• Welcome to the new forum! We upgraded our forum software with a host of new boards, capabilities and features. It is also more secure.
    Jump in and join the conversation! You can learn more about the upgrade and new features here.

Clarity Issues

MikeinRH

Grandmaster Brewer
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Messages
195
Reaction score
0
I'm reaching out for some guidance in seeing what I can do to bring better clarity to my beer. Fortunately, I don't have any problem with creating beer that tastes great. And wheat beers have conditioned a lot of us to recognize that beer doesn't have to be clear in order to taste good. Nevertheless, it is incredibly frustrating to me not to be able to produce a crystal clear product. My training in this area has been a teaspoon of Irish moss during the last 10 minutes of a 5-gallon boil ... followed by rapid cooling. I have recently been experimenting with Whirlfloc tablets and Super Irish Moss. I've also moved to a chill plate which allows me to rapidly cool a 5-10 gallon batch in less than 15 minutes. After fermentation, I sometimes dry hop ... but I seldom bottle my beer. I usually go from fermenter to keg and immediately add C02. I try to let the keg sit for a minimum of four weeks.

I've had my water tested and add recommended amounts of pH stabilizer and gypsum.

Personally, I think my main problem is lack of patience. If I didn't like to consume so much, I'd probably have more than enough time to let my gassed kegs sit for more than 4 weeks. I don't think there's anyone out there who hasn't noticed that beer becomes the most clear right about the time the keg runs out.


I've also tried the clear gelatin routine and came up with one of the best gummy bear IPA's the world has ever known!

I hope this issue strikes a common chord and (perhaps) stimulate one of you who have figured this issue out.
 
My beers were also not coming out as clear as I would like. I use a  plate chiller and add a Whirlfloc tablet 10 min before the end of boil. I usually ferment for 14 days and then go straight to the corny keg. The beer was never as clear as i wanted it to be until I used gelatine. General it is fairly clear after a few days and crystal clear after about 10 - 14 days.

I'm not sure why you had a 'gummy bear' beer. I use a teaspoon of gelatine/5gal corny, mix it with almost boiling water and add it to the keg after I've filled it, then give the keg a good shake and put it in the fridge under pressure. The last batch I used a whole sachet (approx 2 teaspoons) with not gummy problems. The use of gelatine worked for me...however, your millage may vary.

Dave
 
@MikeinRH
I recognize so much your frustration. Exactly the same here :(
I am very satisfied with the quality of my beers and the process control I have these days. However, there is one thing I would like to achieve: clear pils! For my friends and family not a problem at all, they all like my pils. However, for me it is a real challenge.
I tried so much, at least all the things you are describing, including cold breaks and long boiling times. The gelatin helped a bit, but not totally. I got a Therminator that I will use with the next batch. The (more) rapid cooling perhaps will help clearing the pils better.
I would like to avoid filtering since I expect loss of taste/aroma.

Regards,
Slurk
 
Thanks, Slurk.

Have you been kegging? I can always tell when my keg is about to run out because that's when my beer is the most clear! What that says to me is that (since beer is taken from the dip tube at the bottom of the keg), it only stands to reason that the last beer to exit the keg will have been in the keg the longest ... if you get my point. There's no way I have the patience to let a filled and gassed keg sit for a minimum of four weeks. I've also been experimenting with Super Irish Moss and gone back to Whirlfloc tablets. No difference. I'm going to try gelatin again, but this time I'm going to add it after I've racked it to the keg and gassed it. Have you tried Super irish Moss? It looks like sugar and the instructions say to use no more than 1/4 tsp for a 5-gallon batch. I've always had trouble understanding that "less is more". Ha. It's made by the same people who make StarSan. I'm going to give them a call to ask why they sell it in a container that would seem to last a lifetime. And I totally support the notion that filtering will reduce some of the flavor. I've filtered with a 5-micron filter with minimal improvement to clarity. You have to use at least a 1-micron filter ... and they aren't exactly reusable. Not to mention contamination risks for doing so.
 
Thanks, MikeinRH.
No, I have not been kegging. I bottle my beers :)
I get your point with patience and in my case I've been very patience (pils stored for 7-8 months at 8-9C still not clear).
The other argument for me not using a 1-micron filter is that I bottle my beer and need some yeast cells to ferment the sugar added.

I will ask the local beershop for Irish Moss Super. Perhaps I am ending up with the same large container and using it for the rest of my life ;)

Regards,
Slurk
 
Everything matters. Good grind. Complete conversion. Recirculate. Slow sparge at the right temperature. Vigorous boil with Irish moss. Minimize trub. Healthy yeast. Careful siphoning.

I get it all just right and make a clear beer once in a while, but mostly it just means the keg is about to die.
 
how to get clear(er) beer:

kegging: let beer sit in secondary for 10-14 days. for last 3 days 'crash' it by lowering temp to 37-46 (put it in a dedicated fridge) and then transfer to keg. the 3 days low temps make a ton of sediment fall out of suspension.

bottling: lager your bottles. let them sit in the fridge (36-40 degrees) for a minimum of 3 weeks. pour in a continuous pour into your glass. i accidentally did this when drinking one of my APAs i was saving for my brother but got too thirsty and cracked it open after a month in the fridge and was amazed at how clear it had become.

whirlfloc/irish moss help form a better cold break but i cheat. first, yes, i use whirlfloc. i also use an immersion chiller. but when i pour (yes pour, not rack) my wort into my primary i pour it into a double screen strainer to catch all the hops, grain debris, and proteins that have coagulated out. for IPAs sometimes i have to stop and dump the 'crud' into the trash before i can finish pouring my wort into the fermenter.
 
When I went to whole hops I saw a difference.  I attributed that to the hop leaves filtering break material.  That was 20 years ago.  Since then I've been growing my own hops & don't buy pellets.  The malts today are better than we used to get so from what I've seen from other brewers is you can make clear beer w/pellets.

Kegging helps too.  The schmutz goes to the bottom in 12 oz or 5 gal.  First few draws on a keg might be cloudy but then everything's great.  In bottles it's a matter of how well you can decant the clear beer from the sediment.

All grain is better than than syrup but the difference isn't like it was 20 years ago either.  Again I think it's filtering through the husks.

Most important RDWHAH.










(relax, don't worry, have a homebrew)
 
I wouldn't give up on gelatin just yet. Invest in a dip tube brush if you haven't already just in case it clogs. The gelatin should stay on on the bottom of the keg.



What yeast are you using? Try a higher flocculant yeast.


I think using whole hops through a strainer is the way to go. Gonna try that this year.


Settle the beer before fermenting. Transfer to a carboy, let sit at fermenting temperature for 12 hours and then transfer to fermenting carboy and add yeast leaving sediment behind.

Measure your mash PH. If the boil PH drops below 5, protein will not coagulate into hot break. You could target mash PH of 5.5-5.8 to see if that helps with clearing beer. Know your calcium level too, target a minimum of 50ppm.

I used one of those 2 part fish bone clarity products this past year. It's overnight results of dropping yeast are pretty amazing. Though they do cost $2 I think. But if time is more important than money.


Best thing I did was buy more kegs. I have 10. I have 3 batches ready to be tapped that are already clear by the time there is room in the fridge.


 
grathan said:
Settle the beer before fermenting. Transfer to a carboy, let sit at fermenting temperature for 12 hours and then transfer to fermenting carboy and add yeast leaving sediment behind.

I used one of those 2 part fish bone clarity products this past year. It's overnight results of dropping yeast are pretty amazing. Though they do cost $2 I think. But if time is more important than money.

Best thing I did was buy more kegs. I have 10. I have 3 batches ready to be tapped that are already clear by the time there is room in the fridge.

hmmm, sounds interesting. may try this on my next batch of APA.

never heard of this. more details? or a website? because i have not seen this in any of my 3 local HB stores (of course i could have missed ut because i get so distracted by the amazing hops selection!)

soooo jealous! i have to either a) get rid of the guest room (i.e. convert it to a beer room) or b) add a basement to the house or c) buy a larger house to have room to keg. house too close to street to add a garage :(
 
never heard of this. more details? or a website? because i have not seen this in any of my 3 local HB stores (of course i could have missed ut because i get so distracted by the amazing hops selection!)
[/quote]

I think what grathan is using is called "Isinglass" in English. It is made from fish: dried swim bladders and sometimes fins, which are soaked and dissolved in acid. The result is a cloudy, colorless, viscous liquid, which for the most part is made up of collagen. Collagen is a protein having a net positive charge and clumps together with the negative loaded yeast cells and drop out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krSs6OgwM2Y

Regards,
Slurk

 
Yeah isinglass. The one i used was two seperate additions called Super Kleer. Really wanna try the Biofine product in the near future as well.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-ingredients/salts-finings/clarifiers
 
The Biofine does a pretty good job on my APA. I'm going to try it on my upcoming Rye IPA as my last couple of IPAs were/are cloudy - VERY cloudy. Yummy, mind you; but cloudy. I want clearer IPAs!! I'll report back once I've tried my Biofine in the Rye IPA...
 
Whirlfloc tablets. I used one in a 10-gallon batch with 10 minutes left in the boil ... dry hopped in a secondary for 2 weeks ... and cold crashed three days. I just tapped the keg I racked and gassed this afternoon and have ended up with an IPA that looks like what you get when the keg is about to go dry. WooHoo!
 
Back
Top