Cloudy Irish red extract

[tominboston]

I am curious about an extract batch I brewed the end of January. It was the Irish red extract kit, I used RO water, and hit the gravity targets, 1.044 OG and 1.009 fg . But the beer never really cleared like the others I have brewed ( same kit). I did fine it with a little gelatin. The only real difference was I used the Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast. Cold crashed as always. Tastes fine, just curious what may have caused the permanent clouds. I usually brew the all grains but did a quick extract to get more beer in the pipeline.

Thanks!

[voodoo_donut]

Are you talking about in the glass, chill haze? That can be caused by insufficient cold break. Nottingham is a high flocculator but yeast in suspension is also a possibility.

[tominboston]

Yes in the glass. And it is cloudy enough you really cannot see much ( if anything) through the glass. I know I had a good boil going on my darkstar burner. Like I said, it tastes fine, I just figured this could be another opportunity to learn something. I tried this Nottingham yeast on a BIAB version of the Irish red a while back and could not seem to get it to finish ( after two packages I gave up at a fg of 1.020) . Tasted fine and I think it was pretty clear. In that case I may have screwed up the biab process as it was my first try.

My two misadventures have only one thing in common and that is the yeast used. But..... I make plenty of mistakes so I am not ready to pass the blame on anything else. I will be curious enough now to brew another batch and use the Safale yeast as an experiment.

[sneezles61]

Perhaps, the Extract wasn't at the right pH when it was made... And the yeast is another suspect too.. Sneezles61

[old_dawg]

Did you cold-crash the beer after gelling?

As I understand it, cold-crashing seems to be the most important step in getting clear beer.

[tominboston]

Yes I cold crash all my beers , learned that from the guys here.

I'll just have to drink it as is and chalk it up to the variables of brewing .

[sneezles61]

A ceramic mug works very well too! Sneezles61