Cloudy/Hazy beer.. what causes it?

[Schlomo]

Hi,

I have a general question here which stems from one of my Allergies.

I've been brewing for a while now, and found out a year ago that I have an allergy to Yeast, both Brewers and Bakers strains. Now I wont die or anything, but I am prone to getting bad stomach aches in the morning if I drank the night before, but it is not prevalent in everything. I've not linked it to my body with drinking a more clear homebrew vs cloudy homebrew, but I wanted to pose the questions, what is contained in the "cloudy" part of cloudy beer?

I've been thinking of getting a 5 micron filter as I read most yeast cell diameter is between 4-12 microns, and filter my beer to further clear, and remove as much yeast as I can.

Does anyone have an answer to my inquiry?

Thanks

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

Cloudy beer can be caused by a number of sources both organic and biological. Biological items might be yeast, bacteria, etc... Organics would be proteins, polyphenols, etc...

Filtering down to 5 micron should take care of most of it. I have even gone down to 1 micron on occasion.

 

[Culbetron]

A nice long fermentation with a flocculant yeast should get things pretty darn clear of yeast. I'd certainly be really carelful to not pour any yeast from the bottom of the bottle if you are bottle conditioning your beer.

 

[NervousDad]

I found filtering to be a pain, I actually just threw my filter away last week. I use gelatin to clear my beer, with a flocculant yeast like wlp007 or WY1272.

 

[Jayhem]

Clear your beer with irish moss in the boil and gelatin after fermentation and pour bottles very carefully to avoid disturbing the yeast layer and you will keep 99% of it out of your pour.

 

[Schlomo]

Clear your beer with irish moss in the boil and gelatin after fermentation and pour bottles very carefully to avoid disturbing the yeast layer and you will keep 99% of it out of your pour.

IF that were the case and only 1% of the cells were left, that is still ~5-9 billion cells left that could be in my beer when I keg. I already use whirlflock and manage my fermentation temperatures very well, I just wondered how much of the cloudyness of homebrew could be yeast.

That is a good idea for me though, and the pain of filtering may be worth it given my allergies and the amount of yeast that could still be left.

Another option is to stop brewing and drink BMC beers.. HA just kidding.

 

[Jayhem]

IF that were the case and only 1% of the cells were left, that is still ~5-9 billion cells left that could be in my beer when I keg. I already use whirlflock and manage my fermentation temperatures very well, I just wondered how much of the cloudyness of homebrew could be yeast.

That is a good idea for me though, and the pain of filtering may be worth it given my allergies and the amount of yeast that could still be left.

Another option is to stop brewing and drink BMC beers.. HA just kidding.

I'm just guessing on the numbers but clarifiers will produce beer that looks filtered it's so clear.

Also leaving your beer in refrigeration for a month or more before drinking will settle out the rest of the yeast.

Some of the cloudiness is actually proteins, not yeast.

I would hate to have an allergy to yeast! I'm glad you are trying to overcome yours instead of just not drinking beer!

Here's an example of a beer I cleared using Irish moss and then refrigerating for 3 weeks before drinking.

 

[Schlomo]

I'm just guessing on the numbers but clarifiers will produce beer that looks filtered it's so clear.

Also leaving your beer in refrigeration for a month or more before drinking will settle out the rest of the yeast.

Some of the cloudiness is actually proteins, not yeast.

I would hate to have an allergy to yeast! I'm glad you are trying to overcome yours instead of just not drinking beer!

Yeah, it sucks, but oh well I guess haha.

All good points, only bad thing is that my Pipeline is not able to be big enough to support having batches sit in the fridge for a month or so..

I'm going to do a test with a 10 gallon batch i'm racking to 2 kegs this weekend and filter one and not filter the other. Then drink a few of one a night and a few of the other another night and see how my body reacts. Might give me a better indication of what really is going on.

If the filtering doesnt work i'll try using gelatin with a batch as well. The filter wont go to waste either as i'll also be using it to filter the water I use to brew with.

 

[biertourist]

A lot of the major points have been covered but much of the non-biological hazes are polyphenol / protein complexes. (Including the infamous "chill haze").


All you need to know and probably more on chill haze you can probably find on this post: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/prevention-chill-haze-423047/index2.html#post5375405


Large polyphenols loads can be introduced from late hopping, hop bursting, dry hopping, or squeezing the hop bag and this will definitely cause haze for a while. (There's a reason that super hoppy beers are usually cloudy when fresh.)

As others have said chilling the beer to near freezing for a month will help drop most anything, IF you can be that patient.


If you have a yeast allergy I'd chill the beer as cold as possible then fine with gelatin or biofine -this will cause the yeast cells to clump together in much larger flocs and then filtering with a 5 micron filter should be sufficient. Many of the filter ratings are rated at nominal size (the size of particles that typically get filtered out, NOT the actual pore size of the filter) so bear that in mind. Personally cartridge filters are a PITA and waste way too much beer and are not reusable BUT if you have an allergy a wine-style plate filter is not a bad way to go but you require two filters per batch and they're normally $2 a piece vs. cartridge filters. -You also need to run plate filters slower and with less pressure and you have to watch the seal so you don't leak beer everywhere, but I prefer plate filters over water cartridge style anytime.

SOME beers are specifically cloudy because of suspended yeast like Hefeweizens (a combination of a very low flocculating yeast strain and crazy high protein content from up to 50% wheat is responsible but all of that will drop bright if lagered at near freezing for a month). If you have gluten allergies wheat beers are highest in gluten too so in general good to avoid them if you've got gluten or yeast allergies.


Adam