Trouble with sediment

[JMath]

I am on my second 3 gal gf IPA and both batches have had a lot of sediment suspended in the beer. I'm not sure how to handle it. I'm not overly concerned with the aesthetic of the beer but the first batch had a ton of sediment in the bottles, to the point where it was difficult to pour the whole beer without bringing any along.

I did a secondary fermentation including a dry hop, but after a two week primary and a two and a half week secondary, the second batch is still super cloudy. It seems cold crashing is not an option unless you keg, due to suckback/oxidation issues.

Should I just give it more time? Or do I need to pony up and buy a fining agent? I never really had this issue with non gf beers.

 

[billl]

You can cold crash without kegging. Lots of people do.

If you want it to clear faster, plain jello works fast and it's cheap.

 

[dobes]

agree with cold crashing and using the gelatin. Ive used the gelatin with good results but don't really use it anymore because it don't bother me to let a beer clear on its own for a while if needed. ive bottled quite a few beers after cold crashing and never had a problem not sure what the issue would be.

 

[Legume]

Using a whirlfloc tablet in the last 15 min of the boil seems to help.
Sorghum extract produces rediculous amounts of trub. Rice extract produces far less trub.

 

[glutarded-chris]

I just started into IPA territory and am on the 3rd IPA batch. My first one had the same issue you describe because I forgot to put in the whirlfloc tablet and it was the first batch that I just threw the dry hop tablets into the fermenter rather than in a muslin bag. I left it in for a few extra weeks before transfer to the keg and that seemed to help. I now use a pre-boiled bag for dry hopping every time.

Cold crashing really helps, but I use a conical now and don't have a way to do it. I have used the gelatin before when I used yeast that would just not give up, but I agree with the statement that it is not worth the trouble. I just don't use Windsor or Nottingham and it clears on its own.

What yeast did you use and how did you dry hop?

 

[JMath]

I used Nottingham on the first batch and BRY-97 on the second. Do those have a reputation for not settling? What would a good alternative be for IPA?

As for the dry hopping, I've just been putting the pellets into the secondary. This time I had quite a lot of foam and most of the hops hung around at the surface, so I think next time I will do a muslin bag with something to weigh it down.

Now for the cold crashing, I did some forum reading and the consensus seemed that there's no easy way to keep oxygen or sanitizer from getting into the beer as it cools, unless you have some kind of CO2 container hooked up to it. It seemed that it was more trouble than it was worth. That being said, I do have a fridge with a temperature control module that would work great for cold crashing. Is there a method that I'm missing?

In the few days that I started this thread, my current batch has actually cleared somewhat. It's just very slow.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[glutarded-chris]

Not sure about BRY-97 but I have had a lot of trouble with Nottingham and will never use it again.

Dry hop, I boil the muslin bag for 15 minutes and put 3 sanitized marbles in the bag with the hops.

 

[JMath]

Do you use a Saffale yeast instead? I thought I remember reading that those weren't GF.

 

[blizz81]

You can cold crash without kegging. Lots of people do.

I'm curious on this one as well. I haven't had any problems with the S-style airlocks + a carboy re: suck back that I have noticed. If this was really a concern, nobody could ever lager in carboys, right?

 

[glutarded-chris]

Safale yeasts are gluten free as are most of the dry yeasts.


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[glutarded-chris]

On the cold crash thing i have cold crashed many times in a better bottle and had no problem. I use vodka in the airlock and if any got sucked in it would be no problem. Just have to remember to take airlock out before picking up to carry to cooler.


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