30 replies to this topic

[Fatman]

Ever since I went all-grain a year or so ago, everything I make is cloudy. It all tastes pretty good, at least by my standards, but everything is cloudy. Even my first lager was cloudy. I use Whirlfloc, but still cloudy.Some guesses as to what it could be:My cheap nature - I drain the kettle down to where there's maybe a pint or two left. Do you all leave more in there?My whirlpool technique - I kinda stir while I'm draining, if there's not something else needing my attention - is there more to whirlpooling than that?Dry hopping - I just throw the hops in there, no bags or nothing.I'm not brewing for any competition, so it's not a big deal, but it does bug me a tiny bit. Any suggestions?

[DaBearSox]

The dry hopping could have something to do with it. Also are you using a 2ndary?I don't have a valve on my kettle so I just dump through a strainer into the primary but my beers seem to turn out pretty clear. I usually Primary for 1 week and 2ndary for 2. Cold crash sometimes and sometimes not....the big thing is time and not moving the fermenter mixing the trub back up. I just used gelatin as a fining for the first time in my last 2ndary. I made sure it was cold when I transferred to the 2ndary so that the chill haze proteins clung to the positively charged gelatin. I bottled it last night and man going into the bottles it was DAMN clear. Now i gotta wait a few weeks for them to carb up so i can put in the the fridge and see if the gelatin helped my chill haze problem.

[DaBearSox]

forgot to add...look a page or 2 back for a thread titled "Hazy Beer" that should help you as well

[Slainte]

Does the beer get cloudy when it's cold, and clears up as it warms up?Do you check to see if conversion is complete in the mash?Do you check and adjust for pH throughout the brewday?Hopping heavily can make beer cloudy as well...

[MoreAmmoPlz]

Any pics of the cloudiness?

[earthtone]

My cheap nature - I drain the kettle down to where there's maybe a pint or two left. Do you all leave more in there?Any suggestions?

this was what it was in my case. My beer tasted great but had a haze. I started formulating recipes for .5 gallons more than my final yield so the balance isn't effected (really it's like $2 of base malt...) but you can leave all the thick hazy protein behind. I use whirfloc, have tried long term cold storage and the biggest noticeable difference came from leaving behind the break material and hops at the bottom of the pot. Prior to auto-siphoning out the wort I was just dumping the pot through a screen so everything that made it through that SS screen got into the fermenter.As an experiment, on your next batch I highly suggest taking great pains to leave behind anything that isn't crystal clear siphoning out of your boil pot. If it's hazy going in, it stands to reason it can be hazy coming out the other end of the brewing process. If this doesn't work, then you know you have different issues but it's a good place to start and knock down one possibility! Clarity isn't my biggest concern but I don't like not knowing, so I tried this method to see if I would get a clearer beer. And I did. Now I don't look back, as much as it pains me to dump that cloudy, break-y wort down the drain.EDIT: I believe it was MtnBrewer that had mentioned the aforementioned tactic of brewing 5.5 gallon recipes to make 5 gallons and leave behind that thick half gallon. Good tip, thanks again!

[Fatman]

Does the beer get cloudy when it's cold, and clears up as it warms up?Do you check to see if conversion is complete in the mash?Do you check and adjust for pH throughout the brewday?Hopping heavily can make beer cloudy as well...

Nah, It's not chill haze, it's always cloudy.I batch sparge, do I have to worry about pH and/or conversion?I'm leaning toward the "leave more in the kettle" approach.....

[DaBearSox]

Nah, It's not chill haze, it's always cloudy.I batch sparge, do I have to worry about pH and/or conversion?I'm leaning toward the "leave more in the kettle" approach.....

that's really strange i basically dont leave anything in the kettle but i still get clear beers....i do use a secondary however and give it time to settle

[Slainte]

Nah, It's not chill haze, it's always cloudy.I batch sparge, do I have to worry about pH and/or conversion?I'm leaning toward the "leave more in the kettle" approach.....

You always need to worry about pH and conversion. Improper pH and an incomplete mash can cause problems.

[Big Nake]

I put a CLEAR BEER section on my site. Not sure if there's anything there that you don't do, but you can check it out. The link is in my sig and it's about 3/4ths of the way down on the General Brewing Info page. I try to get clear beer on every batch, if possible. There's also a gallery there with some pics. Cheers.

[Stuster]

My cheap nature - I drain the kettle down to where there's maybe a pint or two left. Do you all leave more in there?My whirlpool technique - I kinda stir while I'm draining, if there's not something else needing my attention - is there more to whirlpooling than that?

I vote for these two things as the issue. You can leave that half a gallon. It's what you need to do to improve your beer. For whirlpooling, give the beer a good stir, then leave it ten minutes, then drain. In that time the bits (hops, break) will settle in the middle and you can drain clear wort off from the side.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I vote for these two things as the issue. You can leave that half a gallon. It's what you need to do to improve your beer. For whirlpooling, give the beer a good stir, then leave it ten minutes, then drain. In that time the bits (hops, break) will settle in the middle and you can drain clear wort off from the side.

I pour everything through a paint strainer bag on it's way to the primary vessel. I don't think I could bring myself to leave a 1/2 gallon of beer behind. Whirlfloc and cold storage clear a beer up pretty well I've found.

[Malzig]

I vote for these two things as the issue. You can leave that half a gallon. It's what you need to do to improve your beer.

I was under the impression that that was an old-brewer's tale. I thought I remembered a study that showed that a beer fermented on the break was indistinguishable from the same beer separated from the break. No?Calcium is supposed to be another important factor for beer clarity. A good flocculant yeast helps, too. I find that any last bit of haze I have usually drops out during the first week of cold conditioning.If it isn't chill haze, though, I'd be concerned that it's starch and check for incomplete conversion.

[ChefLamont]

Starch test is a good and easy idea.Also how vigorous is your boil? If it is not vigorous enough, you may not be coagulating the hot break proteins enough to fall out fast.Similarly, how fast is your chill? ditto ..... cold break proteins

[orudis]

I've poured the whole kettle into a fermenter, break, hops, and all, and gotten clear beer at the end, so I don't think that's it. Are you recirculating enough before draining the mash tun?

[davelew]

I've poured the whole kettle into a fermenter, break, hops, and all, and gotten clear beer at the end, so I don't think that's it. Are you recirculating enough before draining the mash tun?

I've always believed that if it settles out in the boil kettle, it will settle out in the fermenter. I pour almost all of my break material into my fermenter, and I don't whirlpool. I typically get crystal clear beer.I believe the most likely causes for a new AG brewer to have hazy beer are:1. boil not vigorous enough2. cooling not quick enough3. not vorlaufing enoughSo, with those things in mind, what is your boiloff rate? How rapidly are you chilling the wort? How much mash runoff to you recirculate through the mash?

[earthtone]

I've poured the whole kettle into a fermenter, break, hops, and all, and gotten clear beer at the end, so I don't think that's it. Are you recirculating enough before draining the mash tun?

do you keg orudis? It seems like storing beer at serving temps in the keg would help clear it in a way that bottles stuck in a closet wouldn't get.OP are you bottling or kegging?

[SchwanzBrewer]

Mine went crystal clear after about 8 days in the fridge. I need a minifridge to house more beer.

[stellarbrew]

Sometimes certain yeast strains are stubborn about not wanting to flocculate fully, and must be coaxed by cold-crashing down to near freezing for a few days or weeks. This can also help to precipitate some other elements that can be responsible for haze.

Edited by stellarbrew, 12 May 2009 - 10:25 AM.

[CarlosM]

Ever since I went all-grain a year or so ago, everything I make is cloudy. It all tastes pretty good, at least by my standards, but everything is cloudy. Even my first lager was cloudy. I use Whirlfloc, but still cloudy.Some guesses as to what it could be:My cheap nature - I drain the kettle down to where there's maybe a pint or two left. Do you all leave more in there?My whirlpool technique - I kinda stir while I'm draining, if there's not something else needing my attention - is there more to whirlpooling than that?Dry hopping - I just throw the hops in there, no bags or nothing.I'm not brewing for any competition, so it's not a big deal, but it does bug me a tiny bit. Any suggestions?

is look into chill haze, maybe your boil isnt vigorous enough to get a really get the proteins to drop out. IF all else fails go agead and get some gelatin isinglass or poly clar and go nuts with brilliantly clear beer.