Cloudy beer
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Clann
Well-Known Member
Are they clear before you chill them?
Do you pour all of the beer in the glass?
A little more info on your process would be helpful.
Do you pour all of the beer in the glass?
A little more info on your process would be helpful.
There are lots of reasons, but with good techniques you can make a homebrew that looks just as good as that you get commercially.
Good ingredients, flocculant strains of yeast, a good hard boil (to get a "hot break") and a very quick cool down (to get a good "cold break") along with some kettle finings can make a beer that looks like a commercial beer.
Here's an picture of one of my IPAs (and I do NOT filter or use gelatin or anything like that!):
Well I've kegged my first three brews.. So I syphon the beer straight from the fermenter into the kegs.. They taste ok, (I know they could taste better with some help) but they are really cloudy.. Should they be nice and clear?
Clann
Well-Known Member
Are they cloudy when you syphon into the keg?
Yes. Can you let us know about your technique on that one?
Start with the recipe, and tell us the details like how hard the boil was, how long it took to cool down, temperature it fermented, etc. Did you use any Irish moss? How clear was it going into the fermenter, and how clear was it when you kegged (and how old was it?).
I know it will seem like a long post typing that all out, but we can definitely help!
Not all beer is clear either,what did you make? I bought a growler of dryhop pale ale from a brewpub and it was like dirty dishwater murky,im thinking they just kept the hops in the keg,especially from the insane hop flavor it had and sorta chaulky grittyness.
Usually time seems to clear mine up well in moderate temps.Some people cold crash before they package, i dont because mine clear most the time and i would think it would take longer for them to carb up doing that anyway.
Usually time seems to clear mine up well in moderate temps.Some people cold crash before they package, i dont because mine clear most the time and i would think it would take longer for them to carb up doing that anyway.
As I'm new to homebrewing it was a fairly basic brew.. All I did was add the 1kg tin of Aussie blonde, the 500 grams of dextrose and 500 grams of liquid malt.. Then threw in boiling water and mixed it all up.. Then I topped it up to 22 liters and put the yeast on.. It fermented for about ten days at 20-24 degrees Celsius.. From there I syphoned 19 liters straight over into my keg.. I gassed it and refrigerated it straight away, leaving it for a couple of days before trying it..
Pretty much the same process for all of my brews so far and they've all been pretty much the same in cloudiness..
When kegging beer should I refrigerate it for a couple of days before gassing it? Would that make a difference?
Pretty much the same process for all of my brews so far and they've all been pretty much the same in cloudiness..
When kegging beer should I refrigerate it for a couple of days before gassing it? Would that make a difference?
Oh, you're not doing a boil kit? Just a canned "Kit & Kilo" type kit? Well, I guess we have the answer, maybe.
I'm not fond of those type of kits.
For better beer, you could try a beer kit that includes malt extract, hops, and requires a boil. Also, good quality yeast. Throw away any 5 gram packages of Muntons or Cooper's yeast as they are complete junk, and buy a good quality dry yeast. This is the technique many new brewers use to make beer like commercial beer: http://howtobrew.com/section2/chapter13-3.html
Are you getting a stable FG,then giving it maybe a week to clean up by products of fermentation,& settle out more? That's what I do. I also mix DME with LME cans in a 2.5G boil for no more than 30 minutes to do hop additions. Chill the hot kettle of wort in a heavy ice bath. Takes 20 minutes to gett down to pitch temp. It's good for getting a cold break that gives way less chill haze that settles out in the fridge faster.
So just make sure it gets all the time in primary to settle out clear,then prime & bottle. Let the bottles sit in covered boxes at room temps for 3-5 weeks. It'll take that long to condition properly. Mine are clear when they go into the fridge.
So just make sure it gets all the time in primary to settle out clear,then prime & bottle. Let the bottles sit in covered boxes at room temps for 3-5 weeks. It'll take that long to condition properly. Mine are clear when they go into the fridge.
No,but patience is key to brewing. You have to give it all the time it needs to ferment down to a stable FG,clean up & settle out more. Then plenty of time to carbonate & condition in the bottles,& at least 5 -6 days in the fridge to drive more co2 into solution for good carbonation & head.
unionrdr and I disagree on this subject! I have no use for those canned prehopped no-boil kits.
I just think you will not get great results with the canned kits. Some brewers consider them "good enough" and are happy with them. But they will never rival a commercial beer or a beer made with a kit with fresh hops, grains, fresh extract (not canned), and quality yeast.
I don't use them because I'm lazy or trying to be a prick just to prove a point. I've just developed a process to make them work a lot better than usual. But I also don't use "kits" as such. Just the cans,& I add my own other stuff to make them the style I want.
I just figured out how to get different styles than the kit cans are for. Been working with my recombinant extract theory since my second brew. It works well when you learn the rules of brewing with extracts. Not to mention,learning what they basically make,then leaping off from there.
I'd like to go back & finish tweaking my good ones one last time,& have certain folks on here get together to sample mine & there similar styles. That'd be great fun & a learning experience for all concerned.
I also don't think me & yooper are lock horns or anything. We just have different ideas that work for us. But we do agree on certain hop combinations & processes. That kind of thing. We're cool as far as I'm concerned. I do have strong opinions on what worked for me that others have a hard time believing or understanding. But that's what makes this HB thing a learning curve for all. So we try to help,& I'm good with that.
I just figured out how to get different styles than the kit cans are for. Been working with my recombinant extract theory since my second brew. It works well when you learn the rules of brewing with extracts. Not to mention,learning what they basically make,then leaping off from there.
I'd like to go back & finish tweaking my good ones one last time,& have certain folks on here get together to sample mine & there similar styles. That'd be great fun & a learning experience for all concerned.
I also don't think me & yooper are lock horns or anything. We just have different ideas that work for us. But we do agree on certain hop combinations & processes. That kind of thing. We're cool as far as I'm concerned. I do have strong opinions on what worked for me that others have a hard time believing or understanding. But that's what makes this HB thing a learning curve for all. So we try to help,& I'm good with that.
And one of my big beefs is that the kits (Coopers, notably) come with instructions that pretty much guarantee ease, but will NOT make good quality beer. That's wrong, in my opinon. Sure, unionrdr makes good beer. BUT, he admits he doesn't follow the directions, and doesn't use the kit as directed. To me, that's BS.
If you can buy a quality kit such as those sold by austinhomebrew.com or northernbrewer.com (and many others), you can follow the instructions and make excellent beer. I think that's how ALL kits should be.
I don't know where you are located, but if you're in the US, I'd go here: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178_452_43&osCsid=b86f8e01cee478506b6e8d8cb69b2d95 and pick one! I've made more than a few, and they all were awesome!
Too many kits,including the supposed "good ones" don't have directions worth using for TP to me. They all have accelerated time tables that make no sense at all. Yet another reason to come here to get real world answers. Not the corporate ones. I learned PDQ what works & what doesn't,so now I get pretty good ales. Now if I could afford some better temp control that doesn't entail water,frozen bottles,wet tee shirts & fans,they'd be even better.
Otherwise,I was just trying to be straight up with y'all. Oh yeah,& that means you too,yooper.
Otherwise,I was just trying to be straight up with y'all. Oh yeah,& that means you too,yooper.
Rooster5150
Member
Let is sit in the keg for awhile. Like 6 weeks mayber a bit longer. It will clear up.
70Cuda383
Well-Known Member
the first batch of beer I ever made, was a Mr Beer kit.
what a miserable failure THAT was!
I had not read any brewing books. I had not joined the website here yet. I knew nothing about making beer other than "it's easy, and you can do it at home"
so, I followed the directions to the letter.
but...the directions sucked!!
it said "boil 1 gallon of water. remove from heat, open can, pour in extract, stir."
"pour 1.5 gallons of cold water into fermenter barrel to avoid thermal shock to the plastic, then pour in your hot wort"
--no mention of boiling the wort after the extract was mixed..so I didn't do it.
then it said to stir the wort, toss the yeast, put the lid on and let it sit for 1 week. bottle it for a week, and it's ready to drink in 2 weeks.
--no mention that hot wort will kill yeast. no mention of how cold "cold" water was. so when I read "boil water, then add cold water" I figured room temp water was "cold" I pitched my yeast into 140-145 degree water.
after reading here about how 2 weeks is no way to make good beer, I let it sit in the fermenter for 4 weeks, but never saw any real signs of fermentation. no foamy krausen, and the dumb thing didn't use an airlock, so no way to watch for bubbling. I bottled and let it sit for another 3 weeks.
SOMETHING happened, because the bottles did carb up. but it tasted like crap. it started as a nice cidery flavor, kind of surprising when I was expecting beer, not cider. then it hit me across the face with the most pungent, bitter, make you wanna gag aftertaste that stuck on my tongue for hours.
THATS what following the directions to the letter got me.
I'm sure I could take the same kit today, and make something that's palatable, but that's because I've used other kits with MUCH clearer instructions that made a lot more sense.
do not believe those kits, you cannot make good beer in 2 weeks!
every brew I do now, sits on the yeast cake for 4 weeks. then I rack if I'm adding flavor, and let it sit for another 2 weeks, or I bottle right away. then I leave it in bottles for 3-4 weeks.
I get beer that's pretty dang clear mostly. --I say mostly because I've done a lot of porters and stouts that are darker in color.
I have a cider that's been aging in bottles now for 6 months after 2 months in primary fermentation. it's crystal clear, but still waiting and still aging.
what a miserable failure THAT was!
I had not read any brewing books. I had not joined the website here yet. I knew nothing about making beer other than "it's easy, and you can do it at home"
so, I followed the directions to the letter.
but...the directions sucked!!
it said "boil 1 gallon of water. remove from heat, open can, pour in extract, stir."
"pour 1.5 gallons of cold water into fermenter barrel to avoid thermal shock to the plastic, then pour in your hot wort"
--no mention of boiling the wort after the extract was mixed..so I didn't do it.
then it said to stir the wort, toss the yeast, put the lid on and let it sit for 1 week. bottle it for a week, and it's ready to drink in 2 weeks.
--no mention that hot wort will kill yeast. no mention of how cold "cold" water was. so when I read "boil water, then add cold water" I figured room temp water was "cold" I pitched my yeast into 140-145 degree water.
after reading here about how 2 weeks is no way to make good beer, I let it sit in the fermenter for 4 weeks, but never saw any real signs of fermentation. no foamy krausen, and the dumb thing didn't use an airlock, so no way to watch for bubbling. I bottled and let it sit for another 3 weeks.
SOMETHING happened, because the bottles did carb up. but it tasted like crap. it started as a nice cidery flavor, kind of surprising when I was expecting beer, not cider. then it hit me across the face with the most pungent, bitter, make you wanna gag aftertaste that stuck on my tongue for hours.
THATS what following the directions to the letter got me.
I'm sure I could take the same kit today, and make something that's palatable, but that's because I've used other kits with MUCH clearer instructions that made a lot more sense.
do not believe those kits, you cannot make good beer in 2 weeks!
every brew I do now, sits on the yeast cake for 4 weeks. then I rack if I'm adding flavor, and let it sit for another 2 weeks, or I bottle right away. then I leave it in bottles for 3-4 weeks.
I get beer that's pretty dang clear mostly. --I say mostly because I've done a lot of porters and stouts that are darker in color.
I have a cider that's been aging in bottles now for 6 months after 2 months in primary fermentation. it's crystal clear, but still waiting and still aging.
70Cuda383
Well-Known Member
in my opinion, if you ferment for 2 weeks, and then let it sit in a bottle for a few months...you didn't make good beer in 2 weeks. you made good beer in a few months plus 2 weeks.
my point was that you cannot ferment for a week, bottle condition for a week, and expect to get good beer, but if you believe the boxes on the home brew kits in the big box stores, then anyone can buy the kit, take it home, make commercial brewery quality beer that's ready for consumption in 2 weeks.
Gotcha,yeah that is misleading, they want to make you think you get good beer complete in 2 weeks,ok.More like 2 months-liars. I would like to try one of those just to see,but this doensnt earn any credibility from me to give them my money,much.
