CLEAR BEER

[S.R.S]

I have had a Young's American IPA extract kit in fermenting vessel for just over 3 weeks, dry hopped loose pellet in the final week.
I would like to bottle tomorrow but despite putting the fermenter in the fridge overnight at 6c, the beer is still full of floating particles and is not in the slightest bit clear.
Is this likely to clear by tomorrow evening (i.e after 45 hrs in the fridge).
Will keeping it in the fridge kill off those nice hoppy aromas?
Thanks

 

[Dgallo]

I have had a Young's American IPA extract kit in fermenting vessel for just over 3 weeks, dry hopped loose pellet in the final week.
I would like to bottle tomorrow but despite putting the fermenter in the fridge overnight at 6c, the beer is still full of floating particles and is not in the slightest bit clear.
Is this likely to clear by tomorrow evening (i.e after 45 hrs in the fridge).
Will keeping it in the fridge kill off those nice hoppy aromas?
Thanks

The hops and most yeast will drop out but I doubt it will completely clear. That takes time at cold temps or fineing agents.

Make sure you can prevent the suckback that will occur in the fridge so you don’t risk oxidation from cold crashing

 

[S.R.S]

The hops and most yeast will drop out but I doubt it will completely clear. That takes time at cold temps or fineing agents.

Make sure you can prevent the suckback that will occur in the fridge so you don’t risk oxidation from cold crashing

Can you explain what you mean by this? I dont have an airlock

 

[Dgallo]

Can you explain what you mean by this? I dont have an airlock

As liquids and gases cool they become more dense, so their volume actual decreases. This will create negative pressure in your fermenter which will cause a suction. This will draw in outside air until the pressure equalizes.

 

[passedpawn]

unflavored gelatin makes a great fining agent. half of packet of this, mixed into a cup of water (let sit for 10 minutes), then microwaved to near boiling until the gelatin dissolves. Then dump into the fermentor, then cold crash for 2 days.

 

[Alex4mula]

My clearest beers stay at fridge 5+ days. At least a 5g vessel takes couple days to drop to 33F. I see the temp drop ramp on my Tilt. One day isn’t going to do a lot.

 

[S.R.S]

if I leave the the vessel in the fridge for another week this means the dry hops would have been in for 2 week - will that be an issue?

 

[Dgallo]

if I leave the the vessel in the fridge for another week this means the dry hops would have been in for 2 week - will that be an issue?

Oxidation risk will increase tremendously, unless you’re able to manage it with some form of co2

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

What would be interesting (to me anyway) would be a well-written post on how to do clarify without the risk of oxidation.

Who knows, with enough "likes" that post could be promoted to a "sticky". And, worst case, it would be an excellent post to copy-pasta in to other topics.

 

[Dgallo]

What would be interesting (to me anyway) would be a well-written post on how to do clarify without the risk of oxidation.

Who knows, with enough "likes" that post could be promoted to a "sticky". And, worst case, it would be an excellent post to copy-pasta in to other topics.

That would be interesting. There are certainly many ways people do it successfully.

I’ve modified a fermonster lid with a liquid and co2 keg post mount so I can hook up to my regulator while crashing so it will kick on and equalize the pressure withco2

I’ve seen other have a t’ed blow of post, one side for blow off and the other connected to a steriled party balloon you’d fill with helium. Both post can be clamped. You open just the balloon side and let the co2 produced in fermentation inflate it. Once inflated clamp it and open the blow off side. Then when you crash you only open the balloon side so when the suck back occurs it sucks in the co2 in the balloon.

I have also seen people connect a co2 line from the regulator to the their airlock if the sizes match up well.

 

[Jag75]

I've never used gelatin as I've never cold crashed . My beers can be pretty clear but not quite 100% and it doesnt bother me tbo. Do you guys that use gelatin add it to the fermenter then cold crash or keg ? If you add it to the keg how do you close pressure transfer from your FV to your keg?

 

[6Tap]

I've never used gelatin as I've never cold crashed . My beers can be pretty clear but not quite 100% and it doesnt bother me tbo. Do you guys that use gelatin add it to the fermenter then cold crash or keg ? If you add it to the keg how do you close pressure transfer from your FV to your keg?

I have always added gelatin to my fermenter during cold crash once the temps drops below 40 degrees F. Then I hold the temp at 34 degrees for 2 days under 5psi of co2, then transfer to clean and sanitized keg(s) that have been purged with Co2.

Other than the chill haze for a few days, the beer always comes out very clear.

However, I currently have a double ipa that has has been cold crashing for two days and I forgot to add the gelatin at the start so my plan is to cold crash for 3 days at 33 degrees and then keg with no gelatin to see how it turns out.

 

[passedpawn]

I always add the gelatin before kegging (or bottling). All beers will eventually clear without any fining added, but if you want to leave a lot of that trub behind when you transfer, gelatin and cold-crashing greatly accelerates the rate of clearing.

 

[davidabcd]

Can someone or did someone address the length dry hopping would have for that long? I don't dry hop but I've read here often enough that it's 3 or 4 days-7 days. I'm assuming 14 days is far too long?

 

[passedpawn]

Can someone or did someone address the length dry hopping would have for that long? I don't dry hop but I've read here often enough that it's 3 or 4 days-7 days. I'm assuming 14 days is far too long?

Typically yea, 3 or 4 days. I've done longer and I do think you can get grassiness and bitterness from leaving them in there too long.

I once made a hoppy beer and added the hops in one of those stainless steel tea balls - hung it in the keg with dental floss. It was AWESOME for a week, but then it started tasting bad (it's been ~ 10 yrs, can't remember why exactly I didn't like it). I had to remove the hops in there. So I guess that's one way to see how the beer changes during dryhopping!

 

[S.R.S]

Thanks all for your responses, really appreciate it.

 

[Loud Brewing]

Btw, the most recent episode of the brulosophy podcast covers gelatin and other finings in detail. It's very informative

 

[hottpeper13]

I don't understand the more then 2 weeks dry hopping will cause grassiness. I put 3 oz of whole cone hops in a pin with around 4 oz of sugar and let carb up for 2-3 weeks then put in 33* chamber for 2-3 weeks and serve. Grassiness was never in the comments about the beer. That's a total of 4-6 weeks dry hopping and I don't get off flavors. So why is that?

 

[HB_ATL73]

I don't understand the more then 2 weeks dry hopping will cause grassiness. I put 3 oz of whole cone hops in a pin with around 4 oz of sugar and let carb up for 2-3 weeks then put in 33* chamber for 2-3 weeks and serve. Grassiness was never in the comments about the beer. That's a total of 4-6 weeks dry hopping and I don't get off flavors. So why is that?

I am currently enjoying a double dry hopped Citra/Mosaic beer that is fantastic and over 2 weeks old in the keg. First dry hop addition was at the tail end of fermentation and for 10 days. Dry hopped again using hop canister in the keg and have been drinking it since without any grassy flavors. Maybe its hop dependent?

 

[Jag75]

I dont understand dry hopping too long either . I always use bags because I dont cold crash . I keep putting it off lol. I DH for 4 days then pull em . If you DH commando you cant take the hops out so they're in there the entire time until you crash and keg . So if doing a NEIPA, you DH on day 3 of fermentation but that beer isnt ready to keg for another couple weeks.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I've never used gelatin as I've never cold crashed . My beers can be pretty clear but not quite 100% and it doesnt bother me tbo. Do you guys that use gelatin add it to the fermenter then cold crash or keg ? If you add it to the keg how do you close pressure transfer from your FV to your keg?

Not sure if this is still a question or up for discussion but figured I'd throw in my 2 cents...

I have switched from adding the gelatin to my fermenter to adding it to my keg. With the fermenter, I didn't have a good way to protect against oxidation with the suck back created. With the keg, you can add the gelatin and hook it up to CO2 and it will protect against the oxidation.

In regards to a closed transfer and the gelatin, do your standard closed transfer. Once the beer is in the keg, use a syringe big enough to hold 1/4 cup and hook it up to the gas post on your keg using the appropriate tubing and fittings and "inject" the gelatin solution into the keg.

 

[Jag75]

Just the answer I was looking for ty ^^^^

 

[Horseflesh]

I use gelatin by combining what seem to be the most sensible information from two sources, and adding some of my own lazy BS.

https://suigenerisbrewing.blogspot.com/2013/01/brewing-science-gelatin-clearing-beer.html
https://spikebrewing.com/blogs/ask-a-pro/gelatin-finings

Summary:

Before preparing gelatin, chill beer to at least 50F, <35F is better.

For each gallon of beer:

• Combine 1 g gelatin and 2 oz cool pre-boiled water (honestly I normally skip pre-boiling)
• Mix and let gelatin hydrate for 15-30 minutes
  • Stir until no solids are visible
• Heat to exactly 170F / 77C
• Add hot gelatin to cold beer, mix
• Wait 2-3 days

I do all hydration and heating in a sous vide pouch and let it cook at 170F for a while. There is no official pasteurization process in play here, but it has been working for me.

Obviously how you add and mix the gelatin has major O2 implications. Like @Rob2010SS I have been trying to squirt the gelatin in in such a way that oxygen ingress is minimized.

(Using boiled water eliminates some oxygen introduction but I have bigger oxygen problems already.)

 

[Loud Brewing]

I find the best way to get the gelatin into the keg without oxidation is to put the gelatin water solution into a sanitized water bottle and put a carb cap on it, then put slightly more pressure in the bottle than in your keg and use a jumper line to closed transfer to co2 post so the solution sits on the top of the beer.