I did my 1st all grain batch 2 1/2 weeks ago, and it is still super cloudy in the fermenter. Almost murky. The yeast is wyeast 1272 American II, which is supposed to be a good flocculator, and there is a nice yeast cake in the secondary, as there was in the primary. Might there be another cause of this that has nothing to do with yeast? Thanks for the help.
First all grain, REALLY cloudy
- Thread starter guldalian
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Well did you hit your numbers, more or less? I'm willing to bet it's probably still yeast, but if you didn't get full conversion OR you didn't get a good cold break (chilled your beer) and didn't use any kettle finings like irish moss or whirlfloc, you could have starch or protein haze.
There's a simple test you can use with iodine to determine during the mash if you've had full conversion (meaning no more starch in your beer) and to avoid other forms of haziness use a kettle fining and rapidliy chill your wort to pitching temperatures- look for a lot of trub dropping out.
There's a simple test you can use with iodine to determine during the mash if you've had full conversion (meaning no more starch in your beer) and to avoid other forms of haziness use a kettle fining and rapidliy chill your wort to pitching temperatures- look for a lot of trub dropping out.
guldalian
Well-Known Member
I did use Irish moss for a 15min boil. I did hit my volume and OG right on. (which I was really proud of!) There was a good amount of break material which settled out. I don't cool very fast cuz I just use and ice bath right now. Not sure about conversion, but if I hit target volume and OG, doesn't that mean the conversions must have happened like they were supposed to? Mash was 60 min @ 153. I'm just worried cuz it is significantly cloudier than any beer I've done so far. Plus I used my hard grown home grown hops in this batch and I want it to be amazing.
Well, if you did all that it's likely just the yeast are still at work. Perhaps they're still fermenting and that's why they haven't flocced out fully yet. I've never used 1272 so I can't comment on its performance.
Was the wort clear going INto the fermenter? If not, I'd look at two things- one, incomplete conversion of the mash; or two, inadequate hot break/cold break.
Did you get a really nice hot break, when the wort stopped trying to boil over, leaving the wort looking like egg drop soup? That's really important. A good cold break helps, too, but not as much as a good hot break. Conversion is important, so if you didn't do an iodine test it's hard to say if that could be it.
My wort is clear going into the fermenter, so it's clear after the yeast flocculates also.
Did you get a really nice hot break, when the wort stopped trying to boil over, leaving the wort looking like egg drop soup? That's really important. A good cold break helps, too, but not as much as a good hot break. Conversion is important, so if you didn't do an iodine test it's hard to say if that could be it.
My wort is clear going into the fermenter, so it's clear after the yeast flocculates also.
If it's @ FG try racking to secondary (optional) or cold crashing @ <50F.
Some of my extremely hopped brews don't clarify that well, especially the dry hopped ones.
Some of my extremely hopped brews don't clarify that well, especially the dry hopped ones.
guldalian
Well-Known Member
American IPA
5.25 gal
OG 1.064
FG 1.012
IBU 65
ABV 7%
Mash eff. 76%
Grains
11 lbs. American 2-row ( 85%)
1 lb. Victory (7.5%)
1 lb. Crystal 40 (7.5%)
Hops
Chinook 13.9% 1 oz. @ 60
Galena 13.4% 1 oz. @ 15
Cascade 5% 1 oz. @ 2
Cascade 5% 1.25 oz. dry hop
Wyeast 1272 American ale II - 1 qt. starter
Other
Irish moss @ 15 min
4 g CaCl in mash
Water treated with 1/2 Camden tab
Mashed @ 153 for 60 (mashed in my boil pot)
1.25 qt/lb. ( 4 gal)
Recirculated and Collected 1st runnings @ 1.072 via auto siphon
Batch sparged with 4gal
recirculated and Collected 6.25 gal of wort at 1.056 pre boil
Brought to boil, made hop additions and such
Cooled in ice bath down to 66
Aerated and pitched decanted starter
Primary ferm for 2 weeks at 70
Transfer to 2nd and dry hop for 1 week
Prime with corn sugar, bottle, and condition
Right now I am 3 days into that secondary ferm /dry hop. I did get what I feel was both a good hot and cold break. Lots of trub separation when it cooled. It was much clearer after the boil than before, but when racked to the secondary it was really cloudy again. I feel like it can't be the yeast bc it hit FG like 2 weeks ago and this yeast is supposed to be a good flocculator. (proven by my substantial yeast cakes both in the ferm and in my growler of harvested yeast). Although there was still some yeast chillin on top that i skimmed off when I racked to the secondary. Also my last 2 beers only had 12 days ferm total and were crystal clear, but they were extract/specialty recipes.
I just don't want the beer to look like mud. I'll try a 2 day cold crash for the last 2 days of the dry hop before I bottle and we will see what happens. I also of course don't want this to happen again. Will definitely look into conversion for the next batch.
5.25 gal
OG 1.064
FG 1.012
IBU 65
ABV 7%
Mash eff. 76%
Grains
11 lbs. American 2-row ( 85%)
1 lb. Victory (7.5%)
1 lb. Crystal 40 (7.5%)
Hops
Chinook 13.9% 1 oz. @ 60
Galena 13.4% 1 oz. @ 15
Cascade 5% 1 oz. @ 2
Cascade 5% 1.25 oz. dry hop
Wyeast 1272 American ale II - 1 qt. starter
Other
Irish moss @ 15 min
4 g CaCl in mash
Water treated with 1/2 Camden tab
Mashed @ 153 for 60 (mashed in my boil pot)
1.25 qt/lb. ( 4 gal)
Recirculated and Collected 1st runnings @ 1.072 via auto siphon
Batch sparged with 4gal
recirculated and Collected 6.25 gal of wort at 1.056 pre boil
Brought to boil, made hop additions and such
Cooled in ice bath down to 66
Aerated and pitched decanted starter
Primary ferm for 2 weeks at 70
Transfer to 2nd and dry hop for 1 week
Prime with corn sugar, bottle, and condition
Right now I am 3 days into that secondary ferm /dry hop. I did get what I feel was both a good hot and cold break. Lots of trub separation when it cooled. It was much clearer after the boil than before, but when racked to the secondary it was really cloudy again. I feel like it can't be the yeast bc it hit FG like 2 weeks ago and this yeast is supposed to be a good flocculator. (proven by my substantial yeast cakes both in the ferm and in my growler of harvested yeast). Although there was still some yeast chillin on top that i skimmed off when I racked to the secondary. Also my last 2 beers only had 12 days ferm total and were crystal clear, but they were extract/specialty recipes.
I just don't want the beer to look like mud. I'll try a 2 day cold crash for the last 2 days of the dry hop before I bottle and we will see what happens. I also of course don't want this to happen again. Will definitely look into conversion for the next batch.
The_Canmancan
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Let it sit in the secondary for a few weeks. I used to get cloudy beer, but I found that the longer I let it settle, the clearer it is. I usually let it sit for 3-4 weeks after fermentation is complete before kegging/bottling.
BBL_Brewer
Well-Known Member
My first all grain batch ened up super cloudy as well. And it wasn't yeast. 1272 drops out really well, so I don't think that's your problem either. As I dialed in my process and hit my numbers better the problem resolved itself. Like Yopper pointed out, it could be a few things causing it, but it's not yeast.
BBL_Brewer
Well-Known Member
No. Not specifically. I always just racked it up as inexperience. I didn't really take good notes my first few batches either. I wish I could be more helpful. I still have some chill haze problems from time to time, but that's usually during the summer when my chilling methods are less efficient. A little cold conditioning usually cures that up.
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