My first clear beer!

[m3n00b]

Never cold crashed or used gelatin in the past and always ended up with a ton of chill haze and hop floaties ( in dry hopped beer). With this IPA I did both in the primary! This is after only 2 days in the bottle and 30 minutes in the freezer.

Its really out of focus but I can read the smallest letters through the glass.

The second pic is the same recipe from last time but with no cold crashing/gelatin. This is amazing. It *almost* tastes better.

Anyone have tips on taking pix of beer with your phone? Has no manual focus.

 

[daksin]

Awesome- always nice to get nice clear beer!

 

[m3n00b]

Yeah. Wish I could go back and do this to my entire pipeline.

 

[tooldudetool]

I've never used gelatin, but I have recently discovered the power of cold crashing, especially with dry hopped beers! For me, I like clear beer, but I also like a bit of yeast left in the mix, considering it is a great hangover preventer due to the B vitamins it contains (read the special section at the end of Charlie Papazian's "Joy of Homebrewing"). That's why many people find they don't get hangovers (unless you really work at it) from homebrew the way you do from filtered store bought beer. Pretty awesome if you ask me, long live yeast!

 

[m3n00b]

I've never used gelatin, but I have recently discovered the power of cold crashing, especially with dry hopped beers! For me, I like clear beer, but I also like a bit of yeast left in the mix, considering it is a great hangover preventer due to the B vitamins it contains (read the special section at the end of Charlie Papazian's "Joy of Homebrewing"). That's why many people find they don't get hangovers (unless you really work at it) from homebrew the way you do from filtered store bought beer. Pretty awesome if you ask me, long live yeast!

I never get hangovers from beer. There's enough yeast left to carbonate. I just added more 170f gelatin to my 36f Oktoberfest ale I'll be bottling this weekend.

 

[daksin]

I do love gelatin, although I may have to drop it for my veg/vegan friends.

 

[m3n00b]

I say drop the weird friends if they're gonna hold you back by limiting your greatness.

 

[zachattack]

I say drop the weird friends if they're gonna hold you back by limiting your greatness.

I'm sure you're joking, but f that. There's nothing weird about being a vegetarian, and there's nothing great (IMO) about using animal products in beer. Besides, gelatin isn't needed to produce a clear beer. If you can't cold crash the entire carboy, a couple weeks of cold-conditioning the bottles has always made my beers crystal clear. No fining agents needed other than the irish moss in the kettle.

 

[RDbrew]

Sounds like someone touched a nerve there!

 

[m3n00b]

I'm sure you're joking, but f that. There's nothing weird about being a vegetarian, and there's nothing great (IMO) about using animal products in beer. Besides, gelatin isn't needed to produce a clear beer. If you can't cold crash the entire carboy, a couple weeks of cold-conditioning the bottles has always made my beers crystal clear. No fining agents needed other than the irish moss in the kettle.

 

[SnakeHandlerIIPA]

How do you move a full carboy from the fridge into racking position without stirring up the sediment on the bottom? I'm cold crashing my first beer right now and was wondering if it's an issue?

 

[m3n00b]

How do you move a full carboy from the fridge into racking position without stirring up the sediment on the bottom? I'm cold crashing my first beer right now and was wondering if it's an issue?

Very slowly. I used the brew hauler. My freezer is about 20 feet from my kitchen where I bottle. The very first thing I did was move the beer so anything shaken up would have time to settle. After moving it there were some big things floating around an inch off the trub(pic attached). By the time I started racking an hour later it had all settled and the temp only rose 5f.

Here's another pic of the beer from today. I need to look back at my hop schedule. This is the first one to come out with a dank flavor. I know it was the first time dry hopping with Amarillo.

 

[Yooper]

I do love gelatin, although I may have to drop it for my veg/vegan friends.

I don't use gelatin (or isinglass) for that reason. Many people wouldn't expect cow hooves in their beer.

I get clear beer without it, though. It's not necessary for me, but I understand that it does work well when used.

 

[Yooper]

Oh, and yes, a picture of beer from my very crappy non-smart phone:





It's a 3 week old pale ale that was dryhopped in primary. The pictures are bad, and the lamp is my famous "ugly lamp".

My mom (who died in 1979) went through a ceramics phase and made that lamp in about 1975. It's even uglier in person, and my family actually calls it "The Ugly Lamp". It's brown and orange with turquoise specks, faded by the sun in their big window. It was in my dad's attic until he died this winter, and I hauled it home and put it in my cottage. I LOVE that Ugly Lamp.

 

[m3n00b]

I'm sorry for your loss. At least you have something unique to remember them by.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I don't use gelatin (or isinglass) for that reason. Many people wouldn't expect cow hooves in their beer.

I get clear beer without it, though. It's not necessary for me, but I understand that it does work well when used.

same here. not that I really care that others are veg/vegan, but my wife is vegetarian. she's the one that matters to me.

 

[Yooper]

I'm sorry for your loss. At least you have something unique to remember them by.

I didn't mean to take your thread off the rails- I was just explaining that the beer is pretty, but the Ugly Lamp isn't. It is, however, a family heirloom for a family with poor taste.

 

[m3n00b]

My second clear beer. My version of oktoberfast. Wow.

Stupid app doesn't rotate photos properly.

 

[Tippsy-Turvy]

Anyone have tips on taking pix of beer with your phone? Has no manual focus.

Phone cameras are unlikely to have "macro" lense capabilities (for the kind of close-up shots you're attempting). Better if you take your pic further from the beer to get the focus right first and use the zoom to enlarge.