homebrewandbeer.com

Hey Guys,

Just after some quick advice, I had a taste of my first brew, it was a MSB Two Row Wheat Lager - no hops or any other additives, it was brewed on the 23/12 and then bottled on the 31/12. I had one last night and I was actually quite impressed.

However I have a couple of quick questions.

1).The beer was a bit cloudy after I chilled it - is there a way to stop this?

2). I used Coopers carb drops (1 per bottle) and I used Hahn Premuim bottles - stubbies - I found them to be a little "over carbonated". I have seen carbonation calc's but they want to know what carbonation level you want? What is the standard? BTW I will not be using drops in the future - DEX all the way

3). I am doing my third brew this weekend - which will be a double brew i.e. 46Litres, Is it worth brewing a Lager if I have no way to keep to temps low. Basically my 2 previous brew sit around 22C? I wanted to do a Hahn Premium clone, but was now thinking it might be a bit of a waste?

Cheers
Mick

Hi Mick,

How long was it refrigerated for? The cloud may settle if it was in the fridge for a day or less.

I do not use carb drops anymore as I found they were inconsistent and generally overcarbonated. I now use dextrose to much better results. 5-7g per litre is a good place to start. For my dark ale recently I used 145g dex and found that to work well. It takes a bit longer to carb up, but it's all by the by if you are ageing your beer properly anyway.

Pale_Ale wrote:Hi Mick,

How long was it refrigerated for? The cloud may settle if it was in the fridge for a day or less.

Thanks Pale,

It was only in the freezer for about 40 minutes - In the bottle before I chilled it, it was crystal clear, but once chilled and poured into a glass........

While we're talking about the Coopers carb drops, has anyone else noticed the recent improvement?

The last 2 packs i've purchased have been totally uniform in size and also shaped differently (long and skinny). I no longer have the drop stuck in the bottle opening problem and it'll be interesting to see if they carb more accurately.

Noodles wrote:While we're talking about the Coopers carb drops, has anyone else noticed the recent improvement?

The last 2 packs i've purchased have been totally uniform in size and also shaped differently (long and skinny). I no longer have the drop stuck in the bottle opening problem and it'll be interesting to see if they carb more accurately.

I've noticed that too Noodles, they've definitely changed. Only used them once so far, so can't comment on whether they're any better or not.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-1.html

Symptom: The (finished) beer is hazy/cloudy.

Cause 1: Chill haze This is the number one cause of cloudy homebrew. It is caused by an insufficient cold break during cooling after the boil.
Cure: Use a wort chiller.

Cause 2: Starch If you made an all-grain beer and had incomplete conversion, or added/steeped a malt that needed to be mashed to an extract batch, then you can have residual starches in the beer that will cause cloudiness.
Cure: Watch the mash temperature and mash longer next time.

Cause 3: Yeast Yeast strains that have low flocculation, such as German Hefeweizen, will cause the beer to be cloudy.
Cure: Use a different yeast strain if you want a clearer beer.

In all cases, cloudiness can be combated by adding fining agents (e.g. isinglass, gelatin, Polyclar, bentonite) after fermentation. When all-grain brewing, the clarity can be enhanced by adding Irish Moss towards the end of the boil.

Yeah they are much better

used the new shape carb drops on my first two brews
but have used the older ones (came with the kit/fermenter) on my last two

hopefully they will be alright, but the first brews were good,
carbed nicely
better than my expectations with making beer for the first time ever
b

buscador wrote:used the new shape carb drops on my first two brews
but have used the older ones (came with the kit/fermenter) on my last two

hopefully they will be alright, but the first brews were good,
carbed nicely
better than my expectations with making beer for the first time ever
b

I wouldn't worry too much about using the old carb drops. A lot of people don't like them but in my opinion they're fine, never had a problem with them.

Obviously they're a lot more expensive than using sugar, the main reason I use them is that i'm a lazy prick. Everyone will tell you to bulk prime, which is great if you've got the extra carboy, etc. I don't bulk prime and get nicely carbed, clear beers using carb drops.

Hi Fuzz,
Wheat beer are supposed to be (somewhat) cloudy. This quote from the BJCP guideline for wheat beer:

"The high protein content of wheat impairs clarity in an unfiltered beer, although the level of haze is somewhat variable. A beer "mit hefe" is also cloudy from suspended yeast sediment (which should be roused before drinking). The filtered Krystal version has no yeast and is brilliantly clear."

Wheat can also appear to be overcarbonated-my first batch (Morgans Golden Sheaf) had a great head. From the BJCP again:

"A very thick, moussy, long-lasting white head is characteristic."

Sounds like a great, true-to-style beer to me.

http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/Category15.html

Steve.