Dirty, greyish color beer

[TheMan]

For some reason my latest beer took on a dirty greyish cloudy color. Does anyone know what would cause this? I use a homemade tun, with stainless steel braid. The beer has been kegged for over a week and the pint I pulled last night wasn't any clearer than the first one about 4 days ago.

It is a centennial/two row smash ale. Fermented for 3 weeks at 68 degrees. It tastes fantastic, but I can't help but wish it was clear like it should be.

Could it be I'm not getting good enough filtering of the grains? Too much grain particle in the wort? A friend that used my tun had the same issue with his beer the same color. Any ideas?

 

[TipsyDragon]

a picture would be nice. seeing as your friend had the same issue with the same mash tun i would say it has something to do with that. tell us more about the mash tun. also pictures of the mash tun wold be nice as well.

 

[TheMan]

I don't know what more to tell about the tun...it is a rectangular cooler, with a 12 inch long stainless steel braid, 1/2 inch thick. Copper ball valve. It loses maybe 1-2 degrees throughout the mash, very good at holding temps.

You know what also was similar in those two batches, the grain crush. Both were crushed with my friends grain mill. Perhaps the crush is off. I have another batch on order that will be crushed from BMW. My last few batches were too dark to tell if they had the same issue. Hopefully I brew the next one this weekend and I'll be able to know if the crush is the culprit. Am I possibly on the right track?

 

[TipsyDragon]

possibly. are you recirculating your mash and sparge water before draining it into your pot? this could result in a hazy beer. not sure if it would be gray.

 

[MattTheBrewer]

Yeah deffinatly recirculate the wort through the grains before the sparge, i will collect it in a pitcher and put it back in several times as much as 2 gallons before the actually sparge. This is to get the grains to set in place and become their own filter.

 

[TipsyDragon]

but did you do this for the mash as well?

 

[TheMan]

yes I do recirc both the mash and sparge. I usually do about 2-3 gallons recirculating till pretty clear and I see hardly an sediment in the pitcher when empty. One thing that might have an effect is how fast I do the runoff, no? I usually let it go full open, maybe I should let it go a bit more slowly?

And to clarify a little, it's just kind of got a greyish tint...it's not super grey. Just a greyish tint that makes it appear dirty.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[buzzkill]

call it a dirty ash tray ale.

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

I would rule out the crush. I brewed ed's haus pale ale and crushed with the same mill and setting as the O.P. ........... Beer is crystal clear. Used different tun though.

Did you recirc for initial runoff and each subsequent sparge round?

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

Nevermind you said already said that you did vorlauf for each sparge round. I didn't see your post 2 posts before mine.

 

[TheMan]

I found a picture of one that looks like mine:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f85/post-picture-your-pint-147768/index7.html

There is a pic of three beers from fermenter by Myke_J. Mine looks like the one on the left. Why would my beer look like that? Is it just that my beer isn't done clearing?

 

[HiGravShawn]

Looks like a hefe almost. Looks like it could be either yeast or protein in suspension so I would give it more time or even rack to a bright tank. Also, if it doesn't clear up try to cold crash it or use a late stage fining like this. Nothing there suggests that it will necessarily taste off though.

 

[TheMan]

The beer is already kegged, sitting in a 38 degree freezer for almost two weeks now. So any racking or fining is not possible. It does taste great. Just very dirty looking.

It was fermented with muntons dry ale yeast, so it shouldn't have much yeast in suspension. Perhaps protein. How would I have excess protein still in my beer?

 

[HiGravShawn]

Looking at your recipe I kinda doubt it. Maybe it took a long time to get from boiling to pitching temp? Could be chill haze.

 

[TheMan]

Yeah, two row and 1.5 oz. hops should be crystal clear! lol...

Oddly enough, this is my quickets chilling beer I've had. I left plenty of trub and break in the pot. I just don't get it. Maybe it is just chill haze. I have left it untouched since Sunday, I'll pull another pint on Friday night. Maybe it just needs lots of time. Otherwise I don't know and I'm stumped.

Even if it was excess grain flour from the mash I would think it should have all settled out by now.