Cloudy ale - due to slow cooling?

[Mer-man]

My first BIAB went really well except I was unprepared to cool 6 gallons of wort, so it went very slowly. I used an ice bath.

I did not get an infection during slow transition through the danger zone and subsequent fermentation went really well.
Furthermore, the beer tasted fantastic, with identifiable flavors of the base malt and the crystal and chocolate malts.

But it is one heck of a cloudy beer. I tried gelatin, and that flocculated out a fair amount of stuff, but it is still cloudy.

I expect this is not strictly a BIAB issue, but I did BIAB.

 

[TexasWine]

Lots of folks take the no chill route, including myself, and don't have clarity issues. Maybe if you shared your recipe and a little more insight on your procedure someone more experienced than myself might notice something.

 

[Mer-man]

5.5kg pale 2 row
.5kg Crystal 80
.25kg Chocolate malt
-- fine grind
Water treated with 1 campden tablet and 9g magnesium sulfate for 35L.

Mash at 67 for 60 minutes with 31L, squeezed bag, ending with 28L. No mashout. Added 4L back that had not fit during the mash.

Boiled vigorously for 60 minutes
28g magnum at 60
14g fuggles at 45
14g fuggles at 30
28g crystal at 15
-- using hopbag

Siphoned into FV, leaving ~2L hot break slop in the kettle. ~23.5L into kettle at 1060. (Forgot to check pre-boil SG)

FV was set in a large ice bath. It sat for at least an hour, when I then started stirring it; then temperature finally started coming down. Got it to 19 after another hour+ of stirring, and pitched. Held it at 19 for 5 days, then raised to 21. Fermented down to 1012.

 

[Quaker]

Nothing above stands out. What yeast did you use and how long since your brew day has it been?

Also, do you know what your starting water chemistry is? I fought clarity until I switched from my hard well water to RO.

 

[Yooper]

Epsom salt (MgS04) is an odd choice for that grain bill. It shouldn't be enough to matter, but generally calcium (in the form of gypsum) is added if sulfate is needed because calcium does help a bit with clarity.

 

[Mer-man]

Coopers Ale packets, (2) 7g. Brewed 9 November, bottled 10 days later. That was the last time I saw the beer.

The Epsom salt is to add Mg (zero in my water) and sulfate (38ppm in my water). Have 80ppm calcium. Alkalinity 17 as CaCO3, with avg pH of 8. I didn't go for gypsum as it would have put my Ca up at the top of Palmer's suggested range.

 

[Mer-man]

Can you explain why it is odd for the grain bill?
Based on Palmer's nomograph it seemed a reasonable addition. Otherwise I would have to start messing with the alkalinity, no? Mmm chalk

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

So, it only fermented for 5 days at 66 degrees(forgive my imperial conversions my brain doesn't function in metric), then you brought it up to 70 for how long?

After it sat at 70 for x amount of time, then what?

Did you cold crash?

Are you kegging or going straight from fermentor into bottling bucket then bottles?

Your brew process looks ok, but for most beers a little time to allow them to clear is normal. I always cold crash at around 37 degrees (3C lol) for 3 days AFTER I have given my ales at least 10 days to ferment out. In some beers I will get a chill haze but nothing crazy.

You've heard of brewery brite tanks? See if there is some form of fining treatment or process you can incorporate to give your beer that polished look you seem to desire.

 

[Quaker]

I haven't used the Coopers yeast, but cloudy at 20 days wouldn't concern me one bit. I expect that more time will clear it, especially chilled to encourage any yeast in suspension to drop.

 

[Mer-man]

It actually hit 1012 at the end of the 4th day. I know because I thought fermentation had stalled somehow. After that I let the temp rise to 21 to encourage yeast cleanup. I don't have capacity to cold crash, sadly.
Then you Fermenter to bottling bucket, into bottles.

I am hoping it will have clarified some in the bottles, will check one this weekend.

Thanks everyone for the input!

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Once they are carbed, throw them in the fridge for a while. That will act as your cold crash. A week in the fridge should clear things up a bit. Tonight I opened the last bottle of my summer wheat, which would normally have the typical wheat beer haze. It was crystal clear. Two months in the fridge will do that.

 

[aidan]

Do you use any kettle fining agent - e.g. Whirlfloc, Koppafloc, Irish Moss? I use Koppafloc and find that it really helps with clarity.

 

[Mer-man]

Did not, but am willing to do so if this continues!

 

[joshesmusica]

i leave mine in the fermenter at least 2 weeks, and up to 3 weeks. I've had some people tell me that you can leave it longer, but I read that typically after three weeks is when the off flavors from the yeast start being produced. though sometimes i'm impatient and just do two weeks. (impatient being mainly interpreted as, i'm running out of homebrew, and another week in the fermenter will mean a week without it!)
my main brew has been a hoppy wheat beer, which is supposed to be cloudy. so i have lots of dry hops in the fermenter, and i use pellets and just toss them in, so lots of gunk. my point in telling you all of this is that i get crystal clear beer every time. i have to do the method of rolling the bottle to get the yeast suspended again in order to get the cloudy wheatness going on. i do not use any kind of clearing agent. just patience.
i would recommend getting a good stock of homebrew, and then giving yourself enough time for your beers to clear. i do, at least, 2 weeks fermenter, 2 weeks bottling.
one technique i have found that really helps is the whirlpool method. after cooling your beer, just make a really strong whirlpool going, then let it sit for 15 mins. (of course that's if you cooled quicker than an hour! ) but i also do it before bottling.
just this time i do my best to get to the strong whirlpool motion a little slower so as to not let oxygen into the beer.

 

[joshesmusica]

also, although i did say that i keep the trub out of my fermenter, here's a guy that doesn't ferment as long as me who got great clarity results by pitching everything into the fermenter!
http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

 

[fartinmartin]

I think Quaker has it, your process is like mine, I also can't chill, at twenty days I wouldn't be bothered , give it time and it will probable drop out lovely .
Many of us have found a bottle or three that's been left behind and found them to pour crystal clear.

 

[Mer-man]

Cool. I just put 6 in the back of my very cold fridge and will find out on Saturday afternoon. Here's hoping!

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I do 3 weeks minimum in the fermenter. Usually, it's more like 4 or 5. This goes a long way toward getting clearer beer. Two weeks really doesn't do much at all for clarity. Don't worry about off flavors. You need to go months in the fermenter before you have to worry about that.

I totally understand the patience and inventory issues, though. Get a good pipeline going and you'll build up your inventory. Then you can afford to have patience for longer fermentation.

 

[Mer-man]

I am pretty pleased with how it turned out, though surprised at how mellowed the bitterness became in comparison to the pre-bottling sample.

But the beer was fortunately not cloudy! Case closed.

Thanks!

View attachment 1417313572077.jpg

 

[joshesmusica]

Awesome! I would assume that all malt flavors kinda round out over time, but especially the darker malts typically get better after more time (up to a point of course).