Special bitter with Wyeast London ESB (1968) very cloudy

[HuskerBrewer]

I brewed a special bitter based off the recipe in Brewing Classic Styles using the Wyeast 1968 London ESB yeast. The Wyeast website describes that strain as follows:
"A very good cask conditioned ale strain, this extremely flocculant yeast produces distinctly malty beers. Attenuation levels are typically less than most other yeast strains which results in a slightly sweeter finish. Ales produced with this strain tend to be fruity, increasingly so with higher fermentation temperatures of 70-74°F (21-23° C). A thorough diacetyl rest is recommended after fermentation is complete. Bright beers are easily achieved within days without any filtration."
I left it in the primary for 3 weeks between 65 and 68, then racked to my keg and put on gas for about a week and a half so far. While I'll certainly agree there's a fair amount of residual sugars and fruity flavors I did not experience the bright beer. It's extremely cloudy in the glass, much like a thick apple cider or something. I tried to be pretty careful when racking from my fermentation bucket which has a spigot so I don't think I kicked too much yeast back into suspension. I didn't use any clarifying agents in the boil or fermentation because I didn't think it would be necessary given the description. I'm not running the keggerator very cold (40-45ish) since this style should typically be served on the warmer side of things.

Has anyone else had much experience with this strain and if so did the beer clear quickly? I'll give a quick rundown of the brew below

9.5lbs Marris Otter
.5lbs Brittish Light Crystal (15 L)
.5lbs Brittish Dark Crystal II (120 L)
.25lbs Special Roast (50 L)

Mashed at 152 for 60 minutes and added 1 tsp Gypsum at about 20 minutes into the mash.

1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 60 min
.5 oz EKG @ 20 min
.5 oz EKG @ 1 min

Post boil gravity (OG) 1.058

Cooled to 65 F and direct pitched 1 smack pack of above yeast

Fermented around 65 to 68 F for 3 weeks and racked to keg a week and a half ago now.

Final Gravity 1.014

 

[JonM]

That's awesome attenuation for that yeast. Did you have good hot/cold breaks?

You might just be stirring up the little bit of sediment from those first couple pours from you keg, too. It might clear up after a couple more pours.

EDIT: I have noticed a difference in the beers where I forget Whirlifloc and those where I don't. The kettle clarifiers really make a difference in clarity.

 

[JohnK93]

Just brewed this myself using the same yeast and after about 10 days in the primary it's dropped to 1.012 and the gravity sample looks really clear. Probably my clearest batch yet. I did use a Whirflock tablet in mine. Here's a pretty bad pic of my sample, but you can see clear through.


Edit: i used Jamil's recipe from BYO which had less base malt and an OG of about 1.038

 

[HuskerBrewer]

Yea, mine looks nothing like that. I didn't use whirlfloc or anything like that. I do think I got a good hot/cold break, or at least nothing seemed out of the ordinary during the boiling or cooling process.

 

[masonsjax]

I've got a similar recipe that's been kegged for a couple of weeks and looks cloudy just like you describe. I reused a pacman yeast cake though, this was the 5th batch on that cake, none of the ones before it were cloudy, nor were the couple after it. I might have forgotten the Irish moss that I normally use on that one, but it's much murkier than expected, even without the moss. No big deal, it tastes excellent, but looks different for sure.

 

[dyqik]

How much have you drawn from the keg? The first several pints may be seriously cloudy as any yeast or break material in the keg drops down, and chill haze settles slowly.

I've just kegged the second batch of a best bitter using this yeast (naturally carbing this one) - on the first batch, the first 5-8 pints (over the first week serving) were cloudier as the chill haze dropped slowly at around 50F, before clearing up. The second batch was crystal clear when kegging it at 65F after 6 days in primary (could see the cottage cheese yeast clearly in the fermenter with 2 gallons on top of it), but I'll see how it is after dry hopping, conditioning and cooling to 45F in a week or so. I had whirlfloc in both batches.

WY1968/WLP002 really doesn't need 3 weeks in primary if the temperatures are kept between 64-68F, and you pitch the correct amount of yeast, btw. 6 days can be enough !

 

[tagz]

I regularly use 1968 and it drops crystal clear within a week. I've also never had the attenuation issues others report. My last batch was super cloudy with no malt flavor, and eventually gave way to off flavors... Infection. It was the 5th or 6th gen though and I do remember the starter taking longer than usual.

 

[HuskerBrewer]

I filled a growler last night to take to some friends. Still fairly cloudy, but perhaps a bit better than it was after it had sat carbing in the keg for a week. Taste is pretty good, although a bit more on the fruit side than I was expecting. Either way it's going in my belly!

 

[mabrungard]

Husker, you didn't describe the water that you started with. A London yeast is expecting a fairly calcium rich water. The tsp of gypsum may not have provided enough calcium content if the starting water had low calcium content. Flocculation is directly related to calcium content in the water.

 

[forstmeister]

I have used this yeast a couple times with great luck. My ESB usually comes out pretty clean after a few weeks in the keezer.

 

[ScottG58]

I did same recipe. It was cloudy in keg at first. A month later, it's crystal clear. Might take that yeast awhile to clear.

 

[HuskerBrewer]

Husker, you didn't describe the water that you started with. A London yeast is expecting a fairly calcium rich water. The tsp of gypsum may not have provided enough calcium content if the starting water had low calcium content. Flocculation is directly related to calcium content in the water.

Our water here is pretty low in everything

Alkalinity as CaCO3 = 36.1 mg/L
Calcium as CaCO3 = 44.6 mg/L
Hardness as CaCO3 = 51.7 mg/L Lachat (don't know what Lachat is)
pH = 7.97
Chloride = 0 ? (The chart is blank so I'm assuming that means 0)
Sulfate = 0 ? (Same as chloride)
Calcium by AA = 19.0 mg/L (Don't know what the "by AA" means)
Magnesium = 1.9 mg/L
Sodium = 3.1 mg/L

I hadn't heard before that it was depended on the calcium content. I figured I was going to start low on the gypsum addition and gradually up the amount by a tsp or two if I re-brewed to see how it affected the hop bitterness.

 

[mabrungard]

Our water here is pretty low in everything

Alkalinity as CaCO3 = 36.1 mg/L
Calcium as CaCO3 = 44.6 mg/L
Hardness as CaCO3 = 51.7 mg/L Lachat (don't know what Lachat is)
pH = 7.97
Chloride = 0 ? (The chart is blank so I'm assuming that means 0)
Sulfate = 0 ? (Same as chloride)
Calcium by AA = 19.0 mg/L (Don't know what the "by AA" means)
Magnesium = 1.9 mg/L
Sodium = 3.1 mg/L

I hadn't heard before that it was depended on the calcium content. I figured I was going to start low on the gypsum addition and gradually up the amount by a tsp or two if I re-brewed to see how it affected the hop bitterness.

Yes, that calcium content "as CaCO3" ends up around 18 or 19 ppm in its ionic form. So it is low to start with. I'm guessing that only a tsp in 7 or 8 gallons of total water used in the brewing would equate to something like 40 ppm Ca added, so the content (~60 ppm) should have been OK in most cases. Maybe this yeast needs more? The sulfate content would have been quite modest too. I suggest that you should explore twice that amount as the starting point for a Bitter. You can always add a teeny bit of gypsum directly to the glass to see how you might like a higher sulfate content for future brews. Try to be proportional in that dose to the glass!

 

[hawktrio]

I brewed on this one on NY's day and have had the same experience. Thing is it was crystal clear when racking to keg so it's happened during transfer and/or carbonation. At 22℃ (71.6&#8457 it went from 1.039 to 1.011 in 4 days, diacetyl for 3 days at 24℃ (75.2&#8457 then cold crashed for 3 days at 0℃ (32&#8457. Flocc'dd beautifully as this yeast should do. I think my problem may actually lie with my boil in that it is not vigorous enough. The rest if my process I feel is solid. I'll get a portable camping element to sort out the boil and also try gelatin on this one again soon. Time in the keg no doubt will help though.

 

[bajaedition]

when I use London Ale Yeast I like to use poly clear a few days before I keg

it does clear on it's own but with the poly clear it strips it fast

 

[DrBrew809]

I did a 5 gallon All-Grain Fuller's ESB clone form AHS with the 1968 yeast. I always bottled them. Never tried to keg it.
After a considerable time fermenting (primary and secondary -although i don't like to do secondary) The beer came clear yeas BUT (there's always a but) it has many particles suspended in the liquid and some disgusting sediment on the bottom of all the bottles.
My wife says no way i'm going to drink this. I did crack some and pour them into a glass. They taste very light and not even near original Fuller's ESB. I did the recipe by the book and it was like my 10th AG batch. So, really don't know what happened. But what worries me most is that even following all instructions the beer is not close to what is should and the particles suspended in the bottles is something to start thinking into a filtration process -even though i believe that craft beer doesn't need it- but friends and relatives won't drink that. What a waste!

 

[USAFSooner]

I've done two batches with ESB yeast it takes a little bit to clarify. Let it sit in the keg for a couple weeks and try again. It should come out crystal clear.


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