Fermenting done but very cloudy

[jbb3]

Doing an partial extract Sweater IPA Clone. Took a reading Thurs and another today (Sun) with no change (FG 1.015) so I think it's done (16 days).

But it is very cloudy. You can't even see the hydrometer in the tube??

It has a back of the tongue bitterness but I think it that is just the 2oz of Simcoe in a 2 gal batch??

Why so cloudy? Do I have an infection? Should I forge ahead and bottle or???

 

[unionrdr]

Give it another week to make sure it's finished & clean up any by-products of fermentation. It'll also start settling out clear or slightly misty at this time. Patience young Jedi...

 

[seckert]

agreed...time will help it clear...also if you are able put it in a keezer or fridge to cold crash it for a couple days this will speed up the falling out of particles which cause your beer to be cloudy.

 

[Macdonald87]

+1 and +1 with the above folks....

On a side note looks very tasty
Cheers

 

[jbb3]

Thanks gentlemen. I put the fermenter back down in the basement til next weekend.

When cold crashing, is there any concern with it sucking any bad stuff back into the fermenter from dropping the temp? I'm using a Mr Beer fermeter so there is no air lock.

 

[seckert]

I am not familiar with how they are set up, but I know that when I make starters and put them in the fridge overnight to drop the yeast out I just have sanitized foil over the top and have never had an issue...

 

[stevehardt]

You should be able to cold crash in a Mr. Beer without worries

 

[jbb3]

Thought I would show the results of an additional 7 days in the fermenter (23 days total) including 3 days of cold crashing...

Woo Hoo! And the pre-carb/pre-cond taste is awesome... It tastes like a real IPA!

It doesn't have the hoppy aroma that i like but at least I figured out the importance of dry hopping (which i skipped).

Thanks guys for the advice! I'm totally jazzed!



It's in the bottles. Now for the really tough waiting...

 

[unionrdr]

Looks a lot better! That slight mistiness will settle out in the bottles in the first few days,usually. Mine always settle out crystal clear in that amount of time. And a one week dry hop would've been great.

 

[jonmohno]

It will clear up more. Mine don't always clear up completely. That said I made a pliny clone that use some of the most hops Ive used before and I was surprised how well it cleared up in the bottle. You may need to give them some fridge time a little longer if you don't like how they haven't cleared completely, but don't be upset if they are not 100% clear either, a lot of commercial beer Ive had isn't always clear either.

 

[unionrdr]

He said he didn't dry hop it,so no hop oils from dry hop to make it misty. Fridge time allows any chill haze to form & settle in a week's time,so that's what I got in the habit of doing. Gives better carbonation too.

 

[jonmohno]

The haze if it continues to stay hazy with time can be from certain malts used also as well as having to do with the cold/hot break. Worst case cinerio is a bacterial infection,not to get the OP paranoid though, its unlikely.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,I've had pilsner malts that were supposed to be well converted stay hazy,like a 90 minute mash & boil would've been better. But low to medium flocculation yeasts can do that same thing,like US-05.