Clarifying my beer

[ruruiz05]

Hello all,

I am almost a newbie brewing Beer. I have done about 5 batches across several years, so I am not that experienced. Almost all of them have been a 1 gallon beer using a kit which contains all the ingredients and instructions.

I have noticed that in all the cases my beer is hazy, not as clear as I would like. I have read about this and I am currently brewing another 1 gallon beer. After 2.5 weeks in the fermenter, I placed it in the fridge and 2 days later I added gelatin. I will bottle tomorrow by transferring to a sanitized pot with a bit of honey for the carbonation, and then transferring to the bottles. The problem with this process is that I can only place in my fridge 1 gallon fermenters, larger ones wouldn’t fit.

I just bought in amazon the FastFermenter conical fermenter of 3 gallons. I would expect that most of the yeast and other solid particles would go down to the bottom of the conical fermenter at the end of the fermentation and my beer would be clearer.

Here is the key question: Would I achieve a clear beer with this conical fermenter? Or would I need to add another fining agent at the end of the fermentation? There is no way I can place my 3 gallon conical fermenter in the fridge, so cold crash is a no go. Any ideas?

Thanks!!!
Ruben

 

[NitrogenWidget]

I cold crash for a few days after gelatin.
As for the bigger fermenter, I got a free fridge from a friend and use it as a ferm chamber/cold crash chamber.
Only other way I can think of is to transfer to 1 gallon jugs and cold crash in the fridge that way.

 

[Steve-Ooo]

Your beer will clear up in the fermentor without cold crashing. It will just take longer.
If you don't want to wait it will clear in the bottle too. Just take care not to pour sediment into your glass.
Adding worlfloc or Irish moss will help too if you're not doing it already.

 

[ruruiz05]

Your beer will clear up in the fermentor without cold crashing. It will just take longer.
If you don't want to wait it will clear in the bottle too. Just take care not to pour sediment into your glass.
Adding worlfloc or Irish moss will help too if you're not doing it already.

I normally let my beer in the fermenter for 2 weeks. How much time would you recommend that I leave it in my 3 gallon conical fermenter next time? Is there a “time limit”? Honestly I am normally not in a rush.

thanks!
Ruben

 

[ruruiz05]

I cold crash for a few days after gelatin.
As for the bigger fermenter, I got a free fridge from a friend and use it as a ferm chamber/cold crash chamber.
Only other way I can think of is to transfer to 1 gallon jugs and cold crash in the fridge that way.

Hi there,

If I would transfer to 3 gallon jugs, wouldn’t I be adding unfriendly oxigen to the beer? Do you think it would be safe if I do it with a siphon carefully?

thanks,
Ruben

 

[ReaperOnefour]

What i usually do to help with clarity is i move my fermenter from my guest bathroom tub ( which is always the coolest room in the house) to the kitchen counter the day before i bottle. That way it gives the beer all day & night to resettle. Also worlfloc or irish moss will definitely help with clarity. I've used conicals also, & they help as well. I hope this helps.

 

[ruruiz05]

What i usually do to help with clarity is i move my fermenter from my guest bathroom tub ( which is always the coolest room in the house) to the kitchen counter the day before i bottle. That way it gives the beer all day & night to resettle. Also worlfloc or irish moss will definitely help with clarity. I've used conicals also, & they help as well. I hope this helps.

when you use conicals, how much time do you let your beer in the fermenter? For how much time would it be safe to leave it in the fermenter to also achieve better clarity?

thanks!
Ruben

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I always ferment for two weeks. You can leave the beer in the fermenter for 2.5 weeks. I wouldn't leave the beer in the fermenter for more than 3 weeks though.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

Hi there,

If I would transfer to 3 gallon jugs, wouldn’t I be adding unfriendly oxigen to the beer? Do you think it would be safe if I do it with a siphon carefully?

thanks,
Ruben

I cold crash for a few days after gelatin.
As for oxygenation, you are going to have to transfer it to bottling bucket anyways right?
whats the difference if you go from fermenter to bottling bucket to beer bottle vs fermenter to 3 1 gal containers to beer bottle?

unless you can transfer straight from the fermenter?

 

[ruruiz05]

I cold crash for a few days after gelatin.
As for oxygenation, you are going to have to transfer it to bottling bucket anyways right?
whats the difference if you go from fermenter to bottling bucket to beer bottle vs fermenter to 3 1 gal containers to beer bottle?

unless you can transfer straight from the fermenter?

thanks for the reply. I thought that oxigenation 2 days before bottling would be bad, but I might be wrong. I will give it a shot next time!

thanks!
Ruben

 

[wsmith1625]

I don't think you have a problem with flocculation, I think you have chill haze. Leaving the beer in your fermenter for 2 and a half weeks plus time in the bottle to allow for carbonation should give you some pretty clear beer. However, when you put them in the fridge, that's when they would get hazy. Do a side by side of a warm bottle next to a chilled bottle and see which is clearer.

I would also recommend using whirlfloc at the end of your boil. It will help proteins settle out quicker helping to improve clarity.

Yeast strains have different flocculation levels. Make sure to use medium or high flocculating yeast if the style permits it.

Last thing. Try not to transfer your beer to too many containers. Each transfer will introduce oxygen to your beer which is not good. Primary to bottling bucket to bottle is normal procedure. When doing this, be careful not to stir up the yeast in the bottom of the fermenter. Keep your bottling wand out of the yeast cake and try not to splash in order to prevent oxygenizing the beer.

 

[Steve-Ooo]

I normally let my beer in the fermenter for 2 weeks. How much time would you recommend that I leave it in my 3 gallon conical fermenter next time? Is there a “time limit”? Honestly I am normally not in a rush.

thanks!
Ruben

I wouldn't worry too much about a time limit on the finished beer. It's fine sitting undisturbed in the fermentor. Maybe add an extra week or two next time and experiment until you find what works you. Just take caution not to transfer any trub, refrigerate your bottles for plenty of time before opening and don't pour sediment into your glass.

 

[Sematary]

I had this same question a few years ago. It was recommended to me to use Irish Moss. Honestly, it works great. I've been doing IPA's lately so not using it as I actually prefer that hazy look in an ipa

 

[Jag75]

I leave beer in my fermenter for 3 weeks min. Using whrilfoc and leaving in the fermenter will help . My first fv was the FF 7.9g. Collection ball works great. Time is your friend and will clear the beer . Once you bottle and its carbed you can leave in the fridge for a while and you will see as time goes on the clearer it gets. I've never used gelatin or any fining agents in my beer .

 

[J2W2]

I use three different products / methods to clarify my beer. The first two have been mentioned - whirlfoc at the end of the boil, and a cold crash with gelatin finings before kegging.

The third product I use, which I haven't seen mentioned, is called Clarity Ferm, and is manufactured by White Labs. It's a small vial of clear liquid that you add when you pitch your yeast. It's an enzyme that reduces gluten in your beer, and greatly reduces, or eliminates, chill haze. It costs around $5 from a home brew supplier (Amazon sells it, but it looks like it runs about $7 there).

Between these three steps, I usually have crystal clear beer from the first glass. If cold crashing is out, I'd try whirlfoc and Clarity Ferm.

Good luck!

 

[PberBob]

A lot of good advice here for sure. Some of the things I've observed are that the wort starts clearer if you vorlauf for longer than you think, and for me chill haze takes about 5 days in the fridge to settle. You didn't mention if/how you were mashing, but I end up cycling about 3.5 gallons of a 5 gal. batch through my Igloo mash tun with a bag in it. It gets much clearer.

I use the 7 gal FastFerment conical and I love it - I don't know if it makes the beer clearer, but racking off traub is ridiculously simple with near zero oxygen exposure.