Improving Clarity

blawford · Feb 15, 2017

Something interesting I read yesterday on the subject of trub transfer from kettle to fermenter and it's effect on clarity and taste.

http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

Conclusion with regard to clarity seemed that more trub in the fermenter somehow equated to a clearer beer.

Covrich · Feb 15, 2017

As well as kettle finingings chilling can affect it aswell with the proteins coagulating .. they also drop out the FV if not left if the kettle.

dan125 · Feb 15, 2017

Covrich said:
Do you use a clarifying agent?? like whirfloc or irish Moss like BeadySi uses?

I just use Irish moss.
Here's an IPA that's been in the bottle exactly 3 weeks (last week in fridge) - a bit young maybe I know, but it tastes good now and from experience I wouldn't expect in to clear further in the next few weeks at least.
I'd expect a bit of haze with the big hop charge but it would be good to be able to see through it a bit:-

I've drawn a black cross with a sharpie on the paper behind the glass here

There is a light bulb behind the glass here

Does anyone think I might have any problems if I cold crash for a few days before racking into 2ndry and bringing back in the warm for a week before kegging & chilling again?

dan125 · Mar 7, 2017

As a quick update to this thread - first chance for a brew day today since the last post & I used BrewBrite for the 1st time. Must say first signs are very good, the wort looked much clearer than usual with better trub clumping. I'll post some pics when its in a clear vessel in a couple of weeks.
: cheers:

Hoddy · Mar 7, 2017

Me and @dan125 have been exchanging beers and deliberating over this for a number of months.

And oh by the way. Idlers corner is a other cracker from the Dan brew house.

I do think that there is some definite haze coming from the hops in the late charges and dry hopping. A pilsner for example will be able to be allot clearer because of the much lower hop content.

Whereas one of our "super charged IPA's" is so weighed down with hops I'm surprised even a light bulb shines through [emoji6]

Should you be worried (in my eyes) simple - no.

Is it something you want to understand why - Yes

Do I want to fully understand it too - Yes

Will the beer I've sent be the same - most likely

Did cold crashing work for me to a point - yes

I want to hear how you get on with Brewbrite and I might have some beers that I have fermenting at the moment that might put some findings into the thoughts on this [emoji1303]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Simonh82 · Mar 8, 2017

There was a recent beersmith podcast on haze which I found really intersting. The take away messages that I got from it are that the temperature of the cost crash really matters. One day at -1ÃÂ°C is better than a month at +3ÃÂ°C. Also if you use a lot of dry hops then some haze from the polyphenols is to be expected.

With my latest beer I got the temp down to 0.5ÃÂ°C for a day or so which was the coldest I could get with my brew fridge (previously I had only gone to about 4ÃÂ°C for much longer) This has already made a big difference to the clarity of the beer.

It is a really interesting listen and I recommend it to anyone.

dan125 · Mar 8, 2017

Hoddy said:
Me and @dan125 have been exchanging beers and deliberating over this for a number of months.

And oh by the way. Idlers corner is a other cracker from the Dan brew house.

I do think that there is some definite haze coming from the hops in the late charges and dry hopping. A pilsner for example will be able to be allot clearer because of the much lower hop content.

Whereas one of our "super charged IPA's" is so weighed down with hops I'm surprised even a light bulb shines through [emoji6]

Should you be worried (in my eyes) simple - no.

Is it something you want to understand why - Yes

Do I want to fully understand it too - Yes

Will the beer I've sent be the same - most likely

Did cold crashing work for me to a point - yes

I want to hear how you get on with Brewbrite and I might have some beers that I have fermenting at the moment that might put some findings into the thoughts on this [emoji1303]

Thanks Hoddy - and that's just it, its not a big deal but I'd like to be able to understand and control the clarity better.
I ummed & arred about different finings and opted to give the brewbrite a bash as its really easy to use (just chuck a few grams into the boil at 10mins), and I don't really want to use isinglass or gelatine.

This brew is a low ABV (4%) quaffing ale with just a 60g dry hop planned, so I'm hoping after a good cold crash it will be pretty clear

dan125 · Mar 8, 2017

Simonh82 said:
There was a recent beersmith podcast on haze which I found really intersting. The take away messages that I got from it are that the temperature of the cost crash really matters. One day at -1ÃÂ°C is better than a month at +3ÃÂ°C. Also if you use a lot of dry hops then some haze from the polyphenols is to be expected.

With my latest beer I got the temp down to 0.5ÃÂ°C for a day or so which was the coldest I could get with my brew fridge (previously I had only gone to about 4ÃÂ°C for much longer) This has already made a big difference to the clarity of the beer.

It is a really interesting listen and I recommend it to anyone.

Thanks, I've seen the podcast - love the Charlie Bamforth ones.
I tried cold crashing the FV in the brew fridge on the last brew after watching this as I didn't need to get another brew in - I wanted to see if it would go low enough and the reading on the STC went down to 0.0C OK (think it might read a touch low) so I might try going a touch lower on this brew.
I think on the podcast he said that when the beer warms up some of the haze forming bits go back into solution so I'm gonna try and rack it off when still cold.

dan125 · Mar 8, 2017

This is the 1st bottle just opened of a recent brew (3 weeks in bottle inc last week in fridge) & allowed to warm a bit before opening.
This one had a 90g dry hop and I can just about see my fingers through it when held up to the light:-

dan125 · Mar 20, 2017

Hoddy said:
I want to hear how you get on with Brewbrite

I racked this brew into 2ndry last night. and a sample can be seen below - don't think the pictures do it justice as the beer was still stone cold, but its defo clearer than usual at this stage, will be interesting to see how the dry hopping affects it

Bigcol49 · Mar 20, 2017

Hi!
It looks like heavily-hopped beers and crystal-clear beers are mutually exclusive.

dan125 · Apr 3, 2017

Hoddy said:
I want to hear how you get on with Brewbrite

Here's the end product after 10 days in a corny - not crystal clear but allowing for a bit of condensation, a decent improvement on usual.
It'll be interesting to see how it performs with a more substantial than 60g dry hop

johnnyboy1965 · Apr 3, 2017

With HB you will always get a chill haze. Its the suspended proteins in the beer. Unless you can whirlpool your brew and remove the proteins, you will always get a haze. Its not cloudy, and does n`t affect the taste, it just doesnt look "perfect".

dan125 · Apr 3, 2017

johnnyboy1965 said:
With HB you will always get a chill haze. Its the suspended proteins in the beer. Unless you can whirlpool your brew and remove the proteins, you will always get a haze. Its not cloudy, and does n`t affect the taste, it just doesnt look "perfect".

Yeah I don't mind a bit of haze and am quite happy with the beer in the pic, but brews were getting decidedly cloudy before.

johnnyboy1965 · Apr 3, 2017

dan125 said:
Yeah I don't mind a bit of haze and am quite happy with the beer in the pic, but brews were getting decidedly cloudy before.

Is your beer "bright" before you kegged it?
What temp are you serving it at?

Im lucky that I can serve my HB at any temp

Ive found that :-

12 oC-10oC.......Crystal clear
10oC - 8oC....Slightly hazy
Below 8oC ...hazy

Im also a firm believer that if you drink beer/ale below 10oC its too cold and it doesnt bring out the flavours of the malts and hops

Brett74 · Apr 4, 2017

One of the best ways to remove chill haze, is to use a bit of gelatin, lightly stir it in before you cold crash, then you need to cold crash quite hard, get it down to 0 or even -1, this really gets the proteins to coagulate out of solution and the gelatin can grab them and do it's thing, whirlpooling just helps to bring the kettle trub and hops **** into a nice cone before you start tranfering from your kettle so it doesn't block your filter, the proteins that cause chill haze are still in solution at this stage, and will remain there until the beer is a lot colder, hence the name "Chill" haze. This is what I do and I get clear beer at 6-8 degrees which is where I like my Ales.

dan125 · Apr 4, 2017

johnnyboy1965 said:
Is your beer "bright" before you kegged it?
What temp are you serving it at?

Im lucky that I can serve my HB at any temp

Ive found that :-

12 oC-10oC.......Crystal clear
10oC - 8oC....Slightly hazy
Below 8oC ...hazy

Im also a firm believer that if you drink beer/ale below 10oC its too cold and it doesnt bring out the flavours of the malts and hops

To fit in with the brew schedule I had to cold crash before dry hopping - & it was a bit clearer then - the stone cold but pre dry hop beer can be seen in post #30.

The pint above was straight out of the kegerator at 8C.
I might try increasing it a degree or 2 to see if it has any impact.

dan125 · Apr 4, 2017

Brett74 said:
One of the best ways to remove chill haze, is to use a bit of gelatin.

Yeah I've read/watched lots about this and the results look good, but I'd prefer to avoid it if I can - I'm not worried about the beer being crystal clear, but want to be able to see through it.

I might try dry hopping earlier than usual in the FV (rather than in 2ndry) so I can cold crash after dry hopping next time

johnnyboy1965 · Apr 4, 2017

dan125 said:
To fit in with the brew schedule I had to cold crash before dry hopping - & it was a bit clearer then - the stone cold but pre dry hop beer can be seen in post #30.

The pint above was straight out of the kegerator at 8C.
I might try increasing it a degree or 2 to see if it has any impact.

Pour a glass and let it warm up. If it is chill haze it will dissapear as it warms.

Improving Clarity

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