Cloudy Beer

[downhill_biker]

How do I clear up a cloudy beer? It is a berry wheat and I haven't bottled yet, but am planning to do so tomorrow. I took a sample today to taste and it is decent, high alcohol content, you can taste it a bit, but the beer is so cloudy. How can I clear it up? I heard somewhere about pectin or something, but not sure if that was how I do it.

 

[JonK331]

Wheat beers are typically cloudy from the additional proteins in the wheat. Add fruit to the mix and you are dealing with pectin haze as well. Extended lagering will take care of both of these issues but will take at least a month. For faster results you could use pectic enzyme to take care of the pectin haze. Gelatin will take care of the protein haze. I'm not sure what would happen if you added pectic enzyme and gelatin all at once. If I were you I would just expect a beer like that to be cloudy and drink it as such.

 

[edb23]

I would agree about expecting a fruit wheat beer to be cloudy, how long has it been in the fermenter? a little more time could smooth out the alcohol taste a little

 

[downhill_biker]

It was brewed before Christmas. I think around the 22nd, but I would have to look at my notes. It was in primary for about three weeks then I moved it to the secondary and added the fruit. So it probably has been in there for 6 weeks. I'm thinking it might just be cloudy, I don't want to start adding a bunch of things to it. If more time in secondary will help I'm willing to try that. Maybe re racking into another clean firmenter would help? Or am I better off just bottling it and hoping it clears up in the bottle?

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[LakewoodBrew]

What yeast did you use? Most wheat ales are made with a low flocculating wit or Heffe yeast and are intended to have a cloudiness to them. If you used a medium or greater flocculating yeast then it's probably a protein haze as suggested earlier.

Lagering can clear much of both situations, filtering can get a clear beer very quickly - but at additional expense. I wouldn't throw anything in a beer to knock down the haze, to many variables to contend with.

 

[JonK331]

It was brewed before Christmas. I think around the 22nd, but I would have to look at my notes. It was in primary for about three weeks then I moved it to the secondary and added the fruit. So it probably has been in there for 6 weeks. I'm thinking it might just be cloudy, I don't want to start adding a bunch of things to it. If more time in secondary will help I'm willing to try that. Maybe re racking into another clean firmenter would help? Or am I better off just bottling it and hoping it clears up in the bottle?

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Just bottle and lager for a while in the bottles. It will clear some with time.

 

[SKMO]

Wheat beer is SUPPOSED to be cloudy. Put in a pac of gelatin and cold crash it for 5 days or so, and that will help, but the haze is a wheat beer characteristic.

 

[edb23]

I wouldn't add anything to it. At six weeks, I'd just bottle and let it condition for a month and see how it is.

 

[nordoe]

Plus one, wheat beers are supposed to be cloudy. One of the only styles that is. In a competition, you will lose points if it is not cloudy.

 

[billf2112]

Good advice, I am about to bottle a Blueberry wheat and it is slightly cloudy. Was worried but now I see all is good. will bottle on Wednesday and in 3 weeks I will take my first sample.

BTW I used 1 gallon of juice added to a 5 gallon batch, it has a very slight blueberry taste. Thoughts about adding more juice a day before bottling? It was suggested to me by another brewer.

 

[edb23]

If you want more of a blueberry kick go for it, personally I like any beer with a fruit flavor to have just a hint of it, not a lot up front. But it's your beer so if you're looking for more blueberry you could just add some juice to the bottling bucket and see how that works out.

 

[RM-MN]

If you want more of a blueberry kick go for it, personally I like any beer with a fruit flavor to have just a hint of it, not a lot up front. But it's your beer so if you're looking for more blueberry you could just add some juice to the bottling bucket and see how that works out.

NOPE, you add the juice a few days before going to the bottling bucket as the juice has sugars in it that need to be fermented, unless you are going to calculate just how much sugar it has and let that be the carbonation sugar. Just adding the juice and priming sugar would lead to overcarbonation and probably bottle bombs.

 

[edb23]

I've added juice straight to the bottling bucket right before bottling along with priming sugar and had no problems with overcarbing or bottle bombs. A pint or two of blueberry juice isn't going to have enough sugar in it to cause something that drastic.

 

[iron_city_ap]

+1 to the cloudy. As long as you don't have a bunch of sediment, you'll be right on par. You could cold crash the beer to try and knock the gunk out of it, but you really don't want a clear wheat. Not that a clear wheat is bad, but its like having a yellow porter (not that its possible). As long as it tastes good in the end, the rest is fairly trivial.

 

[downhill_biker]

If I still desire a clearer beer and want to filter it, how can I so this? What filtration method is effective?

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[LakewoodBrew]

There are several methods, but all basically rely on being able to force the beer through a filter, either with a pump or using CO2 pressure. There are a few filter media choices, Diatomacious earth is a good choice for high volume, but not as pratical at the home brew level. Plate filters are a good choice if you can come by one for a reasonable price, but my pick is a whole hou water filter using only a pleated fiber element. Nothing uber fine, and no activated carbon or other chemical adsorbants. Otherwise you can strip out the good stuff.