10 tips for Clearer Beer

[LouieMacGoo]

For many, this isn't a real big deal. We brew for ourselves or our friends and as long as it tastes good we aren't too concerned that it's perfectly clear in the bottle or in the glass. But there are times when you want to make sure that you want to make your brew as clear as possible, or you just want to make the appearance of your beer a little better.

This article has some really good information about making your beer the clearest it can be!


10 Tips for Clearer Beer

[BrewDemon]

Great article…but for the extract brewer, I have found cold conditioning to be the answer. Our American Prophecy Ale after six weeks of cold conditioning:

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[Funky Skunk Brewing]

Nice, clear beer there for sure.

[mtsoxfan]

Nice article. Now that I have a gift certificate for LHBS, I will be buying a bazooka screen for the brew kettle.

[BlackDuck]

Great article…but for the extract brewer, I have found cold conditioning to be the answer. Our American Prophecy Ale after six weeks of cold conditioning:

71481_441494005938178_2076819138_n.jpg

I agree on this one....And it works for AG also. I have an AG Pale Ale that's been in the fridge for quite some time....with a careful pour, it is extremely clear also.

[Brewbirds]

cold break pot 1.JPG (66.95 KiB) Viewed 330 times

Here is a picture of cold break as he describes it looking like egg drop soup for the new brewers who haven't seen it before.

It is a good reference for the sum of its parts and I do some but not all of the suggestions: I use Whirfloc tabs (Irish Moss), I cold crash, I strive for a good hot break etc.

I don't transfer to secondary and I don't separate the cold break either. It all goes into the fermenter.

But what I have found (by accident when the fridge went out) that has created really clear beer is leaving them in a cooler with a couple of frozen juice bottles (think cranberry juice) for five or more days.

We usually tell the new brewers to throw one in the fridge for two days and try them to see if they are ready to drink and it isn't exactly the same but in the cooler the beer stays around 45-50F vs. the thirties in the fridge and with several days in the cooler they are staying at the preferable drinking temp vs. to cold to drink from a fridge.

I don't know why they are coming out so much more clear except that it might work as an extended cold crash getting more stuff out of suspension.

No science spouting here just an observation from our current set up as FWIW.

[Kealia]

Love the pic. I always refer to that part as "the brain".

And I leave it behind in the kettle when I rack to my fermenter.

[FedoraDave]

I wonder if another (eleventh) tip might not be water chemistry.

I've always had slightly cloudy beer. It doesn't really bother me, because the beer tastes good, but a clear beer is a beautiful thing. But for my Pearly Pils, I wanted to soften the water a little to better approximate the type of water found in the European regions famous for Pilsners. So I cut my tap water with distilled water, two gallons distilled per gallon of tap water.

This beer is so clear you could watch TV through it.

Granted, it's a lager, so the procedure is different as far as temperature goes. And it cold conditioned for a long time. I can't recall if I racked to a secondary (I think I did), but I've done that with other beers. I also use Whirlfloc with all my AG beers. In fact, other than the water modification and the fact that it was a lager, everything else was no different than my other beers. Same mash tun, same stove top, same wort cooling procedure.

Just putting that out there.

[wollffy]

What is the consensus on either a bazooka or baffle system
In the tun?