Beer Clarity

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

How long does it generally take for your beers to drop clear? I’ve made beers with excellent clarity in the past. I usually ferment, cold crash, then fine with gelatin. After I keg and carbonate, the beer becomes hazy again and takes a couple weeks to clarify.

I just made a Kölsch, and followed my normal protocol of fermentation, cold crash, then fining. I let the beer set for 3-4 days before kegging. This time, after kegging, I fined again with gelatin to see if I could get the beer to clear faster. After a couple days in the keg, it’s still a bit hazy. I’m not sure there’s anything else I can do, short of filtration, to get the beer to clear faster. What’s your process, and how long does it take for your beer to clear?

 

[triletter]

I find with my Kölsch and lagers, it takes about 3 wks + to get crystal clear. I cold crash/ lager for 2 wks then keg and lager for 2 more wks at 32* then move to the keezer and force carb @40psi for 24 hrs. By the end of the second keg you can read the paper through it. Shorter answer-time.

 

[brewing_clown]

Not sure how useful this is, but once I went no-sparge my clarity issues went away.

 

[danielthemaniel]

Your process sounds similar to mine. I find that kolsch yeast in particular takes a long time to clarify. I havent found a specific remedy for this other than time.

 

[MrPowers]

What yeast did you use? 2565? That yeast notoriously takes forever to clear.

 

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

I did use 2565. Pitched it and after 5 days had no activity, so I pitched some 1007 I had on hand. Not sure which yeast actually did the fermenting. I just tasted the beer today. Wow, it may not hang around long enough for it to clear.

 

[MrPowers]

I did use 2565. Pitched it and after 5 days had no activity, so I pitched some 1007 I had on hand. Not sure which yeast actually did the fermenting. I just tasted the beer today. Wow, it may not hang around long enough for it to clear.

Both of those yeasts are notoriously poor flocculators. If it already tastes good I would just drink it and not worry about what it looks like. It will clear with time, but it will take awhile.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

2565 takes weeks and sometimes months to "completely" settle, even with gelatin. Use your same process (whirlfloc/irish moss, cold crash, gelatin) with WLP029 and you will be pleasantly surprised at the results. Personally, I also think the 029 is a much better tasting yeast (cleaner, crisper, less yeast funk).

Some grains and yeasts are just more stubborn than others. Over the last 10 years, i've toyed with many fining agents and filter contraptions with varying results. For "crystal clear" beer, it either requires time or filtering.

 

[day_trippr]

This is 2565, brewed May 12, still a bit hazy (though some of that was the fogged glass).
I wasn't aiming for read-through clarity so no post-boil finings, just gravity and cold.
This keg will kick before it gets truly clear (there's only a couple more pours left) but its sister keg is still lagering...

Fabulous beer, btw. 2565 is quite a nice strain with a lot of pleasant character to it...

Cheers!

 

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

Awesome. I love the taste of mine and that’s about how mine looks after fining.

 

[GPP33]

It usually takes mine about 2-3 weeks to drop crystal clear. Doesn’t matter what style, color, cold crash protocol, etc. slight haze for a couple of weeks (not NEIPA style haze) then boom, crystal clear.