Clear Beer

[John Sand]

My beer is regularly clear, but I'm not sure why. I read plenty of questions, answers and ideas about finings and such. "Clear wort makes clear beer" is often repeated, but I don't think so. The most recent batch I packaged was the Belgian Split, I used gelatin in it because Wyeast 3787 is Westmalle. Last time I used Westmalle, WLP530, it wasn't cloudy, but it took a long time to settle, and was easily disturbed. The gelatin seemed to help, but I haven't used it in my prior batches. I've tried using Irish Moss in my kettle, it makes no difference. I don't whirlpool, or filter in any way. I do try not to dump all of the trub into the fermenter. I'm not posting this to brag about my clear beer. Brulosopher did one of his exbeeriments, adding everything into the fermenter and got clearer beer. My brew club remarks how clear my beer is, and I'm not trying. But now I'm curious. If Brulosopher is right, I'm actually making clear beer by adding all the break etc. So, what do you do, and how well does it work?

[philm00x]

A lot of times I find that the clearer beer just comes from near-freezing storage, regardless of the style and the yeast used.

[gwcr]

I use Irish Moss and cold crash every batch (except styles that are supposed to be cloudy). I also siphon through a SS strainer from kettle to fermenter to catch as much break material as possible. I've only used gelatin a couple of times, and it does help it clear faster. However, the ones I haven't used gelatin on get to be crystal clear as well, they just need to sit in the keg for a while. Usually my last 20 or so pints are extremely clear. When I use gelatin, the are clear from the get go. It usually doesn't matter to me unless I'm sending off to a competition, but there is something nice about seeing a really clean beer come out of the tap...

[RickBeer]

I cold crash every batch. I dump the entire pot through a strainer into my LBKs, so whatever particulates of hops and grain come through the strainer end up in the fermenter. I don't cold crash for clearness, I do it to maximize the amount of beer I can bottle. Most of my brews are so dark you couldn't see if they were clear though... But my reds and the White House Honey Ale seem pretty clear.

[jimjohson]

I never CC(ale pails won't fit) I also never care about what ends up in the fermenter. I just dump it all in, I use whrilfloc in appropriate brews. All mine have been very clear...even the American wheat. I do very little to make them clear, and frankly been puzzled by this.

[Dawg LB Steve]

FWIW. Just talked about at LHBS Friday, he said it had to do with so many nutrients from the trub for the yeast to munch.

[John Sand]

That's what Brulosopher concluded too. I highly recommend his blog, he tests every presumption in brewing.
I don't cold crash either, so I think my only conclusion is that fermenting three weeks helps, and adding everything to the fermenter doesn't hurt.

[MadBrewer]

Any idea what your brewing water is like? It could be your brewing water is high in Calcium. Calcium is important for yeast heath, the mash, good break in the boil and helps the finished beer become very clear and stable.

[John Sand]

Generally Long Island tapwater is considered good to brew. I checked my local water report once, but don't remember the details. Good suggestion, though.

[Gymrat]

I think a lot of the clear beer thing is in the way a person pours it. I think a lot of people pour too vigorously, or pour into some of the trub comes out of the bottle, and that clouds what would otherwise be a crystal clear beer.

[Kealia]

There are SO many variables to consider it may be hard to nail down what is driving your clarity. Water chemistry, a vigorous boil, a good cold break, the grain bill, cold crashing, finings........

Solid process counts for a lot and it sounds like you have that going for you.

[jimjohson]

@ gymrat I like mit hefe so I pour aggressively, yet even with the wheats it's still clear. @ Kealia I am stove topping it so no vigorous boil, just adequate, I'd say IMHO. Not calling either of you 2 out just observations to help to try to figure this thing out.

[Kealia]

Jim, how quick do you chill post-boil?

[mashani]

For whatever it's worth, I don't screw around with trying to whirlpool break material and siphon carefully off of it anymore... I just boil the wort, add the hops, cool it or hopstand or what not, and and dump it into my fermenters (literally dump, it helps aerate it), leaving some break behind if I can, but not worrying about it when some or a bunch ends up in there. I don't cold crash most of the time, only if there is a lot of crap in there and it goes back into suspension when I touch the fermenter. I use a lot of true top cropping yeast and I don't cold crash to get the lingering krausen to fall.. if the beer is done I just bottle it from under the krausen. Screwing around with anything unnecessary is time spending thing that I don't have time for unless I determine it really does make me better beer. And by better I mean that it actually tastes better when it comes to my personal take on it. I think the beers I dump break material into ferment out faster too, I don't know why. Most everything I brew these days is done in 7-10 days (4-6 days for some beers) due, I just let it sit in there for a couple of weeks for scheduling reasons and to let my commando hop floaties get stuck in the trub.

Even so, most of my AG beers end up clear in the bottle anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks depending on the yeast (powdery non flocculating yeast = longer). Cloudyness in my beer beyond that is typically from using wheat or rye (IE chill haze), not what the wort looks like when I dump it in. With a powdery yeast I'm sure I could get clear beer faster if I used a clarifier to knock the yeast out, but it ends up clearing for me in the bottles over time anyways, and really I am not all that concerned about it anyways, I have deep pipeline, waiting is not a problem. In beers that I get chill haze, I'm sure I could I could knock out with a clarifier, or a step mash with a protein rest could help in certain beers, or using a high floc yeast also can help there if it's an option - but it's not worth bothering with for my personal imbibing. If I'm going to serve one of those to a weenie who would freak out about it I just leave the bottle to warm up a tad then pour it, good beer is better slightly warmer anyways. I used to worry about this stuff, but I'm too old now... LOL.

Not saying you shouldn't do what you like to do if it makes you happy, but I can validate John Sands experiences to some extent.

[Brewbirds]

I'm a little late to this thread because of the move but I'll throw a feather or two in FWIW.

We all seem to be pretty much on the same page opinion wise in that if the beer is clear that's great but as long as it's good whatever.

BB2 and I throw a quarter tab of whirlfloc in at T-5 or so and we cold crash but we aren't doing so to seek clarity. What we want is to prevent a bunch of hop particles getting into the bottles which might cause gushing, plain and simple.

The whirlfloc tabs create a great cold break when we ice bath the kettle but it all goes into the fermenter, no strainers, siphons, whirlpools etc. we think the yeast like it so we let the yeast have it but the material is separated out to settle faster on the bottom and leave the wort a little more "liquid"; think "upstairs" for sweets and "downstairs" for meat and vegies.

We cold crash strictly to further solidify the yeast cake for bottling, again to avoid particulates getting into the bottles that might cause gushers. Like a layer of congealed fat on top of a refrigerated pot of greasy chili. The fermenter gets jostled a bit when it comes out of the fridge but we let it settle for half an hour or so before bottling and only the finest/lightest material will have stirred if you are careful.

I like this thread because every base seems to have been covered in the responses from the Borg:

Kealia: process
Dirty beer from dirty practices is obviously not desired.

Mashani: yeast
We have all continued and will always continue to learn about our one true beer god "YEAST" . We the brewer will Never be in true control of any single batch as all we really do is prepare an offering and hope it is accepted.

Gymrat: The pour is clearly going to affect what ends up in your glass. For those of you who give beer away to non brewers I bet you give careful advise on that.

Madbrewer: Contributes that it may be more about your water than your brewing prowess, as does Mash with PH, Temps etc.

Philm00x : Talks about storage temps during conditioning; which you will all note is going to vary widely among us; we threw them in a closet in the pantry in Cen. Tex. and come what may but got amazingly clear beers for the most part.

The thing is that your science guy will never be able to test every scenario of every grain bill/ yeast selection/hops schedule/ fermentation cycle etc. to be able to nail the clarity issue down.

I don't think this subject gets answered any time soon and I don't think that it matters if it doesn't.

Disclaimer: I don't enter beers in competition so I'm speaking as a casual consumer of my own/and occasionally others products others opinions may vary.