Bit confused!

[DonGavlar]

So my beers are usually always crystal clear, like read the newspaper through the glass clear.

I recently upgraded my brewery in two ways. One, I swapped out my fermenters with SS brewtech stainless steel buckets. Two, I got my mash tun lined with a bag. The bag allowed me to get much better efficiency and made for an easier clean up.

But, since these two upgrades.. my last two beers have been horribly cloudy...

Ive made both recipes before and both were crystal clear before.

I havn’t changed anything else from my process. I put half a whirlfloc in the boil, transfer to the keg after 3 weeks primary, put the kegs into the kegerator, let them get down to 39F over a couple days and then add gelatin to fine. I leave them 1-2 weeks like that before pouring my first pint.

Doing this has always produced crystal clear beer. I have bo idea why these two are so cloudy.

I made a brown and an amber, the brown literally looks like muddy water. I’m a bit disheartned by it as I have no clue as to what could have caused this.

No new yeast strain, no new grain bill, no new procedure. Litterally just the mash tun bag and the SS buckets.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Are you squeezing the bag? Brulosophy did an experiment and squeezing the bag made the beer cloudy. From what I read, this adds more proteins to your wort.

Just a thought...

 

[DonGavlar]

Are you squeezing the bag? Brulosophy did an experiment and squeezing the bag made the beer cloudy. From what I read, this adds more proteins to your wort.

Just a thought...

Nope didnt squeeze it, however, as its completely filtered I was able to drain pretty much the whole volume of liquid into the kettle. Before I was leaving about 1/4 - 1/3 of a gallon of wort in the mash tun as this was the point that particles started coming through into the kettle. Perhaps the last dregs of wort are carrying extra proteins?

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Nope didnt squeeze it, however, as its completely filtered I was able to drain pretty much the whole volume of liquid into the kettle. Before I was leaving about 1/4 - 1/3 of a gallon of wort in the mash tun as this was the point that particles started coming through into the kettle. Perhaps the last dregs of wort are carrying extra proteins?

Could be, but I doubt it. I did a Blonde Ale for the NHC and I did MIAB (bag in a cooler mash tun). I didn't squeeze, but my MLT drains all but a couple ounces. That beer came out clear as a bell. I did a 5 day cold crash and fined with gelatin on day 2 of that crash. It had some protein haze for the first week or so, but is pouring crystal clear now. Bottling for the competition you couldn't even see it in the hose.

 

[DonGavlar]

Could be, but I doubt it. I did a Blonde Ale for the NHC and I did MIAB (bag in a cooler mash tun). I didn't squeeze, but my MLT drains all but a couple ounces. That beer came out clear as a bell. I did a 5 day cold crash and fined with gelatin on day 2 of that crash. It had some protein haze for the first week or so, but is pouring crystal clear now. Bottling for the competition you couldn't even see it in the hose.

Im at a loss then! Literally no idea whats happened. Perhaps my malt provider has had some dodgey malt?

 

[Redpappy]

Are you squeezing the bag? Brulosophy did an experiment and squeezing the bag made the beer cloudy. From what I read, this adds more proteins to your wort.

Just a thought...

Sorry to but in, but.. I am in the process of going from extract to BIAB. Now from what I have been reading is that we can squeeze the hell out of the bag. Of course I don’t recall anyone saying anything about the clarity. Would you happen to have a link ( if it was on the net) I would like to read it if you do.
Thanks

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Sorry to but in, but.. I am in the process of going from extract to BIAB. Now from what I have been reading is that we can squeeze the hell out of the bag. Of course I don’t recall anyone saying anything about the clarity. Would you happen to have a link ( if it was on the net) I would like to read it if you do.
Thanks

The Brulosophy experiment

 

[Redpappy]

Thanks.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Random thought: did you thoroughly clean and passivate the new stainless fermentors? Manufacturing residue or the passivation activity between new stainless and acidic beer might cause the cloudiness you are experiencing (again, random guess).

 

[ncbrewer]

If you brew with tap water, maybe there is a change in water chemistry. It happened with our county water a few months ago.

 

[jekeane]

If you are using city water there is certainly a chance of a seasonal ph swing that could affect clarity.

Did you grind finer than normal?

Did you switch your sparging methods?

 

[DonGavlar]

I use RO water and build individual water profiles.

Nope, grain mill was set the same and sparged as usual. Only difference was I was able to completely empty the mash tun due to the newly installed bag.

As for the SS buckets, i gave both a clean with a detergent followed by about a 45min - 1hour soak in pbw amd a hood rinse followed by a 20/30 min soak in starsan

 

[hopjuice_71]

I think its possible it could be your malt. I have brewed the same recipe for a bitter several times using bulk grain originating from one maltster and this beer is always crystal clear. However, I secured a really good deal on sacks of grain from another company so I ended up brewing the beer with the same style of malt but from a different maltster. But when I made that switch I ended up with a murky bitter. Still tasted good, but not so easy on the eyes. That particular sack of malt kept making cloudy beers so I dedicated it to NEIPA-style beers. Perhaps there was a change in brand of grain for your cloudy batch?