Clarity of beer

[oxford brewer]

I have just finished drinking(i did bottle 20pints...honest ) my 3rd HB,a 19th century style IPA.THe beer has been kegged for 11 days(kept indoors at approx 18c), then in my garage for 2 days at about 5-6c,the beer has carbonated well and has a very hoppy aroma but the taste is a little harsher and the brew is a little cloudy(the owner of the LHBS suggested that i was drinking it to soon ...got a good point but as the keg emptied it tasted better and better(about 2 weeks) ,but i didnt get any clearer!.
Here is the question....they are extract kits(DME and steeping grains and hops in teabags!!....is the best way to explain it)...however i havnt boiled the wort at all(the instructions say you dont need to)...will that possibly effect the clarity of beer?...have tried finings in 2nd brew but only a small difference!!

Have seen a set of stainless steel stock pots(8,12,16,20 quart) at a cheap price,so as long as SHMBO agrees i may be able to boil nearly a full brew(explain about the wort cooler later ).
Wait and see(valentines day tomorrow...creep creep!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

[Walker]

when you boil the wort (and I find it odd that your kit includes hops, but does not tell you to boil them) proteins in the wort will clump together and fall to the bottom of the kettle. This is known as "hot break". Then you normally chill the wort to fermentation temps as fast as possible to get a "cold break", which is MORE protein falling out of suspension.

If you don't boil and get hot and cold breaks, those proteins stay in the wort and will cause the beer to be hazy.

However, haze has never bothered me very much. About 50% of my batches end up cloudy, but taste fine. The taste is all I'm after, so I don't worry about it.

-walker

 

[oxford brewer]

The beer is fine to drink but sometimes when you pour people a beer and it is a little hazy(much better than cloudy....cheers walker )they start to look a little worried

 

[Walker]

buy them some quality commercial unfiltered brews if they think the haze is a sign of poor workmanship.

My favorite store bought IPA (Mash House Hoppy Hour IPA) is a heck of a lot more cloudy than anything I've brewed myself, and I LOVE that stuff.

or.. buy some frosted pint glasses and serve the beer in that.

-walker

 

[oxford brewer]

The next 3 kits i have brewed have been LME kits(2 tins of liquid extract and a bag of hops that you can boil with 5 litres of diluted wort for between 40 and 10 minutes.....or steep in one of the empty cans of LME for 15 minutes...which i did ....i guess i need to get some stock pots big enough to do some boiling(that will really P the wife off as she thinks our dining room smells like a brewery as it is ).
Still....better to be P'd off than P'd on(Stone Cold Steve Austin....Circa 2000)

 

[Caplan]

The next 3 kits i have brewed have been LME kits(2 tins of liquid extract and a bag of hops that you can boil with 5 litres of diluted wort for between 40 and 10 minutes.....or steep in one of the empty cans of LME for 15 minutes...which i did ....i guess i need to get some stock pots big enough to do some boiling(that will really P the wife off as she thinks our dining room smells like a brewery as it is ).
Still....better to be P'd off than P'd on(Stone Cold Steve Austin....Circa 2000)

Read the online Bible oxford - http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
It covers the stuff walker talked about and more

 

[Hopsnort]

If you're going to keg/force-carbonate and want really, really, clear beer...


- Rack to secondary (or tertiary if your're an OCD brewer) and wait your usual time (1-2 weeks... whatever).

- Mix 2 -3 teaspoons of Sparkelloid in 1/2 - 1 cup boiled water.

- Let cool, stir into suspension, and add to secondary.

- Thoroughly (but gently) stir the beer for a few minutes with a sanitized cane. Don't dig into the yeast cake on the bottom, although alot of it will be stirred up.

- Wait 2-3 more days and rack into your keg.


Sparkelloid is primarily used for clearing wines, but I swear by the stuff. The guys at the brewstore cautioned against using it in a beer destined for bottling because of the possibility of TOO LITTLE yeast being left for carbonation. I don't know that's true, but the stuff sure results in an extra-clear beer!


Hopsnort

 

[oxford brewer]

Read the online Bible oxford - http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
It covers the stuff walker talked about and more

.

Cheers Caplan spent a few hours at work reading(i will look again when i get home)

 

[cgravier]

Isinglass? (sturgeon bladder) i thought that was the choice of british brewies for clearing up ales
ive heard of 'sparkleloid' to me it sounds like something a poof would sprinkle on his oatmeal...