Milky, off color IPA...

[robeer]

I made the Dogfist IPA clone from this post...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/dogfish-head-60-minute-clone-ag-extract-25709/
I posted the question in that thread too but am just a little anxious about this one. It has a really milky look to it and the color is way off for an IPA. I let it sit in the primary for two weeks and was going to let it dry hop in the seondary for one week and then bottle. I talked to a homebrewing buddy of mine and he suggested I just let it sit in the secondary for a while and hope it clears. I transferred it to the secondary tonight for dry hopping and this is what it looks like... What happened and what do I do at this point?

 

[Mayday99]

Hmm...

What kind of yeast and how much of did you use? What was the temp it fermented at? Did you take any gravity readings?

Not to be an alarmist, but the pic looks kinda bad. I think wild yeast can do that since it tends to not want to drop out and settle.

How was your sanitation when you chilled the wort, washed your carboy, etc....?

 

[robeer]

i followed the recipe closely. the hbs suggested a different type of yeast since they didn't have the kind the recipe called for but said it was great for ipas. how could wild yeast have gotten into my beer? i am pretty religious about sanitizing and this has never happened with any other batches i've made....

 

[LakewoodBrew]

I don't know what is floating on the surface of that beer, are those hops in bags or is that something else?

If you've hit target gravity, give it one more week to clean up then try chilling it to see if the cloudiness starts to settle.

 

[robeer]

Haha, yeah those are hop bags. do you think i should bottle it after a week of dry hopping or try to chill it while it is in the fermenter somehow?

 

[LakewoodBrew]

Chill it in the fermenter if you can. Crash cool in the fermenter as low as you can go for 24-48 hours then see if it starts to clear (it should develop a clear line at the top which will grow slowly downward. You can put it in a giant ice bucket, but you are looking for a consistent temp throughout. Temp gradients (cold at bottom warm on top or vice versa) can generate tiny currents that perpetually stir up the yeast.

(before anyone says anything, yes I know cold sinks and in a simple theoretical case cold on bottom, hot on top would not cause a current - but that only works if there is no heat transfer occurring. As soon as you have thermal gradient in 2 or more dimensions, you will get convective forces.)

 

[LakewoodBrew]

Oh, and once the yeasties have gone to sleep, the color of that beer will be quite pale.

 

[robeer]

Awesome, what is the ideal temp for the crashcool?

 

[LakewoodBrew]

Cold as you can get it without ice crystals forming (usually occurs below normal freezing temp due to Alc. and other dissolved solids). I would shoot for 40deg at the high end.

 

[Mayday99]

Curious how this turned out if you have any updates.

I lost half a batch to a gusher infection awhile back and it looked very similar to what's in your pic.

 

[robeer]

Here is what it looks like as of 20 mins ago. There is a lot of stuff on the sides of the carboy. I am thinking of transferring it again to get the yeast active a little so it will clear up a little bit more before bottling. It still seems a little too cloudy for me to feel comfortable bottling it. It has been sitting in the secondary carboy for three weeks after sitting in the primary for two weeks. Thoughts?

 

[watsons27]

Rack to new carboy wait another few weeks should clear looks a lot better in second pic BYW.

 

[LakewoodBrew]

I agree, rack to clean carboy and leave dry hop bags out, keep it as cold as possible for a couple more weeks. It does look better, but not as clear as I expected after 3 weeks.

Have you tasted any samples?

 

[robeer]

I tasted a sample last night and it tasted good, I racked it to a new carboy last night. Now it's just a waiting game to see how clear it will get over the next few weeks. Feeling much better about this batch now than I was three weeks ago but I guess that it usually how it goes, haha.

 

[Horseshoot]

I know this is off topic, but how did you get the hop bags in? I bought hop bags, and when I was dry hopping my American Pale Ale, I couldn't get the buggers in. It was like trying to birth a child, backwards. I cussed, yelled (SWMBO laughed) and even sterilized a large plastic spoon to use the handle to push. Finally, the bag ripped, and the hops spilled into the beer. So, I pulled the bag back out of the opening, and tossed it.

 

[robeer]

I know this is off topic, but how did you get the hop bags in? I bought hop bags, and when I was dry hopping my American Pale Ale, I couldn't get the buggers in. It was like trying to birth a child, backwards. I cussed, yelled (SWMBO laughed) and even sterilized a large plastic spoon to use the handle to push. Finally, the bag ripped, and the hops spilled into the beer. So, I pulled the bag back out of the opening, and tossed it.

Just don't pack the bags tightly. The hops should have plenty of room to roam in the hop bag and they are really easy to put in and take out of the carboy.

 

[Horseshoot]

Ab, ok. Thanks! How much do you put in each bag? These were advertised (I think) as 2 oz bags. That is how much I used. But it was obviously too much! Haha!

 

[scotchguy]

To the OP, what yeast did you end up using in the recipe?

 

[TheBeerDetective]

I had the same problem, but in the fermentor it looked fine. It wasn't until I racked it into my bottling bucket that it came out cloudy. Now, it looks like the picture I attached (I figured I could semi-cold crash in the bottle). I'm more shocked because I used irish moss in the recipe.

My thoughts are that the dry hop without a cold crash muddled it up. I dry-hopped with .5 whole flower citra for 4 days. It smells okay...a little oxidized...and tastes fine...over carbonated and earthy or green with a slick mouthfeel.

All I know is I dropped my better bottle when I first attached the airlock, potentially inviting some wild yeast. Otherwise, I can't imagine what went wrong.

Thoughts?

 

[WayFrae]

How did this beer turn out? Did it finally clear for you?

 

[TheBeerDetective]

I just posted that photo, but so far it hasn't—it looks just like when I bottled it about 10 days ago.

 

[WayFrae]

I just posted that photo, but so far it hasn't—it looks just like when I bottled it about 10 days ago.

But you aren't the OP...

 

[patthebrewer]

hmmm....Looks like someone shook up your carboy, and that's yeast in suspension.....you don't have any over-clever teenage kids do you? I have one who thinks she really funny

 

[TheBeerDetective]

But you aren't the OP...

Ohhh sorry, I thought you were referring to my post.

Yeah, to the original poster: what was the verdict on your cloudy beer. Turns out mine were really over carbonated, so I had to dump them anyway.

 

[Trox]

The OP was 2011 so chances are if he is still around he might not really remember how it turned out.

 

[WayFrae]

Whoops! I guess I didn't look at the year. I must have just saw that it was April and assumed it was this past April.

To TheBeerDetective: I had an IPA that was cloudy like that (not quite though) and I just let the bottles sit in the fridge for 2 weeks and they are crystal clear now.

 

[robeer]

Ohhh sorry, I thought you were referring to my post.

Yeah, to the original poster: what was the verdict on your cloudy beer. Turns out mine were really over carbonated, so I had to dump them anyway.

It turned out okay, not as well as i was hoping. I was expecting it to be very crisp and clean tasting but it was hard to pick any specific hop out in the flavor. It really cleared up after i let it sit in the carboy and especially after refrigeration. Still not sure what happened that made it so murky and it never happened again.