Cloudy still after three weeks

[Mumathomebrew]

My recent two batches of beer just refuse to clear and I don't know why.

One is a 'golden ale' and the other a 'cream of three crops'. I might not have quizzed this cloudy issue if they were newly tried recipes, but the second beer is identical to one I'd made previously that cleared beautifully and quickly.

The only difference I can think of is that as it's winter, my kitchen is colder than when I made this beer before. Could a lower fermentation temperature make a haze?

I started them on the 2nd of this month and just bottled them on the 28th so they've had ages.

Neither of them had Irish moss in but i'll use it next time.

 

[brewbama]

I recently ran into the same problem. It just took more time.

Given that we use raw, agricultural materials in this hobby of ours, we don’t to get to determine how they always react.Sometimes they react this way, sometimes they react that way. It could be a slight difference in the grain, the hops, the yeast... who knows. Could be a slight difference in process.

About the best at this point is cold temp and time. Sometimes it takes longer than others.

Did you dry hop?

 

[Redpappy]

Have you tried whirlfloc tablets? Personally I prefer the whirflock tablet over Irish moss. ( whirflock is made up of Irish moss, from what I understand). And as Brewbama suggest, time and cold will help with clearity.

personally, I don’t look at clearity the slight haze doesn’t effect taste, so.... and I brew for myself.

 

[Robert65]

Have you tried whirlfloc tablets? Personally I prefer the whirflock tablet over Irish moss. ( whirflock is made up of Irish moss, from what I understand). And as Brewbama suggest, time and cold will help with clearity.

personally, I don’t look at clearity the slight haze doesn’t effect taste, so.... and I brew for myself.

Irish moss is the raw material and contains lots of stuff in varying proportions, most of which isn't what we want. Whirlfloc (and there are other similar products) is refined from it and only contains the active ingredient in a consistent concentration. It's predictable and easy to use (just toss it in; Irish moss requires overnight rehydration.) I like it too, it gives much more reliable results. One thing to note, I've seen some incorrect instructions on the interwebs, probably carried over from Irish moss. Use Whirlfloc tablets no earlier than 5 minutes to flame out. Because it is refined, it will break down and be useless if it's boiled longer.

 

[Redpappy]

My oppoligise to OP, if 8m taking 9ver the thread. Don’t mean too..

Irish moss is the raw material and contains lots of stuff in varying proportions, most of which isn't what we want. Whirlfloc (and there are other similar products) is refined from it and only contains the active ingredient in a consistent concentration. It's predictable and easy to use (just toss it in; Irish moss requires overnight rehydration.) I like it too, it gives much more reliable results. One thing to note, I've seen some incorrect instructions on the interwebs, probably carried over from Irish moss. Use Whirlfloc tablets no earlier than 5 minutes to flame out. Because it is refined, it will break down and be useless if it's boiled longer.

I will agree about the timing on when to toss in the whirlfloc. I have had some receipes say 15, and some say 5.. there is a big difference between the two. I have never heard or read about rehydrating the Irish moss. That is very interesting. Now please put in consideration I have only been brewing for a 2 years so I am still learning. Do you know what the purpose of rehydrating the Irish moss is for? Especially for a 12 hour period ( my guesstimate for over night)..

 

[Jako]

My recent two batches of beer just refuse to clear and I don't know why.

One is a 'golden ale' and the other a 'cream of three crops'. I might not have quizzed this cloudy issue if they were newly tried recipes, but the second beer is identical to one I'd made previously that cleared beautifully and quickly.

The only difference I can think of is that as it's winter, my kitchen is colder than when I made this beer before. Could a lower fermentation temperature make a haze?

I started them on the 2nd of this month and just bottled them on the 28th so they've had ages.

Neither of them had Irish moss in but i'll use it next time.

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Just providing my experience. last time i had this happen to me the beer had an infection that wasn't very aggressive but it did cause me to dump 4 batches back to back. Have you tried to taste it yet?

 

[Robert65]

My oppoligise to OP, if 8m taking 9ver the thread. Don’t mean too..



I will agree about the timing on when to toss in the whirlfloc. I have had some receipes say 15, and some say 5.. there is a big difference between the two. I have never heard or read about rehydrating the Irish moss. That is very interesting. Now please put in consideration I have only been brewing for a 2 years so I am still learning. Do you know what the purpose of rehydrating the Irish moss is for? Especially for a 12 hour period ( my guesstimate for over night)..

The Irish moss is just dried up seaweed. It won't readily rehydrate and dissolve in the wort in a shorter time than it takes for heat to denature it unless it's rehydrated in cold water for a head start. (A couple hours might do, overnight is playing it safe and often what you see in old professional manuals.) Think of it like gelatin (and the carrageenan, the active ingredient we want, is akin to a gelatin.) That has to be hydrated, but is very heat sensitive and can be denatured easily. Once rehydrated, the Irish moss should be boiled 15 minutes, so I think that's where that number got stuck in our collective heads. Whirlfloc is a real improvement. It dissolves almost instantly, but then the clock is running on heat breaking it down.

 

[Mumathomebrew]

Thank you all. I dry hopped the golden ale but not the other. Both beers smelled and tasted fine. They do look like they're trying to clear in the bottle this morning so maybe just being off the trub is a good thing. The golden ale was using jarrylo bittering hops with some citra + amarillo aroma pellet hops, and they smell wonderfully citrussy all together.

I know cloudy beer is ok but it's not so satisfying somehow.

I shall try and obtain some whirlfloc tablets and I've seen protofloc tablets too. I presume they're the same thing.

 

[mattdee1]

I don't use gelatin or any kind of cold-side fining, so in my experience, the only "sure" way of getting crystal clear beer is to keep it in the fridge/keeze/whatever, undisturbed, for as long as it takes.

 

[bucketnative]

By the way, for best results with hops, you need to use a package that will block the blue-UV spectrum of light. Brown bottles are your best option. Especially when using the wonderful hops you have chosen.

 

[kh54s10]

My Super Moss says to rehydrate in 4 ounces of cooled wort and add to the boil for the last 10 minutes. I have just put it in dry. Some get crystal clear some don't. Plain Irish Moss the same. I have forgotten to use it - same results. Some get crystal clear others do not. I haven't been able to taste any difference between a clear beer and a cloudy one. So for me it is not something to get concerned about.

 

[Mumathomebrew]

By the way, for best results with hops, you need to use a package that will block the blue-UV spectrum of light. Brown bottles are your best option. Especially when using the wonderful hops you have chosen.

I keep these beers in a box under the stairs with a cloth over them. My hubby likes Fursty Ferrets best and they have extremely easily removable labels so I have a constant supply of the left over clear bottles until I learn to make a beer he prefers. I'll order the jarrylo hops again. They smell wonderful.

 

[Jokester]

Does any of these have a taste profile ? I used gelatin one time and I really tasted it. Atleast I used it in a beer I already didn't like and made it into an unholy concoction but it worked OK to clear it.
I have of late been keeping the thing in the fridge till it sediments, then sitting the bottle in the freezer on a bag of peas for 20-30 mins and pouring it into another bottle leaving just the sediment frozen and stuck in the first bottle.
Cool.
Srinath.

 

[kh54s10]

Gelatin should not change the flavor of your beer at all. All that pouring will oxidize your beer. It won't have time to cause any harm if you are doing that right before drinking.

 

[Jokester]

The same beer when Cold crashed and freeze sedimented tasted different from gelatin sedimented. I doubt one was more oxidized than the other, but could be because I introduced the gelatin into the beer there by putting a foreign object and hence more Oxygen (obviously the other one didn't have as much for me to have tasted it).
That's my theory anyway. I'll try gelatin on my next maibock and let you know, cos its of late my throw away beer.

Cool.
Srinath.