How to clarify beer after dry hopping?

[zacster]

When I brew my lagers I always split the batch into 2 3 gallon carboys and split the yeast accordingly and the 2 fermenters are always pretty much the same. My latest batch called for dry hopping and rather than deal with 2 bags of hops I put it all on one side. I noticed immediately that the hops made it a bit cloudy and when I pulled them out I assumed that the residue would drop in the cold beer, but it hasn't. The other carboy without the hops is crystal clear. At this point I usually just combine them into the keg since they are actually the same brew. Is there anything I can do to clarify the one cloudy one short of running through a filter? What would make the hop residue drop out? I used a whirlfloc tab in the brew and that makes the hot break just drop, and everything else too, but this is cold.

Transferring to the keg involves siphoning. Would a filter work at that point or does that just introduce other problems, like oxidation? And what kind of filter? The bag obviously wasn't fine enough, would it require paper? Coffee filters? I just don't really want to do that. Would it clarify in the keg? It is already at cold temps, ~2.5C/37F. I'm going to try to drop the temp a bit more if my fridge can do it as soon as I'm done typing!

Any advice? It isn't the end of the world to have cloudy beer but I see how clear the one side is.

 

[hotbeer]

Hop haze is more prominent with dry hopped beers I think. I'm not doing any more NEIPA's or anything that needs dry hopping for a while as I prefer clear and clean looking beers. So you need to try and figure out what type of cloudiness it is. Might be yeast that never floc'd to the bottom.

If you are moving beer from the fermenter before enough yeast and stuff floc's out, that might be making a big enough trub layer in the bottom that sometimes sends a yeast raft to the surface and keeps things cloudy.

I'd avoid filtering as you can probably make better gains changing other things. Transfer included. I just stopped siphoning and went to using a fermenter with a spigot at the bottom and that was so much easier to get beer without picking up the bottom stuff. So now I'm looking a small conical. Unfortunately less than 3 gallon conicals are limited in variety.

But I'm just guessing as I don't keg. Maybe this'll bump your thread and get some other interested.

 

[Wayne1]

Silafine

 

[Rob2010SS]

Why not use gelatin? I gelatin fine our Mexican Lager after dry hopping every year and it seems to work. Make your gelatin mixture and inject it in through the gas post on the keg.

 

[zacster]

Hop haze is more prominent with dry hopped beers I think. I'm not doing any more NEIPA's or anything that needs dry hopping for a while as I prefer clear and clean looking beers. So you need to try and figure out what type of cloudiness it is. Might be yeast that never floc'd to the bottom.

If you are moving beer from the fermenter before enough yeast and stuff floc's out, that might be making a big enough trub layer in the bottom that sometimes sends a yeast raft to the surface and keeps things cloudy.

I'd avoid filtering as you can probably make better gains changing other things. Transfer included. I just stopped siphoning and went to using a fermenter with a spigot at the bottom and that was so much easier to get beer without picking up the bottom stuff. So now I'm looking a small conical. Unfortunately less than 3 gallon conicals are limited in variety.

But I'm just guessing as I don't keg. Maybe this'll bump your thread and get some other interested.

The yeast had flocc'ed out already in that batch, and its twin is crystal clear. This is what they look like, the one on the right had the hops. They both looked like the one on the left before. Having just looked at it it is a little less hazy, and you could see the top has clarified.
Maybe gelatin or Silafine will do the trick. I'd have to see if my LHBS even has the Silafine as I don't want to wait for shipment, I'm ready to keg. Gelatin I can get of course.

Edit: I found Biofine at the LHBS so I'll give that a try. It is Silicon dioxide product.

 

[hotbeer]

How long since the one on the right was dry hopped? Might have just gotten the yeast a little more active. You might can wait more time, or gelatin and/or cold crash. I just wait. But admittedly it been quite a few brews ago since I've dry hopped.

 

[zacster]

I tried the Biofine and it is clarifying.

I put the hops in on Tuesday of last week and took them out a week later on a Tuesday and today is Friday. They had already been cold crashed and are held at 2C. I even tried to lower the temp another degree but that's about as far as my fridge will go.

This is what they look like about 14 hours after the Biofine, almost there. I takes 1-2 days for it to work. The subtle difference you can see in the pic is pretty much how it looks IRL.

 

[zacster]

Having the same brew but one half dry-hopped and one half not makes for a good tasting experiment! I'll have to take a sample from each before I combine them back.

And another thing, that little one ounce of hop pellets in the package exploded into a mass that was hard to get out through the mouth.

 

[superiorsat]

I'm more shocked by the fact that these beers didn't blow out the top with that tiny of head space. I'm contemplating switching to Biofine Clear because gelatin is just a PITA. Is the Biofine just a dump and call it good or did you heat it up to make sure to kill any possible bugs?

Edit- Guess I missed that these were lagers.

 

[hotbeer]

Bottling or kegging?

 

[Rob2010SS]

I'm more shocked by the fact that these beers didn't blow out the top with that tiny of head space. I'm contemplating switching to Biofine Clear because gelatin is just a PITA. Is the Biofine just a dump and call it good or did you heat it up to make sure to kill any possible bugs?

Edit- Guess I missed that these were lagers.

FWIW, I've tried Biofine and I'll stick with Gelatin. Biofine gives you a range to use and it took 3 additions for me totaling up to the highest amount they say to use for it to work, not even as good as gelatin.

Gelatin works like a charm for me and it's a "one and done" kind of thing. Plus the biofine is significantly more expensive. For me, Gelatin all the way!

 

[zacster]

The head space was definitely marginal but I kept an eye on them. The one on the left started going up the neck and I used it to take the first couple of samples to make a little room, and by then it was done anyway.

Kegging! I may add a bit of the Biofine to the keg too so that whatever I stir up during the transfer drops out. I'll then suck it up on the first pour. A keg and tank fit nicely in that little fridge.

Yea, the Biofine was expensive and I was going to look for a cheaper version. That little bottle cost $6 and won't last more than 2-3 sessions. I'll try gelatin too, but at the rate I make beer the cost won't matter much. Just 2-3 batches a year since only one little fridge for both keg and fermentation. It is just a hobby, not an obsession. While my wife and kids will drink my beer (kids are all in their 20s now) they have no problem drinking Stella or Sixpoint Crisp too. This batch is a Crisp clone and I'll see how it turns out.

 

[IslandLizard]

Kegging! I may add a bit of the Biofine to the keg too so that whatever I stir up during the transfer drops out. I'll then suck it up on the first pour. A keg and tank fit nicely in that little fridge.

How are you doing the transfer to the keg?

 

[Biggz1313]

FWIW, I've tried Biofine and I'll stick with Gelatin. Biofine gives you a range to use and it took 3 additions for me totaling up to the highest amount they say to use for it to work, not even as good as gelatin.

Gelatin works like a charm for me and it's a "one and done" kind of thing. Plus the biofine is significantly more expensive. For me, Gelatin all the way!

I used to be a strictly gelatin guy as well, but then I tried Silafine (@Wayne1 also mentioned it above ). This stuff is amazing. I used to do a gelatin rocket into the keg, but now as soon as I'm done pressure transferring to my keg, I release all pressure in keg via PRV, I then unscrew the PRV and pipette 5ml of silafine in through the PRV hole. I reattach the PRV, purge with CO2 a couple times then give it a good wobble shake for 30-60 seconds and then into the keezer it goes. Beer is crystal clear in 24-48 hours max. If your kegs don't have removable PRVs, you can always just unscrew the gas post and insert through there. I do it so quickly the amount of oxygen that could have possibly gotten into the keg has to be miniscule and all the hassle of setting up a gelatin or silafine rocket just isn't worth it anymore.

 

[zacster]

How are you doing the transfer to the keg?

Siphon. I've never investigated the other methods such as CO2 pressure to prevent oxidation. It hasn't been a problem. I'm careful not to splash and it always has come out OK. I just finished cleaning up from doing the transfer.

 

[IslandLizard]

Siphon. I've never investigated the other methods such as CO2 pressure to prevent oxidation. It hasn't been a problem. I'm careful not to splash and it always has come out OK. I just finished cleaning up from doing the transfer.

Perhaps next time try a closed transfer into a closed, (100% liquid, or fermentation gas) pre-purged keg.

 

[Brooothru]

I tried the Biofine and it is clarifying.

I put the hops in on Tuesday of last week and took them out a week later on a Tuesday and today is Friday. They had already been cold crashed and are held at 2C. I even tried to lower the temp another degree but that's about as far as my fridge will go.

This is what they look like about 14 hours after the Biofine, almost there. I takes 1-2 days for it to work. The subtle difference you can see in the pic is pretty much how it looks IRL.

View attachment 760720

Yep, Biofine does a very good job. It's also vegan, since that's a concern with some people. Gelatin is non-vegan, as are chitosan and Isinglass.

Dialing in the right amount of Biofine can be a challenge, and it takes a few days for it to work, even with chilled beer.