Help: Helles is cloudy and tastes fruity.

[Beeragent]

I brewed an all-grain Helles back in September, using the Safale 34/70. Had it in primary for two weeks, then lagered in secondary for a month at about 40 degrees. I then transferred it to my kegerator where it has stayed at 40 degrees. From the first pour after kegging to my recent pour last night (December 7th), this beer has been extremely cloudy and has a very fruity taste. At first I thought the haze may just be chill haze, but it's been months at the same temperature and has not been moved around and is still hazy. I also thought the fruity taste could be from the yeast, that maybe when transfering, I transferred too much trub. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on what I could do?

 

[porterpounder]

Fruity taste is usually a too-hot fermentation issue creating esters. It can also happen sometimes from older malt. A yeast haze like that is not unusual for German lager strains, but that should have dropped out by now. Chill haze can take a few months to drop out. Try adding gelatin to the keg to clarify.

 

[seefish]

I had the same issue awhile back, with the difference that I made a starter using I forget what liquid lager yeast strain. The starter fermented at room temperature...probably a mistake...and smelled awful. I used it anyway and fermented in cool in my ferm chamber. I had a fruity taste to the beer until it cleared up and yeast dropped out. Probably about 3 months, which is probably the appropriate lagering time anyhow.

 

[Darwin18]

It might just need more lagering. Just give it a few more weeks to let the yeast continue to drop. Also, purge the first couple of pints so you're not pickup up too much yeast.

 

[QuercusMax]

What temperature did you pitch at, and what did you do the primary fermentation at? That makes a big difference. Also, how much yeast did you pitch -- for a 5-gallon batch of standard-gravity lager you really need about 2 packets of dry yeast.

Lagering close to freezing is going to be much more effective than at 40 degrees. A week at 32 is probably worth 3 weeks at 40. It may well still be suspended yeast, which often can give quite a fruity taste.

 

[Beeragent]

Primary was around 50 degrees with two days of d-rest at around 62. Then it's been at 40 for secondary and kegging. My fermentation kicked off quickly within 12 hours of pitching and went strong during primary.

 

[beersk]

How much yeast did you pitch? 34/70 is a wonderful yeast and always drops clear and ferments clean into the 60's. Perhaps you underpitched by a vast amount. Also, if you haven't poured more than a pint or two off the keg, maybe it's still pulling trub through and just needs to clear. Either way, at 3 months in the keg, it should be clear by now.

 

[dcbc]

It might just need more lagering. Just give it a few more weeks to let the yeast continue to drop. Also, purge the first couple of pints so you're not pickup up too much yeast.

This is my guess. I brew a lot of helles, and they generally require a little more time to shed the yeast flavor so to speak.