Cloudiness

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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ostaz
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:24 pm

Cloudiness

Post by ostaz »

I am brewing a California pale ale. I'm in the secondary fermentation stage now for about 10 days. The beer still seems rather cloudy. I have been told that I can "force" clarify the beer by putting the carboy in my extra fridge and chilling it very cold (32-40degrees) for several weeks before botting. At this time I would add corn sugar and bottle at room temp for carbonation. Does this temperature flux seem wise.....I don't want to ruin my batch.
Thanks
BillyBock
Imperial Stout
Imperial Stout
Posts: 561
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2000 11:37 am
Location: Ohio

Clarifying

Post by BillyBock »

Do you know what the source of the cloudiness is? There are many ways to clarify the beer. Besides cold and time, you can use finings such as: gelatin, isinglass, and polyclar. What you described is the au naturale method. I do this everytime before I bottle or keg--get it as cold as I can to drop the extra yeast. Then I use gelatin in the keg to bind up whatever made it through. The brief temperature swing upwards again is ok. Don't worry, your beer will be fine. And I'm quite sure you'll have enough yeast to carbonate in the bottle. I'd be more worried about letting it age at room temperature for extended periods.

Hope this helps.

v/r
Bill
ostaz
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2003 5:24 pm

re: Clarifying

Post by ostaz »

Thanks for the input. I'm not sure what is causing the cloudiness...it's probably just normal yeast and proteins floating around. When you mentioned aging at room temp for extended time, are you refferring to the phase I have it in now...in the carboy? Or in the bottles afterward? How long should I leave the carboy at room temp until I drop the temp for clarity? Also, my fridge gets pretty cold...around 32 degrees, will that be ok?
Thanks for the help!
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