Beer Clarity

[Stuart Wilson]

I'm a beginner to this brewing game and a bit confused! Started by brewing apple and pear cider....very successful so decided to try whole grain brewing.

My first attempt I had no real equipment and just tried to wing it with a grain bag, insulated cool box and as many big pans as I could muster in the kitchen. Used a whole grain kit....process was chaotic, but extracted wort. No chiller....let it cool overnight and fermented. Result was amazing....absolutely clear and really good taste.

Since then got a bit better set up with a Klarstein brewing system. Made 3 batches of whole grain beer one after the other. Still no wort chiller. Two of the brews cleared beautifully and tasted fantastic. The other one, which was actually the first one I did, has been really slow to clear. Even after a couple of months it's still very hazy, although the couple of inches are perfectly clear. Quite a lot of yeast settled out at the bottom. I used protofloc for all of them, but no other finings.

Since done two more brews, first one bottled monday. I used Wilko finings before bottling. It seems to be going the same way...clear at the surface but very hazy.

I intend to get set up with a wort chiller, but any ideas about this inconsistency. The three batches that cleared well were absolutely crystal clear....not really aware of doing anything different!

Thanks folks....

 

[user 18729]

I'm a beginner to this brewing game and a bit confused! Started by brewing apple and pear cider....very successful so decided to try whole grain brewing.

My first attempt I had no real equipment and just tried to wing it with a grain bag, insulated cool box and as many big pans as I could muster in the kitchen. Used a whole grain kit....process was chaotic, but extracted wort. No chiller....let it cool overnight and fermented. Result was amazing....absolutely clear and really good taste.

Since then got a bit better set up with a Klarstein brewing system. Made 3 batches of whole grain beer one after the other. Still no wort chiller. Two of the brews cleared beautifully and tasted fantastic. The other one, which was actually the first one I did, has been really slow to clear. Even after a couple of months it's still very hazy, although the couple of inches are perfectly clear. Quite a lot of yeast settled out at the bottom. I used protofloc for all of them, but no other finings.

Since done two more brews, first one bottled monday. I used Wilko finings before bottling. It seems to be going the same way...clear at the surface but very hazy.

I intend to get set up with a wort chiller, but any ideas about this inconsistency. The three batches that cleared well were absolutely crystal clear....not really aware of doing anything different!

Thanks folks....

There are loads of factors that could be the issue. What recipe didn’t clear? What yeast strain were you using? Water treatment, fermentation temperature, time conditioning.
You’ll work it out eventually after some more time brewing. But as long as the beer tastes nice that’s all that really matters

 

[Stuart Wilson]

Like you say....a lot of variables! I just decided to.get stuck in and try it.....first attempt with a absolutely no specialist equipment but a grain bag was one of the most successful!

Bit mystified by the clear layer at the surface. The top inch is perfectly clear....thought that it would all clear up pretty quickly but it seems very stable. The batches that have cleared did clear pretty quickly. Bottles went slightly cloudy as yeast got going on priming sugar, but then went absolutely clear in what seemed like no time....I didnt write down how quickly they cleared which was a mistake!

 

[jceg316]

As @Hopsteep says there are quite a few factors which affect clarity. Also remember the important thing is the beer tastes good!

Yeast strains can cause haze, wheat beer and NEIPA strains cause haze for example. Some English ale strains won't flocculate so well either.

Once fermentation is complete, cold crashing for a few days can really help.

Some grains will cause more haze than others, wheat and flaked barley for example.

Excessive hopping can cause haziness.

Serving temperature can change the clarity of beers too, but I think this is dependent on the amount of hops used (I might be wrong though).

Have all batches tasted the same? Haziness can be caused by wild yeast, and if it's the same grain bill, same yeast, same process etc then this might be a possibility.

 

[Stuart Wilson]

The batch that hasn't cleared was made following a recipe in Greg hugh's book 'Home Brew Beer', the yeast was white labs WLP002 English ale.


The two batches that cleared beautifully were improvised recipes. One used Goldings hops....a pretty standard generic bag of hops bought from a home brew shop, and a combination of pale malt, caramunich, biscuit malt and crystal malt. The more specialist grains were left overs from Cornish Tin Miner's ake and I used a sachet of 'Youngs ale yeast' bought from the home brew section of Wilco (cheap shop that sells everything, don't think they have them outside North of England).

The other successful batch used a generic pale malt from a home brew shop, and first gold / bramley cross hops left over from tin miners ale. Sachet of dried yeast.

Both tasted wonderful....I was impressed.

Tin miners ale was bottled 3/9 and has cleared slightly. There's a one inch layer of totally clear ale at the surface, and the rest is hazy. May just put it all in boxes in the garage and forget about it until spring!!