clarifiers for hazey brew

[captjack]

Have my first brew fermenting know for one week. A lot of action going on in fermenter. When the fermentation period is over I can't get my fridge cold enough to cold crash.the temp reads 50degrees. If my brew looks hazey can I use clarifiers to help clear it up? If so witch kind would be best and when would I add it?I did add whirlfloc that came with the kit at boil. Thanks

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Your fridge won't go below 50*F? Are you sure? Tested with a few different thermometers? A good fridge can easily get down to 34*F.

Ok so gelatin would be your best bet for cold crashing... I've seen some people use Chitosan, however that is made from shellfish, so if you or anyone drinking it has an allergy you should steer clear. Quik Clear is another, you could use...

Personally I love gelatin. Try that... Take about 1 cup of near boiled water and add 1 tsp of gelatin to it (get this at your Local HB store) and stir till its completely dissolved. Cool to around your beer temperature and add to fermenter, gently mixing it in with a sanitized spoon.

Try and cold crash it for a few days... Even let it go another week. Transfer to your bottling bucket (I'm assuming you are bottling) Add your priming sugar or use carb caps and bottle it.

 

[TheHappyHopper]

A normal, functional fridge can easily get down to 34*F.

Fixed that for you

 

[TasunkaWitko]

If your refrigerator is bottoming out at 50 degrees, then you have a bigger problem than cloudy beer.....

 

[Hopper5000]

I use biofine which works very well for me. Gelatin does work very well also but it can strip some hop flavor out of the beer when it clarifies everything.

 

[unionrdr]

The Whirlfloc tablet should do it in my experiences with it. Just let the beer finish fermenting down to FG. Then give it another 3-7 days in primary to settle out clear or slightly misty. Then proceed to rack to bottling bucket for priming & bottling. Time is your friend here.

 

[JohnSand]

Gelatin works, there are plenty of threads about it. I only use it with yeasts that don't flocculate (settle) well. Otherwise I just ferment three weeks and my beers clear up beautifully.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

I won't be using gelatin on my Bock as it will be lagering for 3 months and it should completely clear all on its own... If it doesnt then that is indicative of something not done quite right during the brew day...

 

[unionrdr]

If some haziness doesn't settle out like a fog in the fridge, it could be starch haze from the mash. I've gotten that with my hybrid lagers with pilsen malts that were supposed to be "well modified". It doesn't settle out in that case, even after 2 weeks fridge time. It comes from incomplete conversion.

 

[captjack]

I used a meat thermometer don't know how accurate for measuring cold. I had a bottle of water in the fridge and it read 40 degrees and I left the thermometer in frige for a while and it read about 36 degrees.Whith these findings do you think I can try the cold crash?If so how long shoul I crash for.Thanks for all of your advice.

 

[Hopper5000]

Yes you can cold crash with those temps. 1 to 3 days should be long enough.

 

[RM-MN]

I used a meat thermometer don't know how accurate for measuring cold. I had a bottle of water in the fridge and it read 40 degrees and I left the thermometer in frige for a while and it read about 36 degrees.Whith these findings do you think I can try the cold crash?If so how long shoul I crash for.Thanks for all of your advice.

If you are using that thermometer for your brewing, it's time to get a decent thermometer. You don't have to spend a fortune to get on that is much better suited to brewing. There are a bunch of digital and dial thermometers that will be more accurate at the brewing temperature range. If you have a bit more money to spare, adding a non-contact IR thermometer is fun too as you can use it to measure the temperature of the fermenter, the outside of the pot while cooling, and all sorts of other cool measurements around the house and garage.