Scottish Ale Clarity?

[means0451]

My scottish ale is very hazy. This is my first attempt at home brewing and I was wondering if this was "normal" for the style. It is a Northern Brewer Extract kit done at half volume boil and topped up with cold water. I added some dark belgian candi sugar (1#) cinnamon (1/2 tsp) and ginger (1/2 tsp) as well as a 1/2 cup of Golden Eagle Syrup (syrup made in Alabama from honey and corn syrup) If you have any ideas or advice please let me know. Also it has a recommended starting gravity of 1.047 I forgot to check to see what it was after adding the extra fermentables, and my gravity is stuck around 1.020 after transferring ot secondary. Is there anyone who might have an idea of what the final gravity should be or just a ballpark guess?

 

[noremorse1]

That syrup and candi sugar raised your OG quite a bit I am sure. Still, 1.020 is kinda high. The addition of 1 pound of the Belgian Candi sugar will raise it to about 1.057 and the 1/2 of syrup will probably bring it to roughly 1.060. At that, I would want my FG finishing close to 1.012.

What temperature did you ferment at? How long did it sit in the primary? What temperature is it at now? How long has it sat in the secondary? I assume you are using the Scottish Ale Yeast?

 

[means0451]

It sat in the primary for two weeks until all bubbles in the air lock stopped. I had shaken and tried to rouse the yeast due to the lack of activity. I had used a starter as well. I checked the gravity before I racked to the secondary and it stayed stable at 1.020 for three days. It fermented at 62-64 degrees. Fermentation started at a temp around 72. I used the Wyeast 1728 to ferment. It has been in the secondary for approximately 36 hours. There does seem to be a little bit of fermentation going again. However it is very little. Does this style of beer usually remain very hazy?

 

[means0451]

Also it is still at a temp of 64 degrees right now.

 

[noremorse1]

The haze should drop out when you bottle and chill your beer, its called Chill Haze. If you want to prevent it, read John Palmers How to Brew. Raise the temperature to 68 degrees and wait a few days, then post your Gravity.

What type of water are you using?

 

[means0451]

I used distilled water for the everything.

 

[Saccharomyces]

Nice. Used a starter and controlled your ferm temps. Doesn't leave me much to say.

According to Wyeast this strain is highly flocculant. Warm up the fermenter into the upper 60's or low 70's and swirl it every day for a few days and check the gravity. If it's still 1.020, it's done. That yeast has 69-73% apparent attenutation which should give you a FG around 1.018. It may be that your ingredients are simply high in unfermentable dextrines. Discuss with your brew supplier if you want to have a drier beer next time. When using extract I generally substitute some of the malt bill with corn sugar when I want to improve the attenuation.

After only two weeks you will still have some cloudiness from yeast. If you bottle condition, it will take 2-3 weeks in the fridge after carbonation before the beer will be completely clear. If it's still hazy then, you can probably improve your future batches by adding Whirlfloc tablets with 15 minutes left in the boil, and cooling your wort more quickly (such as by using an immersion chiller).

 

[means0451]

Well I put it in bottles yesterday. I ended up putting some gelatin in the brew a few days before bottling and it helped the clarity a lot, but it is still cloudy. The Final gravity ended up at 1.016. So it did ferment down just a little bit more.