Pumpkin Ale, Racked 11 days ago, STILL CLOUDY

[BigAssBeer-Co]

I am brewing a Pumpkin Ale, which I racked to the carboy 11 days ago. The brew looks good and clear, but only down about 6 inches from the neck of the carboy. The 'yeast line' doesn't seem to have moved in a week. Below that level, it is still cloudy.

Being a newbee (only my 4th batch), and never having brewed a Pumpkin Ale, I am worried about the clarity. Should I rack again, or add some sort of clarifying agent, or just be patient and wait. I want to have it ready to keg for the Thanksgiving family reunion (12 days away). Expert opinions welcome !!

[slothrob]

Can you chill it down to the 30's? That should make it drop clear, if it's yeast.

Adding some gelatin wouldn't hurt any, if you can get it cold.

What yeast did you use?

[BigAssBeer-Co]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK.

We used: White Labs WLP001 Wyeast 1056 (liquid) The Starting Gravity was 1.054 and when we racked, it was 1.015.

Yes, we can chill it down to the 30's if that will do the trick (have a chest freezer converted into a keggerator). You mentioned "that it should make it drop clear, if it's yeast.". If it's not yeast, do you think it would be pumpkin pulp ? Or something else ?

I've heard of using gelatin, but never tried it....what do I start with and do you have any special instructions on how to do it ?

THANKS AGAIN for your help !!

>>Can you chill it down to the 30's? That should make it drop clear, if it's yeast.

>>Adding some gelatin wouldn't hurt any, if you can get it cold.

>>What yeast did you use?

[slothrob]

I stole this method for using gelatin to clarify beer from a post on the Brewboard:
Crash chill the beer, as cold as possible
Use 1 cup of very cold water and one packet of Knox gelatin
Put 2/3 of the water in a pot and bring it to a boil
While waiting, sprinkle the packet of gelatin over the 1/3 cup cold water and allow it to bloom
Add the boiling water to the cold water/gelatin and stir until gel is completely dissolved
Add the gel mix to your cold beer
Wait one day
Rack off to a keg.

Just chilling the beer should be sufficient, though. Especially if the problem is yeast in suspension. This is quite possible, as WLP001 can be a slow floculator.

The other concern I had was unconverted starch from the pumpkin. It's not a huge concern, but it can make the beer cloudy and makes you more susceptible to bacterial contamination, because bacteria can eat starch, while yeast can't.

[BigAssBeer-Co]

Thanks slothrob !

I will try the crash chilling method first. And if that does not clear it up, will try the gelatin method when we are closer to our scheduled kegging time (to get the full secondary time).

I will post again after the Thanksgiving day taste testing, to let everyone know how it went.

Thank you.