136 replies to this topic

[neddles]

This is the one. 6+ ounces of hops total.

 

Did it see gelatin?

[Big Nake]

Did it see gelatin?

Yes. Whirfloc in the boil with 7 minutes left. BTB in the mash, sparge and boil, a 2oz dry-hop in the primary and then rack to keg, chill, gel and carb. This is close to the end of the keg but honestly... this beer was clear very soon after the keg went on tap. They're always mildly hazy at first but never CLOUDY unless there are other issues. And again... the hop character was righteous and not even remotely scrubbed-out... at least IMO.

[neddles]

Another thing that is unique about the haze I have been getting since using BTB is that it does not go away with warming the beer. IOW it doesn't behave like a chill haze.

[Big Nake]

Another thing that is unique about the haze I have been getting since using BTB is that it does not go away with warming the beer. IOW it doesn't behave like a chill haze.

That's very strange. If I ever have a beer that is acting slightly hazy, it's only when the beer is cold. Once the beer warms a little, the clarity is good and I might only see that when a keg was just put on tap. I've been thinking about my crush lately too and how it might impact clarity. I have been letting my conditioned malt sit for about 20 minutes the last few batches and running it through my mill twice. I doubt the additional flour/dust will create too much haze but I'm watching it.

Otherwise, I can't see why you would have this issue with BTB unless it's reacting to something in your water or something. Have you made a few batches without it just to see if the clarity improves?

[neddles]

That's very strange. If I ever have a beer that is acting slightly hazy, it's only when the beer is cold. Once the beer warms a little, the clarity is good and I might only see that when a keg was just put on tap. I've been thinking about my crush lately too and how it might impact clarity. I have been letting my conditioned malt sit for about 20 minutes the last few batches and running it through my mill twice. I doubt the additional flour/dust will create too much haze but I'm watching it.

Otherwise, I can't see why you would have this issue with BTB unless it's reacting to something in your water or something. Have you made a few batches without it just to see if the clarity improves?

 

My next beer will forego the BTB in the kettle but keep it in the mash. I will report back. Again reading other places around the web there have been quite a few people getting rid of BTB in the mash because it was creating haze problems. Hopefully that will take care of it because it would be a simple fix for a problem I did not used to have.

 

As far as my water goes, my water is RO and built up with minerals I add. The water behaves predictably in terms of pH, which I measure on every batch.

[HVB]

My next beer will forego the BTB in the kettle but keep it in the mash. I will report back. Again reading other places around the web there have been quite a few people getting rid of BTB in the mash because it was creating haze problems. Hopefully that will take care of it because it would be a simple fix for a problem I did not used to have.

 

As far as my water goes, my water is RO and built up with minerals I add. The water behaves predictably in terms of pH, which I measure on every batch.

Do you plan to keep the mash amount the same.  Also, you BIAB correct?  Not that it is important to this conversation but just trying to remember how members in this thread brew.

You were having a similar problem at one point were you not?

I did on one Golden Lager, that b@stard took a long time to get reasonably clear even with BF.  Thinking back to some beers, they are clear but maybe not AS clear as they were in the past.  You got me thinking.

[pkrone]

Since my spunded beers take a little longer to clear, I'm considering trying something like this.

http://www.clearbeerdraughtsystem.com/

[neddles]

My next beer will forego the BTB in the kettle but keep it in the mash. I will report back. Again reading other places around the web there have been quite a few people getting rid of BTB in the mash kettle because it was creating haze problems. Hopefully that will take care of it because it would be a simple fix for a problem I did not used to have.

 

As far as my water goes, my water is RO and built up with minerals I add. The water behaves predictably in terms of pH, which I measure on every batch.

Dammit! Typed this wrong. Fixed.

 

Do you plan to keep the mash amount the same.  Also, you BIAB correct?  Not that it is important to this conversation but just trying to remember how members in this thread brew.

I did on one Golden Lager, that b@stard took a long time to get reasonably clear even with BF.  Thinking back to some beers, they are clear but maybe not AS clear as they were in the past.  You got me thinking.

Yes, BIAB. Yes, mash the same length.

 

My memory told me your issues were bigger than this which is why I mentioned it. My mistake.

 

Since my spunded beers take a little longer to clear, I'm considering trying something like this.

http://www.clearbeerdraughtsystem.com/

 

Yeah I have been looking at that for a while. Seems an elegant solution to several problems/annoyances. Are you aware of any problems people have had with that system? Seems like you would want to replace the flexible tubing not too infrequently.

[HVB]

Since my spunded beers take a little longer to clear, I'm considering trying something like this.

http://www.clearbeerdraughtsystem.com/

Several people on my NEIPA brewing group have these and like them.  I made fun of them at first but I can see them having some advantages now.  Of course I will need to think of a DIY way to make one

[Big Nake]

Since my spunded beers take a little longer to clear, I'm considering trying something like this.
http://www.clearbeerdraughtsystem.com/

I have seen this and I feel like it's been around awhile. The idea of the device floating and grabbing clearer beer off the top of the column seems good but I would need 8 of these things and to be honest... this is not a problem that I have. I feel like there are many times where I am lost on various brewing topics and everyone else seems to have it all figured out but this is not one of those areas. I don't know what I'm doing to get decent clarity but it's good enough where I'm not considering it an issue. Maybe I'm just not drinking my beer as "young" as others and my kegs are sitting in the on-deck fridge for long enough for the beer to be clearer by the time it hits the draft fridge. I'm also scratching my head about how BTB seems to be helping me but causing issues elsewhere.

[neddles]

I have seen this and I feel like it's been around awhile. The idea of the device floating and grabbing clearer beer off the top of the column seems good but I would need 8 of these things and to be honest... this is not a problem that I have. I feel like there are many times where I am lost on various brewing topics and everyone else seems to have it all figured out but this is not one of those areas. I don't know what I'm doing to get decent clarity but it's good enough where I'm not considering it an issue. Maybe I'm just not drinking my beer as "young" as others and my kegs are sitting in the on-deck fridge for long enough for the beer to be clearer by the time it hits the draft fridge. I'm also scratching my head about how BTB seems to be helping me but causing issues elsewhere.

 

BTB has produced brilliantly clear beers for me but they have all been low hopped lagers and ales. Including the Helles below that did not even see any post fermentation finings. It's not until I add a good amount of hops late in the kettle or whirlpool that I get beer thats hard to clear.

[HVB]

 

If you don't want to boil/chill your strike water to deoxygenate it, you can let yeast do it for you.  I add 10 gr each of baker's yeast and table sugar to 7.5 gallons of strike water.   In 2 hours the DO level is about zero.   I do this on all of my 10 gallon batches because of the time/energy it takes to boil/chill 15 gallons of water.   Works great.   Just a little more lag time.

 

pete

 

I question on this.  Where do the values of sugar and yeast come from?  Is there a formula?

[denny]

Let us know what you find, if you like the moss any better than whirlfloc. 

 

They're the same thing, except Whirlfloc has binders to make it a tab.

[Big Nake]

They're the same thing, except Whirlfloc has binders to make it a tab.

I feel like the WF always worked better. Maybe it's because I use a full tablet (which is meant for 10 gallons apparently). At some point I had WF and Irish Moss in the house and I used some WF and I was all  and then I decided to use the rest of the Irish Moss that I had and the wort was still quite hazy compared to the WF.

[denny]

I feel like the WF always worked better. Maybe it's because I use a full tablet (which is meant for 10 gallons apparently). At some point I had WF and Irish Moss in the house and I used some WF and I was all  and then I decided to use the rest of the Irish Moss that I had and the wort was still quite hazy compared to the WF.

 

I've compared directly on a split batch of wort and found no difference.  I'm not saying you dodn't observe what you observed, but they are the same thing.

[pkrone]

I question on this.  Where do the values of sugar and yeast come from?  Is there a formula?

 

Here's some more info.

http://www.lowoxygen...enation-method/

[Big Nake]

I have read many threads today on low oxygen brewing and with out tasting the a beer and seeing what could be gained I am not sure I will go farther than BTB and trying the yeast for de-oxygenating the water.

I have a similar approach on this topic. On one hand, I don't want to address a problem that doesn't exist (or that I don't THINK exists) but on the other hand I'm always interested in improving my beers. I don't think I have ever thought, "My beers can't get any better" but I'll say this: I think I would rather drink my own beers than most any commercial beer and it wasn't always that way. I would hate to start down this path so I could improve my beers by "this much" (I'm holding my finger and thumb very close together ) when I'm not seeing any need for improvement.

[neddles]

They're the same thing, except Whirlfloc has binders to make it a tab.

 

Correct but the application is not always the same. Many have tried rehydrating Irish moss. Some report a difference and some do not. Others are now rehydrating it for longer periods of time and finding a difference. Not sure what pkrone is doing specifically but I am interested to know how it works for him.

Edited by neddles, 06 December 2017 - 10:30 AM.

[HVB]

Here's some more info.

http://www.lowoxygen...enation-method/

Thanks.

 

So from another thread it looks like 2x strike water = # of grams of both yeast and sugar.

[pkrone]

I have a similar approach on this topic. On one hand, I don't want to address a problem that doesn't exist (or that I don't THINK exists) but on the other hand I'm always interested in improving my beers. I don't think I have ever thought, "My beers can't get any better" but I'll say this: I think I would rather drink my own beers than most any commercial beer and it wasn't always that way. I would hate to start down this path so I could improve my beers by "this much" (I'm holding my finger and thumb very close together ) when I'm not seeing any need for improvement.

 

I hear you.   I prefer my beer to most commercial examples.   I did a side by side test between my weissbier and Paulaner this past summer, and everybody preferred mine.  (I think it was mostly that mine hadn't traveled across the Atlantic.)    But I also like trying new things to avoid getting in a rut and maybe getting sloppy.   I've been fixated on wort production for about a year now and it's time to fixate on my fermentation process.   Maybe try using sauergut or something like that...    Fun stuff.