AG help

[geoffski123]

I just recently started AG brewing and have brewed two 5gal batches. I noticed that they were hella cloudy in the secondary so i left them for another 1.5 to 2 weeks and still they were couldy. Not only are they couldy but they both have tased kinda weird, cant describe the taste but deffinantly not right. It has kinda killed my spirits and im second guessing the AG process. Any tips or notes for AG.

 

[mjohnson]

You'll get better feedback if you post your recipe and process. Hey, you got the same results with 2 batches, so you at least have consistency! Fix the issue and you'll likely get good beer consistently.

 

[Yooper]

Cloudy beer can be caused by a variety of things, but there are two things that come to my mind immediately. One is, conversion. Did you get full conversion from the mash? If you don't check for conversion with iodine (many don't), then did you mash at a temperature for a certain time?

The second thing I think of then is break material. Did you get a really good hot break? That's when the wort foams up and seems like it's going to boil over, and then suddenly stops and settles down and boils well. After that, the wort looks like egg drop soup, as the coagulated proteins are in the wort. Not getting a good hot break can cause a permanently hazy beer.

 

[feinbera]

Couple wild-ass guesses:

- What temperature did you mash at, for how long? Have you calibrated your thermometer by making sure it reads 32 in icewater and 212 in boiling? Could be starch haze if you're mashing too cool or too fast and not getting full conversion.

- How vigorous is your boil, and how quick do you chill? Could be hot break if you're stuck on a kitchen stove that can't quite bring six or seven gallons to a full, rolling boil, or cold break if you're taking too long to chill (though, for the latter, I've had chills that took an hour to get down to pitching temp and still cleared just fine, so, "too long" is probably at least a couple hours).

- How long has it been total? Another 1.5 to 2 weeks after just one week is 2.5 to 3 weeks -- you'll still get significant clearing if you go out to four or five weeks. Another 1.5 to 2 weeks after a month, you're getting into the territory of diminishing returns.

 

[terrapinj]

did you notice if you wort was clear before you pitched the yeast?