cloudy beer

So about to bottle my first brew (NB Irish Red Extract kit) and its about as cloudy as a witbier and has a very subtle “gritty” mouth feel to it and it got me wondering: How do I get this clearer?

Just looking for ways to improve my methods to get a clearer beer. Is this just a product of extract brewing? Will more efficient cooling of the wort make this a clearer beer? I also made the standard rookie mistake of pitching my yeast at the high 70’s so not sure if this would add to it at well.

My next planned brew will be a porter so not much of a concern for that but thinking about doing something a little lighter after that.

Lots of things to try…
A strong, rolling boil to get a good hot break.
Don’t forget the Irish moss.
Rapid chilling to get a good cold break.
Cold crashing your finished beer in the fermenter for a few days.
Fining the beer in a secondary with gelatin.

If you don’t have a fridge for fermentation, it’s tough to do the cold crash. I wouldn’t worry too much about clear beer until you have that kind of equipment. If you fine it without cold crashing you can still get chill haze.

Lots of reasons you could have cloudy beer, but the most common is impatience. When did you brew the beer, and how long have you let it sit after fermentation was done? Simply letting the beer sit for 2-3 weeks after it has reached FG will do wonders for most beers.

pkrone’s suggestions are also worth following.

It’s just about at the 2 week mark. I plan on bottling between 2 and 3 weeks in primary.

Wouldn’t hurt to leave it for an extra week or two. If you can get it cold during that time, it should drop clear, or at least clearer.

Also, after bottling, letting the beer sit in the fridge for a few days will really clear it up nicely too.

I hardy every cold crash my beers in the fermenter. Just bottle and go when ready.

I’ve had some sit in the fridge for several weeks before I got to them, and I was amazed at the clarity compared to ones that chilled for just a day or so before drinking.

So true.
Just because a beer is done fermenting doesn’t mean it’s really ready. Patience and letting nature do it’s thing is one of the most important aspects of good brewing (and the most difficult for novice brewers). Even a perfectly clear beer can cloud up when refrigerated (but will settle clear again in the bottle, given adequate time).

That said, the other suggestions in the thread are all worth considering. The strain of yeast you use, ambient temps, length and quality of the boil, and whether or not you transfer to secondary (always a hot topic for debate in these pages :mrgreen: ) can all have some degree of effect on clarity.

But off hand, I’d guess that since your beer has not been refrigerated and is at ambient temps, the cloudiness you’re seeing is most likely simply dusty yeast still in suspension. Some people also claim that a highly hopped beer can be inherently somewhat cloudy (although I have to say that I’ve never found that to be the case myself).

Do a gravity reading a few days apart to be sure the beer is done fermenting; I don’t use secondaries as such - I prefer about 3-4 weeks in the primary then straight to keg or bottle. After a while, you will get a feel for when the beer is done by looking at things like krausen fall, clarity based on beer ingredients, and yeast strain used (some are slower to fully floc out).

:cheers:

[quote=“ynotbrusum”]Do a gravity reading a few days apart to be sure the beer is done fermenting; I don’t use secondaries as such - I prefer about 3-4 weeks in the primary then straight to keg or bottle. After a while, you will get a feel for when the beer is done by looking at things like krausen fall, clarity based on beer ingredients, and yeast strain used (some are slower to fully floc out).

:cheers: [/quote]

gravity reading has been consistent at 1.010 for a week now. I’ll shoot for the 3-4 week mark for bottling then. The boil on this one was terrible and just barely at a boil the entire time so I assume that probably has a little to do with it. It also is incredibly bitter for an Irish Red. I don’t mind the flavor as I like bitter beers but it’s definitely lacking that maltyness of a traditional Irish Red.

There’s certainly no harm in letting your beer sit longer, but if it has been at 1.010 for a week, I would bottle it.

That way you can free up your fermenter for the next batch!

Let the Irish Red sit in bottles for at least 2 weeks before sampling. Also, especially with some of your first beers, take detailed tasting notes.

You’ll be amazed at how much better your beer gets after sitting for a few months in the bottle.

If its been at 1.010 for a week, it is definitely done fermenting; however, the yeast that are dropping out of suspension, along with the contact with the yeast cake do some additional “clean up” work on ales, IMO, that justify a few days on the lees before racking to bottle. That said, 3 weeks is all this one is going to need in the primary - as my best guess.

Good luck with the brews!

:cheers:

I’ve seen that, but only when the beer is still very fresh and has been dry hopped. Given time, dry hopped beers will also clear up nicely, but it is true that by that time some of the hop flavors may have already started to change.

Terrible boil will mean less hot break, which will contribute to cloudiness, so you are likely right it is a factor. The bitterness might be due to the young age, or perhaps your hops had higher AAs than anticipated? Unlikely the bitterness has anything to do with the cloudiness though.