Clear wheat beer? *Muttering*

[Snafu]

I admit, I've never really had a problem with beer haze, or cloudy beer. But, good lord, I actually wanted my wheat beers cloudy! I pulled out some wheat beers I had in the back of the fridge thinking it would be a nice change from all the porters I've been on lately and poured it in a glass and its as clear an ale. My recipe was only 55% wheat and 2 row pale malt making up the recipe, not enough wheat to keep it cloudy? I've heard adding a little flour to the recipe might help. Thoughts?

 

[Revvy]

How long has it been in the back of the fridge? I have found three month old beers in the back of mine that were so clear and the yeast cake was so cpmpacted in the bottle that I could upend it and no yeast came out. You may have overly "crash cooled" it.

 

[Snafu]

oh its been in the fridge three months easy. I'd bet some of those beers in there might be 6 months old. Would you store ales and wheats at 70 for long periods? Instead of putting them in the fridge, that is.

 

[Revvy]

oh its been in the fridge three months easy. I'd bet some of those beers in there might be 6 months old. Would you store ales and wheats at 70 for long periods? Instead of putting them in the fridge, that is.

Yeah 3-6 months, that's why it is crystal clear...

I store most of my beers at room temp, especially if they need conditioning time. Some of my beers don't even become drinkable for 6-12 months (I.e Barelywines) I only put beers in the fridge when they are ready to drink...and only maybe 2 sixers at a time.

If you want to maintain a level of "un clarity" especially for your wheats...don't chill till drinking. But I have a feeling, even 6 after 6 months at room temp your wheat would be clearer...I think stuff is going to settle after that length or time.

 

[Snafu]

Well geesh, no wonder I've never had a haze problem! I have a fridge out in the "cave" thats slam packed with homebrew. I just keep rotating the stock lol.

 

[Revvy]

Well geesh, no wonder I've never had a haze problem! I have a fridge out in the "cave" thats slam packed with homebrew. I just keep rotating the stock lol.

LOL, yeah you have gone beyond the time even to get rid of chill haze...'

You deserve some kinda award or something....I mean I am the preacher of patience, but that one bottle of 3 month in the fridge was an anomolie for me. :rockin:

 

[Snafu]

Well my problem is I like brewing more than drinking. Don't get me wrong, I prolly toss back one or two every other day. I just can't deplete my stock fast enough before I'm craving to brew and try another change to my recipes.

 

[chriswilkes33]

Well my problem is I like brewing more than drinking. Don't get me wrong, I prolly toss back one or two every other day. I just can't deplete my stock fast enough before I'm craving to brew and try another change to my recipes.

You sir need some better friends.

 

[Sea]

Shake that Sh*t up! Or, use a chopstick or something to stir up the cake if you don't want to risk an explosion.

 

[daveooph131]

I've had teh same problem with my wheat beers but I keg. I actually have a dunkleweizzen on tap that is now crystal clear...and I think the taste has suffered since it cleared. Could this be?

 

[OLDBREW]

The germans will filter the primary hefeweizen yeast out of the beer, then carbonate with a secondary lager strain (fine dusty paticles). When you go to drink these, you lay the bottle on it's side and roll it back and forth so the yeast goes back into suspension. you also want that style to warm up some before drinking it.

BTW.. 6 months is considered old for a hefeweizen or weizen style beer.

 

[OLDBREW]

I've had teh same problem with my wheat beers but I keg. I actually have a dunkleweizzen on tap that is now crystal clear...and I think the taste has suffered since it cleared. Could this be?

Yeast has a flavor that if settled will change your beers taste. normal % alcohol wheat beers are meant to be consumed young. 3 weeks young even.

 

[chriswilkes33]

I've had teh same problem with my wheat beers but I keg. I actually have a dunkleweizzen on tap that is now crystal clear...and I think the taste has suffered since it cleared. Could this be?

Absolutely, the yeast provides a large part of the taste of a good hefe. hefe after all is German for yeast.

 

[kanzimonson]

I've also heard people recommend not using kettle finings to increase haze. I haven't tried it myself, but makes sense.

 

[kuphish]

I wouldn't worry about it. For some reason, people are overly concerned with German wheat beers being hazy, when in fact commercial German wheats are clear until you rouse the yeast. So, just make sure to swirl up the yeast before you pour in the last third of the beer.

 

[zanemoseley]

Man I'm drinking a Hefe I brewed the 22nd of November and kegged last Sunday and its wonderful tasting and just perfectly cloudy/hazy. I think you just need to drink it quicker. Unfortunately I don't have your problem of lack of consumption.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

There are two factors at play here: protein haze and yeast in suspension. Depending on water chemistry, mash technique, wheat variety, and likely a whole host of other factors, the haze may be very pronounced or non-existent. Mostly, if the beer tastes good, there is no need to intentionally try to make it hazier. In the case of a hefeweizen, suspended yeast is the biggest contributor to the cloudy appearance. Yeast choice is extremely important when brewing a hefeweizen. Hefeweizen strains typically produce a lot of esters and are not very flocculant at all. If you don't use the proper yeast (I like WLP300), you haven't brewed a hefeweizen!

 

[khiddy]

I liked my last batch of Minute Wheat, which was actually an "American Kristalweizen" since the yeast flocced out. Of course, I wasn't going for the clove/banana characteristic of German hefe's, so it tasted very crisp and was definitely crystal clear.

My yeast was Notty, btw - "Notty gonna use a German!"

 

[Yuri_Rage]

khiddy, that's a great example of how yeast can impact the flavor and appearance of a beer. Nottingham is very clean and very flocculant. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Nottingham's highly flocculant behavior will actually pull some other haze forming compounds to the bottom of the fermenter along with the yeast, acting a bit like a fining agent.

For a clean, clear wheat beer, Nottingham is perfect. However, it's is absolutely the wrong choice for an estery Bavarian style beer.

 

[OLDBREW]

Man I'm drinking a Hefe I brewed the 22nd of November and kegged last Sunday and its wonderful tasting and just perfectly cloudy/hazy. I think you just need to drink it quicker. Unfortunately I don't have your problem of lack of consumption.

that stuff sure goes quick around here too

 

[MilwaukeeBrewGuy]

i posted this in another thread also but what happens if you cold crashed your wheat beer (dunkelweisse) on accident and then proceeded to slurp up all of the yeast off of the bottom? Can you just add a yeast starter to the keg?

I think this happened to me and now my dunkelweisse tastes watery and flavorless. (But man those first 6 or so pints were great!)

 

[Coastarine]

My witbier cleared up after a few weeks in the keg despite adding a tbs of flour to the boil at 10mins. I was somewhat disappointed at first and I know I could agitate the keg but I've stopped worrying about it.

 

[MilwaukeeBrewGuy]

did the flavor change at all? You'd think it would.

 

[Coastarine]

No, I think the yeast settled out pretty quickly and it was the chill haze from the flour that settled out over a few weeks. It was already a bit thin and watery because when I failed to hit my gravity I used more table sugar instead of DME to bring it up. I simply forgot that I keep DME around for making starters.

 

[Snafu]

Agreed.... just swirling around the last bit in the bottle brings back all the haze and yeast flavors, although not quite as prominent as when it was fresh. That being said I'm a little concerned as to what to do when I start kegging. Its not like I'm going to swirl around a 5 gal keg just to get some haze... do most ppl just stick to bottles with wheat's or just drink like a thirsty camel?

 

[MilwaukeeBrewGuy]

here it is said that you can put in a longer gas dip tube that goes to the bottom so that when Co2 is injected it rouses the yeast. I may just try this.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/my-dunkelweisse-dying-help-157038/index2.html

I am curious as to the answer to this question as well.

Personally, I would think that if you haven't touched the keg for a few days you may want to swirl it.

Does anyone have any numbers on yeast flocculation times for wheat beers? This would help to determine how long a keg could sit without yeast rousing.

I guess the other way would be to just pull a sample and if it is clear then it is time to rouse!

 

[LandofOZ]

damm i havent gotten that faqr ahead with my brews to have one sitting that long to clear