Ok my husband is driving me nuts. Our first brew was a week in the primary and is now 4 days in the secondary. It's an Irish Red Ale. My husband feels it's not clearing up fast enough. I just want it to be drinkable! It's our first batch! I keep telling him patience is a virtue! Any ideas how long it could take to clear up?
Clarity vs. Taste
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DoubleAught
Well-Known Member
You are correct for him to be patient. Most here go a minimum of 3 weeks primary with no secondary. I personally go 3 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, and 3-4 weeks in the bottle. You guys just need more time, weeks more than days 
Exactly. I have said this many times on here, I don't even open my primary bucket until 3 weeks. It will clear up the longer you leave it. 4 weeks is better...5 weeks is even better than that.
You will find for most of your beers, leaving in primary for 3 to 4 weeks with no secondary is the way to go. Most people on here don't use secondary anymore unless they are adding fruit, wood chips, etc.
You will find for most of your beers, leaving in primary for 3 to 4 weeks with no secondary is the way to go. Most people on here don't use secondary anymore unless they are adding fruit, wood chips, etc.
DoubleAught
Well-Known Member
Once you get a pipeline of home brew going it's easier to let it sit longer. I was horrible about rushing my first few batches, but now that I have 20 gallons in my fridge I can let it sit the correct amount of time.
If they dont clear you can always cold crash before botteling, but mostly mine almost always clear given over a month or two.Some times you can have chill haze problems and it depends really.Its mostly the proteins not settleing,time is your best bet, otherwise get some irish moss and toss some in last 10-15 min in the boil in certain recipes, the more you find out why you have this the better you can do about it. Best thing for me is to condition them 2 months in the bottle, or celler them or refrigerate them after 6-8 weeks.But i just celler them and never get a chance to chill them properly for 2 weeks before drinking, i think it makes a big difference really especially after learning about lagering
Generally you want 2-4 weeks primary at least a week or two in secondary at least. They wont be as good the first month as the next month probably would.
I personally would recommend 3-4 primary 3-5+(wks) in the bottle a week+ in the fridge.
Generally you want 2-4 weeks primary at least a week or two in secondary at least. They wont be as good the first month as the next month probably would.
I personally would recommend 3-4 primary 3-5+(wks) in the bottle a week+ in the fridge.
certaut
Well-Known Member
hide it till it's done,, friends house,,, etc
HomebrewMTB
Well-Known Member
Are you able to cold crash? If so that helps a lot on clearing. Once bottled, a couple weeks in the fridge will also help clear it out. It's just nice to drop that stuff out before bottling if you can.
It's too late now that it's already fermented, but a good cold break using a chiller after boil also helps drop out a lot of the haze particles.
On the topic of primary time, next time take a specific gravity reading to let you know when fermentation is complete. Unless you really know what you're doing, a week isn't enough time. Now waiting three weeks or more in primary is not necessarily the only way but it's certainly better than moving too quickly. Most people here don't secondary unless adding other ingredients (dry hop, fruit, etc). Advantages of longer primary and no secondary are:
1. It's easier. You don't have to rack.
2. It's safer. You eliminate potential contamination and oxidation.
3. Longer primary allows the beer to fully ferment and let the yeast clean up.
4. Eliminates the guesswork. The longer you wait, the greater chances that your beer is done.
Generally speaking the bigger the beer, the longer it takes. And no worries about leaving the beer on the yeast cake trub. It's not going to hurt anything. Lastly...
Relax. Don't Worry. And Have A Home Brew. (Or other craft beer while you're waiting for you home brew)
It's too late now that it's already fermented, but a good cold break using a chiller after boil also helps drop out a lot of the haze particles.
On the topic of primary time, next time take a specific gravity reading to let you know when fermentation is complete. Unless you really know what you're doing, a week isn't enough time. Now waiting three weeks or more in primary is not necessarily the only way but it's certainly better than moving too quickly. Most people here don't secondary unless adding other ingredients (dry hop, fruit, etc). Advantages of longer primary and no secondary are:
1. It's easier. You don't have to rack.
2. It's safer. You eliminate potential contamination and oxidation.
3. Longer primary allows the beer to fully ferment and let the yeast clean up.
4. Eliminates the guesswork. The longer you wait, the greater chances that your beer is done.
Generally speaking the bigger the beer, the longer it takes. And no worries about leaving the beer on the yeast cake trub. It's not going to hurt anything. Lastly...
Relax. Don't Worry. And Have A Home Brew. (Or other craft beer while you're waiting for you home brew)
I only do 3-4 weeks nowadays if it takes 3 to reach a stable FG,or dry hopping. When a stable FG is reached,& I'm not dry hopping,I give it 3-5 days to clean up some & settle out more. Then prime & bottle for at least 3-4 weeks using o2 barrier caps. This way,hop flavors get the maximum chance to shine in your glass. Not to mention,they'll clear up during conditioning @ room temp.
+1 to the whole pipeline thing. Do your best to really crank one out - get heavy on the front end now. Especially if you are doing extract batches with specialty grains, do a couple of batches a week for the next couple of weeks. Buckets are pretty cheap, even free in some cases. If you have the capital, the building of a pipeline is a completely wise decision.
I don't judge based on clarity, but by FG. I have no problem bottling/kegging a cloudy beer. If you are naturally carbing, the yeast will make it cloudy (temporarily) anyway. Now adding irish moss to the boil can help, and the same for gelatin or another fining, but you don't have to wait for the beer to clear before packaging.
william_shakes_beer
Well-Known Member
We did use Irish moss at 15mins. I just think he's impatient and I wish he would read more stuff on here. Tons of good info
The best cure for impatience is to begin a second batch. I have 1 case remaining of my first batch, a brewers best brown ale kit. 6 months in the bottles. Perhaps i'll try one this weekend...... But seriously, at least get 1 6er on the long term storage plan. When you taste it after it's mellowed, you'll wish you still had the full batch.
Paymygasbill77
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Fining Gelatin works wonders in clearing beer out. Go get some Knox Gelatin from the grocery store.
HOW TO USE
Mix 1 cup hot tap water with 1 tablespoon of Gelatin.
Let sit for 15 min to let it bloom.
Heat it up in a sauce pan. (don't boil it)
I cool it off a little bit, some people don't.
add it gently to your Fermenter.
It will clear everything up in a day or two. Sometimes you will get some crud stuck to the sides of your fermenter. If this happens, give it a gentle swirl so it comes loose and falls to the bottom.
Do not boil the Gelatin or you will get beer jigglers.
HOW TO USE
Mix 1 cup hot tap water with 1 tablespoon of Gelatin.
Let sit for 15 min to let it bloom.
Heat it up in a sauce pan. (don't boil it)
I cool it off a little bit, some people don't.
add it gently to your Fermenter.
It will clear everything up in a day or two. Sometimes you will get some crud stuck to the sides of your fermenter. If this happens, give it a gentle swirl so it comes loose and falls to the bottom.
Do not boil the Gelatin or you will get beer jigglers.
Thanks for the info on finings. I wondered how to do it. For now we are leaving it alone and things are settling out. We would work on the pipeline, but we need another airlock, which should get here next week. Our next flavor is "Smooth Nut Brown". I can't wait.
ArcaneXor
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Clarity and flavor are sometimes correlated, sometimes not. It depends on the beer style. For example, hefeweizens and IPAs are almost always going to be hazy (from yeast and oils extracted during dry hopping, respectively), but something like a German Pils, American Lager, Koelsch, etc. tastes best when they are crystal clear.
As many people have already pointed out with their excellent advice, time is your best ally when making many types of beer, especially if you are still a beginner and don't have a lot of experience yet. But you may miss the "peak flavor window" in some beer styles by fermenting/conditioning the beer for two months. That's why it is important to learn about proper yeast pitching rates, aeration and fermentation temperature control early in your brewing "career", because once your process is fine-tuned, you can get most beers from kettle to tap in 3 weeks or less. Since that doesn't allow gravity a lot of time to do its thing, finings are often added to speed up the clarification process. I find Whirlfloc in the boil (a potent purified Irish Moss) and Isinglass (acidified fish swim bladders; works similar to gelatin but is more potent) on the cold side to be very effective in most situations. There are many other excellent fining agents available on the market that take care of most clarity issues you may come across. Others I have used are Pectic enzyme (in fruit/vegetable beers), White Labs Clarity-Ferm, gelatin, Chitosan, Kieselsol, Bentonite, and probably a couple of others I cannot remember.
As many people have already pointed out with their excellent advice, time is your best ally when making many types of beer, especially if you are still a beginner and don't have a lot of experience yet. But you may miss the "peak flavor window" in some beer styles by fermenting/conditioning the beer for two months. That's why it is important to learn about proper yeast pitching rates, aeration and fermentation temperature control early in your brewing "career", because once your process is fine-tuned, you can get most beers from kettle to tap in 3 weeks or less. Since that doesn't allow gravity a lot of time to do its thing, finings are often added to speed up the clarification process. I find Whirlfloc in the boil (a potent purified Irish Moss) and Isinglass (acidified fish swim bladders; works similar to gelatin but is more potent) on the cold side to be very effective in most situations. There are many other excellent fining agents available on the market that take care of most clarity issues you may come across. Others I have used are Pectic enzyme (in fruit/vegetable beers), White Labs Clarity-Ferm, gelatin, Chitosan, Kieselsol, Bentonite, and probably a couple of others I cannot remember.
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