine make it clearer then it would otherwise be? I can hear dontman coming to tell me to chill

Here's a beer of mine (IPA- Two Hearted clone recipe from eschatz) from a couple of weeks ago:


As you can see, it's not cloudy. There are several things that will help you have clear beer. One is to make sure you get a nice rolling boil in the kettle, and use a fining like Irish moss. I prefer Whirlfloc. It's Irish moss in tablet form, and goes into the boil with 15 minutes left. After the the boil, cool the brewpot as fast as you can, to get a good "cold break". Big fat globs of protein will congeal and fall to the bottom of the brewpot. Try to cool the wort from boiling to under 70 degrees in 20 minutes by using an ice/water bath and gently stirring the water bath to elimate hot spots, adding more cold water and ice when the water warms.

Next, use a yeast that has good flocculation. A quality dry yeast like nottingham is cheap and easy to use. Keep the fermenter at the ideal range of the yeast strain's temperature. For nottingham, I like to ferment in the low 60s, but it can go from like 59-70 or something like that. Wait at least two weeks for fermentation to finish up, longer if you can stand it- and then rack carefully to the bottling bucket or secondary. I like to start my siphon near the middle of the fermenter, and gently lower it as the beer lowers, so that the tip stays submerged but always above the trub layer.

If you're lagering, you can rack to the secondary carboy, and then chill the lager down to 34 degrees. That cold spell will make a big difference! I usually lager my lagers for 8-12 weeks, but don't really do that with my ales. If you have an ale that won't clear, though, a 3 day cold crash will help clear it up.

I know others use gelatin and other finings, but I never have. I've had good luck with doing what I outlined above.

That is one beautifully clear brew Yooper!!!
I held my IPA in front of my monitor and it isn't anywhere as clear as yours. I will follow your advice.