Clear Beer. The way forward..at least for me, anyway

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MyQul

Chairman of the Bored
Joined
Aug 7, 2013
Messages
17,878
Reaction score
7,119
Location
Royal Hamlet of Peckham. London.
I've always had a problem getting really clear beer. It's not a massive problem but I do think a clear beer in nice glassware makes for a really appetising looking beer.

Near the end of last year I made a wherry. I swapped out the yeast for MJ liberty bell and used my brew bag to ferment it cool at 17C. The brewbag is huge so needs to go on the kitchen floor. As I have a bad back and cant lift a full FV so I racked the beer after it had finshed fermenting to a couple of 10L FV's with the intention of packaging the next day. Being as lazy as I am I then couldnt be bothered to do it the following day so did it the following week. When it came to bottling I was suprised at how clear it was ad how much yeast was in the bottom of the secondary. Then when I came to drink it, it was crystal clear as if it had been filtered or something. I thought that perhaps because the wort had been proffesionally made by muntons this may have had something to do with it or was it because I used a flocculant yeast (MJ Liberty Bell seems to be very English in that its quite flocculant) and racked to a secondary and left it for a week before packaging

I thought I'd have a go again doing a similar thing but with my next AG beer to try to find out which one it was. So I used a flocculant yeast again (MJ CaliLager, as I was making a pseudo lager/steam type beer) and racked to a secondary and left it for a week. When I racked it to a secondary it was fairly clear but not crystal clear so things were looking hopeful.

I've just packaged the beer into growlers and some clear bottles and it's extremely c clear now, I think by the time it's carbed up and ready to drink it should be crystal clear. So it proved it wasn't the proffesionally produced wort. But the methods.

There are of course lots of different way to get your beer clear such as adding gelatine (I cant because I'm vegetarian) or other post kettle clearing agents like polyclar/ inisglass or cold crashing your beer (I dont have a brew fridge or really an outside space to CC during the winter) But this is a really easy and low tech way to do it and is definatley the way forward for me for pale ales from now on. :)

If any one else wants to try this out I also suggest making sure you use kettle finings too (irish moss/whirlfloc/protafloc which is what I use). For flocculant dried yeast, Nottingham/Gervin Ale/Wilko ale yeast or Mangrove Jack Californian Lager yeast if your after something more clean or Mangrove Jacks Libery Bell/Mangrove Jacks Empire Ale if you want a more English style yeast for Bitters etc
 
Well you said it - "flocculence". When the labs only describe three levels (high, medium, low) there is going to be lots of room for variation in each group.

This paper was interesting: http://www.whitelabs.com/sites/default/files/Flocculation_help.pdf

Fermentis seem to have updated all their spec sheets. I'm sure both S-04 and US-05 were in the same flocculation group, but I found S-04 much more flocculent than fluffy US-05 (Fermentis has got S-04 down as "+" now, just to confuse matters).
 
I've kind of seen this too. I used to never move to secondary because I mostly bottled so each bottle had time to settle. But after going to kegs, it's a lot harder to get it to settle. But when I racked to the secondary then kegged, it was a lot better.
So I've been thinking I should get a full size keg and use it like a brite tank. Let it carb up and settle out then jumper it over to the actual keg a few weeks later.
 
Well you said it - "flocculence". When the labs only describe three levels (high, medium, low) there is going to be lots of room for variation in each group.

This paper was interesting: http://www.whitelabs.com/sites/default/files/Flocculation_help.pdf

Fermentis seem to have updated all their spec sheets. I'm sure both S-04 and US-05 were in the same flocculation group, but I found S-04 much more flocculent than fluffy US-05 (Fermentis has got S-04 down as "+" now, just to confuse matters).

I'll have a read of that linky later. I haven't had used S-04 much (may be twice) as it's got such a bad rep and I cant remeber how flocculant it is so I didnt mention it in my OP. US-05's a nice yeast but the liquid versions are better, higher flocclance & dont give off peachy esters at low temps
 
I've kind of seen this too. I used to never move to secondary because I mostly bottled so each bottle had time to settle. But after going to kegs, it's a lot harder to get it to settle. But when I racked to the secondary then kegged, it was a lot better.
So I've been thinking I should get a full size keg and use it like a brite tank. Let it carb up and settle out then jumper it over to the actual keg a few weeks later.

I like bottles but they can be a pain if your not in the mood to spend time packaging. I only really took notice of how effective using a secondary is in combination with mini kegging.

I wasnt initially looking for something that made your beer clear (else I probably would have tried out some of the veggie friendly clearing agents like polyclar). I was really looking for something that doesn't kick up the yeast in the keg. I tried venting (opening the vent and leaving for 24 hours) the mini keg, whilst initially effective at stopping yeast bite, but because you've left the vent open for 24 hours the beer go flat even quicker. What I was after was something that's effective as venting for not kicking up the yeast in the keg and getting yeast bite in the beer but doesn't leave the beer flat. Using a secondary seems to be it but as a double dip bonus it leave the beer really clear too.
 
When it came to bottling I was suprised at how clear it was ad how much yeast was in the bottom of the secondary. Then when I came to drink it, it was crystal clear as if it had been filtered or something.

I've just packaged the beer into growlers and some clear bottles and it's extremely c clear now, I think by the time it's carbed up and ready to drink it should be crystal clear.
Did they carb up OK after clearing in the secondary??..
 
Did they carb up OK after clearing in the secondary??..

I've only now used a secondary twice and the second time I've done it I've only just packaged today but on the first beer it carbed up just like normal (hope that makes sense). I think it may have taken a little longer to carb up as I gave the beer more time to condition than it often gets as I was drinking something else
 
I have changed to a similar process recently. My only concern if bottling almost clear beer is, will it carb up? The first one I did like this, I chickened out :whistle:,and introduced a small amount of yeast, but bottles are almost carbed up now (I use PET), and minimal yeast on the bottle base. The second and most recent six days since bottling , with no extra yeast, seems to be carbing up, albeit slowly, so this might be the way forward.
 
I might give this a go on my current brew..ie after primary dump the yeast out the bottom of the conical and leave the beer in there for another week before bottling and see if I notice any difference.
 
I might give this a go on my current brew..ie after primary dump the yeast out the bottom of the conical and leave the beer in there for another week before bottling and see if I notice any difference.

After the week do a second yeast dump. There wont be much in there but there will be some. Then you could just batch prime straight from the conical
 
I have changed to a similar process recently. My only concern if bottling almost clear beer is, will it carb up? The first one I did like this, I chickened out :whistle:,and introduced a small amount of yeast, but bottles are almost carbed up now (I use PET), and minimal yeast on the bottle base. The second and most recent six days since bottling , with no extra yeast, seems to be carbing up, albeit slowly, so this might be the way forward.

From what I've read about lagering you only need to add more yeast after 2.5 months lagering so I dont think a week will cause the beer not to carb up (just slowly as your discovering).

I put 5L of the batch of pseudo lager I bottled today in my domestic fridge last week and will leave it another week before bottling (a total of 2 weeks lagering in a secondary) and see if there's a difference from the rest of the batch
 
After the week do a second yeast dump. There wont be much in there but there will be some. Then you could just batch prime straight from the conical

Now that is a good idea....saves transferring to a bottling bucket ..ie possible contamination or oxidation. With the racking arm ball valve (which has a barb on it) I might be able to fill bottles straight from that and not bother with the bottling wand. Interesting...
 
Now that is a good idea....saves transferring to a bottling bucket ..ie possible contamination or oxidation. With the racking arm ball valve (which has a barb on it) I might be able to fill bottles straight from that and not bother with the bottling wand. Interesting...

Dark beers I always just batch prime in the primary and package straight from it
 
After the week do a second yeast dump. There wont be much in there but there will be some. Then you could just batch prime straight from the conical
Eeek! .. I couldn't bring myself to pouring all that extra beer down the drain! I quite like that "plug" of yeasty debris filling up the dead space in the bottom (even now I can be found leaning into my fermenter - its a big'un - and scooping out the remaining clear beer into bottles).
 
When forced by circumstance to store a kit in the pressure barrel outside in shed/outbuilding after brewing it in early November I was thrilled with the clarity when I drank it at Christmas. So a cool-cold conditioning environment and a bit of (enforced) patience led to clear beer. In terms of carbing up, it's not beer but I've just done a sparkling mead (with ale yeast) which also sat outside in secondary for a month over Christmas and has still carbed up in the bottle despite being brilliantly clear going in. There must be enough yeast in suspension but not visible to still carb.
 
A few months ago I ordered a bottle gun. So far I've used it a few times with great success. Now I condition in the keg then when I need a few bottles I just get the gun out and done. Fully carved and super clear. And no yeast at the bottom so friends who don't know how to pour have no issues. I'm liking it this way now.
 
Seeing as I packaged some of this steam/pseudo lager in clear bottles I've also noticed another little effect. There's hardly any yeast in the bottles(the first time I did the flocctuant yeast, rack to a secondary combo I packaged in mini kegs and brown bottles so I didnt notice).

Normally I get about a fingernails width in the bottom of the bottles but this time even with clear bottles and using a torch I can barely see any yeast in the bottom. Just the lightest of dustings along the bottom. I bet you could even drink the beer straight from the bottle there's so little in there. A negative effect of this of course, is I imagine it will take longer for the beer to carb up
 

Latest posts

Back
Top