Cloudy(but tasty) Brews-Chillin'?

[blacklab]

Hey all;

I am on my 2nd batch after taking about a 10 year break from homebrewing. Just racked into 2nd stage fermenter after 1 week in primary.

my question is; the beer seems cloudy, with some particulate in it. there are no off flavors or smells. It just doesn't come off totally like a commercial micro beer. I am leaving it in 2nd stage for two weeks to let the stuff settle, however, after bottling(and two weeks in the bottle), there is still some stuff in the beer.

So, are there supposed to be particles in the beer? Is there a way to reduce them? Again, they are not big chunks of yeast or something and don't ruin the beer. just looking for a way to improve the final product.

I have heard about chilling the wort right after boil down to pitching temp, will this do it?

Both beers I have made have the cloudiness(IPA / Pale Ale). Both are extracts with recipes custom made by my LHBS.

thanks! :fro:

 

[bigjohnmilford]

Did you use irish moss? Did you cold condition? Are you pouring the hole bottle into your glass?

 

[blacklab]

Thanks for the reply. I don't know what irish moss is, so I'm not sure. The yeast was nottingham.

I also don't know what cold conditioning is? The cloudiness is throughout the whole beer, even if I leave the last inch or so in the bottle.

The wort took overnight to cool down to 77 or so, which is when I pitched the yeast(dry from the package).

I did the trick of freezing a gallon of spring water and putting it in the wort to cool it down, but as i said it took overnight to cool it.

do you think quicker cooling is the answer? thanks!

 

[Yooper]

Quicker cooling will go a long way to clearing up your beer. I get mine from boiling to 70 degrees with a wort chiller in about 20 minutes or so. Before I had a wort chiller, I used ice in the kitchen sink. That works fine for small boils. You put the boiling ketting into ice/water in your sink and refill with more ice as it warms.

Irish moss is a clearing agent you use during the boil in the last 15 minutes. It cames in tablets, too, called Whirlflock for the boil. It works well to help drop proteins out.

Cold conditioning means taking the carboy after fermentation is over and crash cooling it like it in a fridge. That helps, too.

Some people use gelatin or other finings, but I never do. I have crystal clear beer just using those first two ideas. I also use a clearing tank ("secondary") for 2-3 weeks after leaving it in the primary fermenter for about 10 days.

 

[blacklab]

thanks for the tips! I'm going to pick up some irish moss(sounds like slang for weed) for my next batch.

I'll also try cold conditioning - do I do that right before bottling? I have an empty keggerator that will work nicely.

 

[Yooper]

You can cold condition it after the fermentation is over. I would wait a week or so after racking it to the clearing tank, and then put it in the fridge for 5-7 days or so.

 

[mscott987]

Never heard of cold conditioning. Did I read it right that you do it during your secondary fermintation. What exactly does it do?

 

[cubbies]

Yeast don't like the cold. It makes them go to sleep. When they go to sleep, they fall out of suspension, thus out of the beer. If you cold condition the whole shabang (I always do), then a lot of the suspended yeast will fall out and thus clear your beer.

Most haze is one of two things: protein or yeast

Proteins coagulate in the wort called 'breaks'. These breaks are the hot break (which occurs just before boiling) and the cold break. The colder you get the wort the faster, the more cold break. The more cold break, the more coagulated protein, thus the less protein in the beer....the less protein in the beer, the clearer it is.

Yeast is what makes beer beer. If it were not in suspension during fermentation, we would not have beer. However, after fermentation is complete, it is not always necessary (a certain amount will always be necessary if bottle carbonating naturally). If in the secondary fermenter, and fermentation is complete, the beer can go in the chill chest for about a week, and when the yeast gets cold, it will fall out and when you rack to bottling bucket you can leave it behind, and thus not in your beer. As with protein, the less yeast in your beer, the clearer it will be.

So, for the original poster:

Cool as fast as possible, this will aid in cold break which will aid in clearing. Do a substantial 'secondary fermentation' that lasts at least two weeks. Three or more is better. In your last week of secondary, you can even add the secondary to the fridge for a week, then transfer to bottling bucket and bottle. These techniques, along with protein coagulators like irish moss will result in very clear beer.

 

[beerdad]

Good advice from Yooper and cubbies. I use whirlfloc and a kitchen sink ice bath on my 2 1/2 gallon boils and they are pretty clear. I reach pitching temp in 16-18 minutes using 16 lbs of ice and some cold water. I stir the wort and agitate the ice every couple of minutes.

 

[malkore]

beer usually IS cloudy going into secondary...that's the whole point of secondary...to clear the beer. no fermentation takes place in secondary (nothing worth mentioning at least...it should be DONE before racking or you'll stress the yeast)