why my west coast ipa is cloudy?

[dushaopang]

Hello everyone, I'm a home brew lover from China. I've been starting home brewing for over a year now, but I've never made a West Coast IPA until last month, when I made a barrel. But after a month, I noticed that the beer is cloudy and I would like to ask you all why my West Coast IPA is cloudy. My batch volume is 17.6L, no added oats or wheat, yeast is US-05. I used a total of 40g citra, 57g El Dorado, 17.1g Idaho, on hopstand,temperature is 75C. Also, after the main fermentation, when the temperature was lowered to 14°C, dry hops: 40.8 g El Dorado, 12.3 g Idaho, 28.5 g citra for about three days.
Until now, it has been 40 days and this beer is still cloudy. I would like to ask you all what is the cause of the cloudiness? How can I avoid cloudiness by making a West Coast IPA? Thanks!

 

[Steveruch]

Could be from the dry hops.

 

[Sammy86]

Hello everyone, I'm a home brew lover from China. I've been starting home brewing for over a year now, but I've never made a West Coast IPA until last month, when I made a barrel. But after a month, I noticed that the beer is cloudy and I would like to ask you all why my West Coast IPA is cloudy. My batch volume is 17.6L, no added oats or wheat, yeast is US-05. I used a total of 40g citra, 57g El Dorado, 17.1g Idaho, on hopstand,temperature is 75C. Also, after the main fermentation, when the temperature was lowered to 14°C, dry hops: 40.8 g El Dorado, 12.3 g Idaho, 28.5 g citra for about three days.
Until now, it has been 40 days and this beer is still cloudy. I would like to ask you all what is the cause of the cloudiness? How can I avoid cloudiness by making a West Coast IPA? Thanks!

From a traditional standpoint your hop schedule is more hazy ipa then WCIPA.

IMO to get a WCIPA you need to hop during the boil...60,30,15,10,5 and then maybe some dry hop for 3-5 days.

I would also add whirlfloc or Irish moss to the boil with 15 minutes left snd then hit it with gelatin 48 hrs before packaging during the cold crash.

 

[Gilbert Spinning Horse]

I would also add whirlfloc or Irish moss to the boil with 15 minutes left snd then hit it with gelatin 48 hrs before packaging during the cold crash.

Did you do these things?
This will usually be sufficient to produce a clear beer.

 

[Sammy86]

Did you do these things?
This will usually be sufficient to produce a clear beer.

I do them for all my beers except for my American Wheat Beers which are meant to be hazy.

 

[hotbeer]

When you say barrel... a wooden barrel? I know they use to be common and people still use them, but I'd consider the possibility it's infected by wild yeasts.

Have you taken any hydrometer readings of it and if so are they lower than your expected FG? A really lower than expected FG, might mean the yeast are still chewing away at sugars not normally fermented. And when yeast are fermenting they can keep things stirred up and cloudy.

Also some yeast just take a long time to go to the bottom.

 

[Gilbert Spinning Horse]

I do them for all my beers except for my American Wheat Beers which are meant to be hazy.

Not you mate, I was asking the OP.

I was just highlighting what you said to save me typing the same thing.

 

[Sammy86]

Not you mate, I was asking the OP.

I was just highlighting what you said to save me typing the same thing.

My bad @Gilbert Spinning Horse!

 

[dushaopang]

从传统的角度来看，您的跳跃时间表比WCIPA更模糊。

IMO要获得WCIPA，您需要在煮沸期间跳...60，30，15，10，5，然后也许一些干啤酒花3-5天。

我还会在冷冻15分钟后将whirlfloc或爱尔兰苔藓加入煮沸，然后在冷崩期间用明胶打48小时，然后再包装。

Because the traditional West Coast IPA has too much citrus flavor, I wanted to change it up. I also considered adding hops at 60, 30, 15, 10, 5, etc., but I didn't want to go too high IBU, so I only added hops at hopstand and dry hops. I also add Irish moss in the last 15 minutes of the boil .
It took me 40 minutes to cool down to 75C after the boil and kept the circulation pump on, I don't know if this process is relevant.

So far I have made other beer that are clear, except this one.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

From a traditional standpoint your hop schedule is more hazy ipa then WCIPA.

IMO to get a WCIPA you need to hop during the boil...60,30,15,10,5 and then maybe some dry hop for 3-5 days.

I would also add whirlfloc or Irish moss to the boil with 15 minutes left snd then hit it with gelatin 48 hrs before packaging during the cold crash.

 

[dushaopang]

When you say barrel... a wooden barrel? I know they use to be common and people still use them, but I'd consider the possibility it's infected by wild yeasts.

Have you taken any hydrometer readings of it and if so are they lower than your expected FG? A really lower than expected FG, might mean the yeast are still chewing away at sugars not normally fermented. And when yeast are fermenting they can keep things stirred up and cloudy.

Also some yeast just take a long time to go to the bottom.

Maybe I'm wrong, I'm not very good at English. Not wooden barrel, but fermenter. I can be sure that it is not infected with wild yeasts.

 

[bwible]

I only added hops at hopstand and dry hops.

Thats more NEIPA hop schedule. West Coast uses boil hops.

“Also, after the main fermentation, when the temperature was lowered to 14°C, dry hops: 40.8 g El Dorado, 12.3 g Idaho, 28.5 g citra for about three days.”

Thats alot of dry hops for a 17L batch. For Americans like me, 17L is 4.5 gallons. Those dry hops in grams total about 3 oz US. Even if you had a West Coast IPA that much dry hop alone would create haze.

 

[superiorsat]

Because the traditional West Coast IPA has too much citrus flavor

Pine, dank, resinous, and maybe a touch of citrus if any at all is what I think of when I think WCIPA. I think the OP successfully made a Neipa that is still hazy at 40 days.

 

[hottpeper13]

For my westies I use RO water with 250 ppm CaSO4 and 100 ppm CaCl2 which give it a little over 100 ppm of Ca which I've found helps with clear beers when all the other procedures are followed.

 

[hopjuice_71]

IMHO, WCIPAs are characterized by a drier finish, lower yeast expression, and a bit more of the "classic" hop expression. Clarity is irrelevant. Late kettle hops and a heavy dry hop will often produce some haze.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Until now, it has been 40 days and this beer is still cloudy. I would like to ask you all what is the cause of the cloudiness? How can I avoid cloudiness by making a West Coast IPA? Thanks!

I am surprised that the beer has not dropped clear. I brew West Coast IPAs that do have about 10% wheat and more hops then you have listed, and they drop clear after a week or so in the keg. I don't do a whirlpool, but have a decent hop addition at flameout and in a dry hop addition. A buddy brewed an NEIPA with London Ale III, another yeast, and one of the Chico strains. The Chico batch dropped clear while the others kept their haze.

 

[dushaopang]

Thats more NEIPA hop schedule. West Coast uses boil hops.

“Also, after the main fermentation, when the temperature was lowered to 14°C, dry hops: 40.8 g El Dorado, 12.3 g Idaho, 28.5 g citra for about three days.”

Thats alot of dry hops for a 17L batch. For Americans like me, 17L is 4.5 gallons. Those dry hops in grams total about 3 oz US. Even if you had a West Coast IPA that much dry hop alone would create haze.

Thank you for your answer. Maybe next batch I'll change the type of hops, dosage and time of use.

 

[dushaopang]

I am surprised that the beer has not dropped clear. I brew West Coast IPAs that do have about 10% wheat and more hops then you have listed, and they drop clear after a week or so in the keg. I don't do a whirlpool, but have a decent hop addition at flameout and in a dry hop addition. A buddy brewed an NEIPA with London Ale III, another yeast, and one of the Chico strains. The Chico batch dropped clear while the others kept their haze.

I do not know the reason, but I think it should be related to hops

 

[dushaopang]

For my westies I use RO water with 250 ppm CaSO4 and 100 ppm CaCl2 which give it a little over 100 ppm of Ca which I've found helps with clear beers when all the other procedures are followed.

I may have to start looking into changing the water when brewing ipa

 

[hottpeper13]

I've noticed a trend in my pale beers that high calcium 100 ppm + and low pH 4.9-5.2 give me crystal clear beers when not dry hopped. I also read a paper that stated dry hopping during active fermentation,part of the bio transformation is polyfenals coating the yeast cells and preventing them from flocculating. When making westies one should dry hop after fermentation is done.

 

[Kickass]

IMHO, WCIPAs are characterized by a drier finish, lower yeast expression, and a bit more of the "classic" hop expression. Clarity is irrelevant. Late kettle hops and a heavy dry hop will often produce some haze.

100% agreed.

 

[dushaopang]

I've noticed a trend in my pale beers that high calcium 100 ppm + and low pH 4.9-5.2 give me crystal clear beers when not dry hopped. I also read a paper that stated dry hopping during active fermentation,part of the bio transformation is polyfenals coating the yeast cells and preventing them from flocculating. When making westies one should dry hop after fermentation is done.

Thank you for your answer. I dry hops when the fermentation is done and cooled down to 14 degrees C. Is it necessary to adjust water to brew west coast ipa?

 

[hottpeper13]

Absolutely adjust the water. There is a chart in the Water book starting on page 156 that has the ppm of salts and a description for most of the styles. I can't help with programs for this because I use my books,a pencil and the original back button for my calculations.

 

[dushaopang]

Absolutely adjust the water. There is a chart in the Water book starting on page 156 that has the ppm of salts and a description for most of the styles. I can't help with programs for this because I use my books,a pencil and the original back button for my calculations.

Thank you very much. I just happened to buy the book some days ago and I'll have to work on it. Next I'm going to adjust the water a bit.