Clarity after bottling

[Robbypv]

I am wondering if any of you have noticed your IPAs (or any beer for that matter) clearing up a significant amount if you leave it in the fridge for a long period of time. the attached picture is 2 weeks in bottles at conditioning temperature, but only 24 hours in fridge. I am thinking about putting some in for at least a week, and some in for 3-4 weeks, and see how clear I can get it.

I poured some into a glass during bottling, so that I could try it, and it was a lot clearer than this. I figure that means this is chill haze, and will diminish with time in the fridge.

Have any of you had an experience where your beer got very clear from long time periods in the fridge?

 

[Robbypv]

Side note: I know this isn't carbonated enough, I am simply asking about the cloudiness and/or haze

 

[cmoewes]

I get very clear results that way. I usually bottle carbonate for 1-2 weeks (still working on identifying when it is done) and then 2+ weeks down in the basement at 57-60 degrees. I wind up with a very clear beer everytime.

On the carbing side, I just read a tip to fill up 1 16oz pop bottle and use that the measure the bottle carb level. I've bottles in 2-liter PET before and you can feel it as it carbs up because the bottle gets hard.

 

[HBngNOK]

(99% of beer) plus (time) equals clear.

 

[Robbypv]

Thanks,

What if I put them in the fridge which is normally a bit colder than your 57-60 degrees? I assume my fridge is generally around 47-48 degrees.

 

[agrazela]

Absolutely your bottle-conditioned beer will clear in the fridge. You're basically cold-crashing it after bottling, instead of before.

Downside of course is that all the gunk then gets stuck to the bottom of the bottle--instead of never making it to the bottle--necessitating a careful pour. Upside is that after a good week or two in the fridge, that "gunk puck" should be so firm your pouring careful-ness level should still be OK even after 2 or 3 bottles.

I saw a link to an article / chart on this forum once that indicated that something like 95% of the "gunk" will fall out at 32°F, but that a good 85% will even at low-50's °F. (As compared with maybe only 15-20% at room temps)

 

[unionrdr]

Any trub/yeast in that makes it into the bottles in suspension settles out in the first couple days for me. Crystal clear. It typically takes 3-4 weeks to fully carb & condition at 70F room temp. Then a week in the fridge to get co2 into solution & allow any chill haze a chance to form & settle. And the trub/yeast to compact on the bottom of the bottle. Just make sure to let them sit at room temp for 3-4 weeks it normally takes to carb & condition.

 

[krahm]

OP: What you're doing is called lagering. It's a time-honored practice traditionally employed to clarify the beer (and improve flavor). Lager on and enjoy!

Forgive me for being a bit of a wise-a**. It was meant in good fun (we kid because we care).

 

[Robbypv]

you can hardly claim being a wise-ass, if you apologize . along with giving a legit answer. that brings up another point. Isn't the gist of a lager that you do all your conditioning in colder temps, not just after it's done carbonating?

 

[krahm]

If you look around, you'll see that different folks often use different approaches. It all depends on what you're set up for and what kind of beer you're making. Ideally, you want to rack to secondary to get the beer off the yeast and other gunk (since the whole point of lagering is to get the finished beer away from this stuff), cold condition it for at least a month, possibly longer (depending on the beer and the brewer's standards), then transfer to keg or bottle and carbonate. Again, the goal is to leave all that stuff behind and keep it out of the finished beer. You don't want it getting mixed back in. You can then continue to lager if you like. But some folks don't have the space for a carboy, for instance, so they lager in the keg or bottle. It's not ideal, but any lagering, even after carbonation, will help clarify the beer. The flavor will also come across as less muddy, even with ales. At its most basic, lagering is simply cold storage for the purpose of clarifying/aging. It's generally not as crucial for ales, but it does have its effects, as you've noticed. Cheers!