Cloudy All Grain

[DirtyJersey]

Brewed up my first all grain batch back in January. It was a Moose Drool (brown ale) clone. Primary for 3 weeks, secondary for 2 weeks, and in bottles for 3 weeks now. The taste is incredible!!! Incredibly fresh and just plain good. However, it looks like chocolate milk...it's extremely cloudy, hazy, etc. Taste is more important than appearance for me, but what would cause this?

I did a 75 minute boil, but I had to do it on my stovetop and I never really got a good rolling boil. It boiled, but it was a slow boil. Probably never got a good hotbreak? Likewise, cooling the hot wort was a slow process as well. (I need a turkey fryer and an immersion chiller.). Are these the likely causes of my cloudy beer?

Thanks all.

 

[theonetrueruss]

what causes cloudiness: hops/turb, yeast, proteins and unconverted starches. After sitting for a few weeks in the bottle any of the hops, turb and yeast that made it to the bottle should be settled out (assuming you are pouring into a glass and leaving the sediment behind).

If you have unconverted starches those would probably eventually settle out if kept in a fridge for a few weeks though I'm not certain on that one. Same thing with the proteins.

I suggest leaving a couple in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks and see if that helps.

 

[Yooper]

I did a 75 minute boil, but I had to do it on my stovetop and I never really got a good rolling boil. It boiled, but it was a slow boil. Probably never got a good hotbreak? Likewise, cooling the hot wort was a slow process as well. (I need a turkey fryer and an immersion chiller.). Are these the likely causes of my cloudy beer?

Thanks all.

Two things I can think of- one is unconverted starch. If you tested with Iodine, it's not that. But if you didn't, try it next time to make sure you got conversion. Was the wort cloudy going into the kettle? Or was it fairly clear out of the MLT?

The other thing is the lack of a good rolling boil (for the hot break) and quick chilling (for cold break). Did you use any Irish moss or Whirlfloc? That can really help coagulate the protein and cause it to drop out, leaving clear wort.

 

[DirtyJersey]

Thanks, Yooper.

To be honest, it seemed a bit clearer coming out of the MLT, but I could be wrong. This was my first all grain and I had a million things to worry about and didn't pay close attention to the clarity. Lesson learned.

I didn't test with iodine nor did I use Irish Moss. Next time...

Overall, I'm still very happy with the taste.

 

[RichC999]

I'm curious about this too. I just finished my all grain and it was a blonde. As stated by DirtyJersey mine was stove top boiled but I used 2 pots so a got a good hot break and rolling boil. I did not however have a wort chiller and chilling was slow. But my wort was crystal clear coming out of the MLT. So if it was clear and I got a good boil does that narrow it down to chilling?

Thanks

 

[Yooper]

I'm curious about this too. I just finished my all grain and it was a blonde. As stated by DirtyJersey mine was stove top boiled but I used 2 pots so a got a good hot break and rolling boil. I did not however have a wort chiller and chilling was slow. But my wort was crystal clear coming out of the MLT. So if it was clear and I got a good boil does that narrow it down to chilling?

Thanks

Not necessarily! But it may preclude a starch haze issue. There are several things that cause haze- excess tannins, hops (hops haze is common in IPAs), proteins, etc.

Proteins are one of the reasons wheat beer tends to be cloudy, as there are even more proteins in wheat than in barley. Whirlfloc/Irish moss may help with that. Both proteins and tannins can cause chill haze.

 

[RichC999]

Well guess what? I just tapped this beer tonight after letting it sit for another week. I was originally drinking it at 2 weeks old. Its now about a month old having spent 2 weeks in the fridge. It's crystal clear!!

Before:

After:

The color change has a lot to do with the lighting when I took the photos.

Rich

 

[old_tx_kbb]

Usually happens when my keg is getting low....it's a time thing sometimes.