Beer is extremely clear on top

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h22lude

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I'm just about to rack my Yooper's Fizzy Yellow beer into my keg and noticed the beer on top is very clear. It isn't crystal clear like looking at water but it is noticeably clear. I would describe it as cloudy with no color at all. What could this be from? I've never seen this before.

I do use a bucket of starsan for a blowoff. Could this be starsan that was sucked back in when I cold crashed?

I'll try to take a picture of it.
 
20160623_123629_zpsw0cgavrt.jpg
 
Yep, classic case of Star San suckback.

Can I still rack the beer on the bottom into my keg and stop before it gets to the starsan section or is this a dumper? I know a little starsan is ok but I'm not sure this much safe.
 
I've heard of rescued batches, but I think they siphoned off the clear section first.. I could be wrong.
 
Rack away
Starsan is as safe as Coca-Cola
If it was iodophor, I would be more cautious
 
I would recommend rack the beer asap and stop when you get near the clear layer.
 
Cold crashed on Tuesday night so the starsan hasn't been in there very long. I'm going to rack now and leave a good amount in my carboy to be safe. Might lose a gallon of beer but that is better than not having any at all.
 
Are you sure it's star-san sucked back? How much disappeared from your blow off tube?

I was just thinking that beer clears from the top down, so it could be clearing. The beer is still very cloudy, at least from the photo, so maybe it's starting to clear? Just a thought!

Of course, it's too late now, but always remove a blow off tube before cold crashing and replace with an s-airlock or a carboy cap. At least that's something to remember for 'next time'. :mug:
 
Are you sure it's star-san sucked back? How much disappeared from your blow off tube?

I was just thinking that beer clears from the top down, so it could be clearing. The beer is still very cloudy, at least from the photo, so maybe it's starting to clear? Just a thought!

Of course, it's too late now, but always remove a blow off tube before cold crashing and replace with an s-airlock or a carboy cap. At least that's something to remember for 'next time'. :mug:

Honestly, I didn't look. I took the bucket of starsan and trashed it then took out my carboy. That's when I noticed it.

It may be hard to see from the picture but this was very clear (in terms of color). It looked like starsan that was old and cloudy. No golden color from the beer at all.

This is my first time using a carboy. I always used buckets. I didn't think the vacuum could suck up starsan from a blowoff. I will definitely need to remember to put in my s-airlock.
 
Of course, it's too late now, but always remove a blow off tube before cold crashing and replace with an s-airlock or a carboy cap. At least that's something to remember for 'next time'. :mug:

Or just say the heck with cold crashing. ;)
 
Is that the volume you had before fermentation? I looks like it would be over a gallon of Starsan there!! That is why I always suggest using a small cottage cheese? sized cup with just enough Starsan in it to keep the tube end submerged. Put that in a larger vessel in case it overflows.

You could rack from underneath, or rack off the clear liquid first then rack the rest.

You might taste the clear liquid. If it tastes like water it is probably Starsan. If it tastes like beer it might be.. just more clear than the rest.

How long has that one fermented? How long cold crashed?

It looks really cloudy to me. Most of mine are more clear than that without cold crashing.
 
Is that the volume you had before fermentation? I looks like it would be over a gallon of Starsan there!! That is why I always suggest using a small cottage cheese? sized cup with just enough Starsan in it to keep the tube end submerged. Put that in a larger vessel in case it overflows.


This. Use a large ID hose and put in a narrow container that holds less star san than your hose will hold. If it can't fill your hose from bottom to bend, it shouldn't get sucked back
An alternative method is to loop your hose and just have star san in the bottom of the loop so that it acts like a giant S-type airlock.
 
I used to use an old White Labs vial and put it in a pint glass, then only use enough star san to submerge the end of the tube in the vial. I learned that lesson the hard way. But, I've since gone to switching to an 'S' type airlock before cold crashing.
 
Is that the volume you had before fermentation? I looks like it would be over a gallon of Starsan there!! That is why I always suggest using a small cottage cheese? sized cup with just enough Starsan in it to keep the tube end submerged. Put that in a larger vessel in case it overflows.

You could rack from underneath, or rack off the clear liquid first then rack the rest.

You might taste the clear liquid. If it tastes like water it is probably Starsan. If it tastes like beer it might be.. just more clear than the rest.

How long has that one fermented? How long cold crashed?

It looks really cloudy to me. Most of mine are more clear than that without cold crashing.

It fermented for 3 weeks and cold crashed for a little over 24 hours. I wanted to ferment for 2 weeks but got busy and couldn't keg. I wanted to cold crash longer but I had to keg yesterday or I wouldn't have been able to until next week.

It is pretty clear. Picture may not be showing it well. I put some into a glass and it was really clear.

I screwed up when putting the blowoff tube on. I had a long length of line that I didn't want to cut. Long story short, I just wasn't prepared. Next time I will definitely be using a small vessel with a very small amount of starsan.
 
I screwed up when putting the blowoff tube on. I had a long length of line that I didn't want to cut. Long story short, I just wasn't prepared. Next time I will definitely be using a small vessel with a very small amount of starsan.

No, that won't work, it will just suck back the small amount of StarSan, and then suck air (and bugs?) into your beer.

The solution is to replace the blowoff with an S-shaped airlock after primary fermentation completes, and before you begin cold crashing. Or cold-crash in the keg.

I cold crash in the keg under CO2 pressure, to a) avoid suckback, and b) avoid oxidation.
 
No, that won't work, it will just suck back the small amount of StarSan, and then suck air (and bugs?) into your beer.

If it's a small enough amount, it won't. I did it that way on numerous batches. It has to be a small enough amount that it will run out of liquid before it reaches the fermentation vessel. Then, the siphon is lost and it will drain back into the blow off vessel.
 
I would rack the star san layer separately first to get rid of as much as possible, then rack the beer layer from the bottom and leave more than you normally would, trying to avoid the middle layer that appears to be an in between color.

I am sure the beer is safe, I just wouldn't like the thought of that much Star San.
 
If it's a small enough amount, it won't. I did it that way on numerous batches. It has to be a small enough amount that it will run out of liquid before it reaches the fermentation vessel. Then, the siphon is lost and it will drain back into the blow off vessel.

That's not how a vacuum works. Air was introduced and what was left in the hose drained back but then the pressure difference was just pulling air.
 
That's not how a vacuum works. Air was introduced and what was left in the hose drained back but then the pressure difference was just pulling air.

Agreed, So I started with a small enough amount that it's not enough to reach the fermentation vessel before it has to drain back into the yeast vial. Air does get sucked into the carboy, but it's no different with an 'S' type airlock.

Edit: I've also managed to suck about 8 oz. of Star San back into my beer before, so I have experience in both areas. The beer was fine, BTW.
 
That's not how a vacuum works. Air was introduced and what was left in the hose drained back but then the pressure difference was just pulling air.

Fill a hose with liquid and place you thumb on one end, creating a vacuum. Let the other end of the hose hang. It will drain. The small amount of vacuum created by the beer slowlt chilling will not trump the force of gravity.
I used to practice this as well before I got my speidel and started pushing a couple psi of co2 into it while cold crashing it by adding a ball lock post to the solid cap.
 
Fill a hose with liquid and place you thumb on one end, creating a vacuum. Let the other end of the hose hang. It will drain. The small amount of vacuum created by the beer slowlt chilling will not trump the force of gravity.
I used to practice this as well before I got my speidel and started pushing a couple psi of co2 into it while cold crashing it by adding a ball lock post to the solid cap.

Placing your thumb on the end does not "create a vacuum" if fully sealed the water will drain from the tube only until the head space pressure is equal to the height of the water column under it. The water fully drains because of air leakage around your finger. On a small scale do this with a straw....

The beer temperature decrease only creates a small volume difference; however, the volumetric change of the air is large and an equal volume of SOMETHING will be "sucked" in to replace it or a vacuum will form.
 
I cannot see how adding an s- shaped airlock would solve this problem. Nor capping the carboy. In the former, one is providing less starsan to be pulled into the beer. However, one would still get air pulled into the carboy. In the latter, if the cap really is sealing, that seams like it would create a vacuum, and thus would still pull air in as soon as the cap is removed. These thoughts are valid, in my own mind. But, I could be mistaken, and am open to hearing more about what other's think. I changed my opinions about CO2 "blankets" based on what others have written on this topic. I am always willing to learn!
What I do: I transfer (via syphon) to the out-post on a CO2 purged keg, while venting periodically. I then set the keg on CO2. Then I cold crash it. I know this isn't perfect. I am working on a way to do CO2 transfers.

Mike

:mug:
 
I cannot see how adding an s- shaped airlock would solve this problem. Nor capping the carboy. In the former, one is providing less starsan to be pulled into the beer. However, one would still get air pulled into the carboy. In the latter, if the cap really is sealing, that seams like it would create a vacuum, and thus would still pull air in as soon as the cap is removed. These thoughts are valid, in my own mind. But, I could be mistaken, and am open to hearing more about what other's think. I changed my opinions about CO2 "blankets" based on what others have written on this topic. I am always willing to learn!
What I do: I transfer (via syphon) to the out-post on a CO2 purged keg, while venting periodically. I then set the keg on CO2. Then I cold crash it. I know this isn't perfect. I am working on a way to do CO2 transfers.

Mike

:mug:

Yeah I would think an s-airlock would be the same as a blowoff tube in a small vessel with the same amount of starsan as the s-airlock would have.


Wouldn't that not really be cold crashing? Isn't that a typical keg carbing procedure? My non cold crashed batches I transferred my beer into my keg and carbed at 40°. I guess that would do the same as cold crashing but the keg would still have all the sediment.
 
Yeah I would think an s-airlock would be the same as a blowoff tube in a small vessel with the same amount of starsan as the s-airlock would have.


Wouldn't that not really be cold crashing? Isn't that a typical keg carbing procedure? My non cold crashed batches I transferred my beer into my keg and carbed at 40°. I guess that would do the same as cold crashing but the keg would still have all the sediment.

Correct. But, I have not had any problems with the sediment being there.

Mike

:mug:
 
That is correct. You would get air sucked in during the crash using both. The point of the 'S' airlock is that it also works in reverse. It won't suck any StarSan into the vessel. The only option to avoid air is to supply it with low pressure CO2. I'm sure there are ways of doing it on this forum, but the OP's initial concern was the StarSan in his vessel.
 

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