After making 200 bottles of wine this past year I brewed my first batch of beer…SUCCESS! It was a 1 gallon German pilsner kit. Has a nice head, tastes nice but slightly cloudy. This was very encouraging and I have already bottle my second batch (1 gallon Irish red ale kit). The second batch looked really CLEAR in comparison to my first batch. Any comments on reason for cloudiness?
It’s probably mostly suspended yeast. How long did you ferment in primary and secondary? Longer ferment and bottle conditioning can help clear it up a bit. A quick cool down after flame out will help push down some of the sediment. If you want more clarity, you can try cold crashing (cooling beer to low to mid 30’s for a couple days before bottling / kegging) or using some additives that will push suspended yeast to the bottom.
By the way, congrats on your first go around. Hope they taste good! :cheers:
There are a lot of factors that affect clarity in beer, but the most common one for new brewers is insufficient time given for the yeast to flocculate out. As you are a winemaker, I doubt that is your problem, as making clear wines takes quite a bit longer than beer.
You want to maintain a vigorous boil (not a wimpy simmer), add kettle finings like Irish Moss in the last 5-10 minutes of the boil, and cool the wort quickly after the end of the boil. That’s the basics. If you don’t get clear beer after that, you start looking at things like water chemistry. If you are using malt extract, then using distilled water will pretty much ensure the any water chemistry issues are taken care of.
Some brewers filter their beer, and some fine with gelatin, but I’ve found that unnecessary. Proper process and enough time will result in crystal clear beer.
