wyeast 1968 and clarity

[itsnotrequired]

i brewed an english mild using wyeast 1968 (london esb ale). i overbuilt a starter from a smack pack and saved the extra yeast in the fridge. i used a whirfloc table during the boil but other than that, no additional clarifiers or cold crash. beer came out incredibly clear.

fast forward six weeks or so and i brewed an esb using the yeast from the overbuilt starter. built another starter and saved some more yeast. starter built up fine and beer fermented without issue. gravity readings confirmed fermentation was complete and i packaged like the mild. no cold crash, no clarifiers other than the whirlfloc tablet during the boil.

after a couple weeks in the keg, finally tapped it this weekend and it has crazy chill haze. i thought it was just the first couple pints but 4 or 5 pints in and still cloudy. i don't really care about the haze but am curious as to what happened. i suspect the 1968 yeast is 'weaker' after being built up twice, when compared to a fresh pouch. all my other brew parameters were the same as the mild (e.g. mashing, sparging, chilling, etc.) anyone else ever come across this issue with wyeast 1968?

 

[JonM]

If you have chill haze, it's due to proteins rather than the yeast.

 

[itsnotrequired]

If you have chill haze, it's due to proteins rather than the yeast.

correct but based on my experience with this particular yeast in my mild, i assumed (incorrectly?) that i would have similar results. almost as if the proteins dropped out with the yeast. the esb is a higher abv so had more grain to start with, maybe that is the extra protein?

 

[IslandLizard]

The ESB I brewed 2 weeks ago using a 2nd generation WY1968 starter (never used for fermentation previously) also has a lot of (chill) haze.

It looked clear in the fermentor, so I racked to a keg, but after taking a quick sample right away it was hazier than I thought it would be. I then cold crashed the keg at near 32F for a few days, and there was some extra yeast sediment. Gave it another 2 days at 32F, pulled a pint slowly to clear the diptube area and transferred slowly to another pre-purged keg. A lot better now, but there is still some chill haze left, though.

I used Optic malt, which is floor malted and undermodified. That maybe the cause of extra proteins. I mashed 60'. The beer is beautiful taste wise, so a bit of chill haze won't kill the deal.

A month ago I did notice that beers using my old batch of WY1968 weren't clearing as well as I was used too, the yeast taking on a more powdery form. They also would attenuate much more than their 67-71%. So I bought a new pack, and tossed the old stuff for good.

Perhaps after one or 2 uses the less flocculent yeast population starts to become more prominent. I'm going to use fresh from saved starters now, or re-pitch maybe once if I want a little more attenuation.

What base malt did you use?

 

[itsnotrequired]

The ESB I brewed 2 weeks ago using a 2nd generation WY1968 starter (never used for fermentation previously) also has a lot of (chill) haze.

It looked clear in the fermentor, so I racked to a keg, but after taking a quick sample right away it was hazier than I thought it would be. I then cold crashed the keg at near 32F for a few days, and there was some extra yeast sediment. Gave it another 2 days at 32F, pulled a pint slowly to clear the diptube area and transferred slowly to another pre-purged keg. A lot better now, but there is still some chill haze left, though.

I used Optic malt, which is floor malted and undermodified. That maybe the cause of extra proteins. I mashed 60'. The beer is beautiful taste wise, so a bit of chill haze won't kill the deal.

A month ago I did notice that beers using my old batch of WY1968 weren't clearing as well as I was used too, the yeast taking on a more powdery form. They also would attenuate much more than their 67-71%. So I bought a new pack, and tossed the old stuff for good.

Perhaps after one or 2 uses the less flocculent yeast population starts to become more prominent. I'm going to use fresh from saved starters now, or re-pitch maybe once if I want a little more attenuation.

What base malt did you use?

interesting to hear you have similar issues. my base was simpson's maris otter, the same malt i used for the mild.