Clear Beer - The process of beer clarification from malts to finished beer.

Clear Beer - The Process Of Beer Clarification From Malts To Finished Beer.
Beer Clarity - Clarifying your beer - This is a great deal more complex than people realize and this is why I see a lot of people struggle with it.
I will go over the items in the order they would be used in brewing your beer.
1. Grain Crush
2. Malt Conditioning (optional)
3. Quality Grain Bed - Can be enhanced with rice hulls
4. Recirculating your wort with a quality grain bed
5. Last 5 minutes of your boil - Irish Moss, Super Moss HB, or Whirlfloc tablet
6. Wort Chiller like an Immersion Chiller
7. At pitching temp - White Labs Clarity Ferm
8. Choosing a highly flocculant yeast
9. Cold Crashing and time
10. Finishing or Fining agents like Gelatin
Links to items mentioned or recommended:
Cereal Killer Grain Mill (effective and inexpensive):
www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Ki...
amzn.to/3jOLwlh
Irish Moss
www.homebrewing.org/Irish-Mos...
Five Star Super Moss HB
www.homebrewing.org/Five-Star...
Whirlfloc Irish Moss Tablets (My personal favorite)
www.homebrewing.org/Whirlfloc...
Jaded Brewing Scylla (and other immersion chillers)
jadedbrewing.com/collections/...
10" Funnel
www.homebrewing.org/10-Funnel...
White labs Clarity Ferm
www.homebrewing.org/Clarity-F...
Gelatin Finings
www.homebrewing.org/Gelatin-F...
Other Beer Finings
www.homebrewing.org/Beer-Fini...

[@Homebrew58]

As a homebrewer for 25 years I can honestly say that the day I let go of my irrational obsession with clear beer is the day I started enjoying my beer more.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Flavor is king in my book. I end up with clear beer from time to time without any real effort towards it. My original reason for using gelatin wasn't for the clarity so much but to help pull excess crap floating around in my early brews as I was still learning (as I feel we all are to some degree and I enjoy that part) but I had a habit of trying lots of different fruits and the pulp never seemed to leave suspension but maybe it was just adding to the flavor. 😀 Also I envy your 25 years of brewing as I truly wish I discovered homebrewing much earlier in life.

[@TheGavranatar]

@@BitterRealityBrewing i would totally agree. But for non seasoned beer drinkers who visit and want to try a drink they probably don't see it that way. So clarity is a nice trick to pull out of your hat when you need it. (I don't really need to as i don't have any friends and drink all my beer myself :)

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

@@TheGavranatar 😂😂😂 about the drinking it all yourself...I'd be a raging alcoholic if I did that but there have a been a few kegs that didn't get shared out to many people as my oldest and I loved them too much. I don't always try to clarity as flavor is king but sometimes I get lucky without much effort.

[@kevindeegan141]

I think he know what he’s talking about, nothing against him, but I’ll never understand homebrewers giving a fuck. If you really want clear beer just lager it for months. No one really cares. However, I do appreciate the man’s videos.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Sorry this got filtered by YT and I cleared it. Thank you.

[@SoederHouse]

Love your channel. Prep work before I start brewing in the fall.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Love you Castaway thumbnail LOL - Thank you for the kind words. I have a lot planned this year just trying to find the time to get it all done. I spent most of my weekend from day to night re-doing my entire keezer system and cleaning (I did make the mess) but things are coming together nicely.

[@joewhiting9038]

Another excellent video ! All info and no B.S. or sales pitch. Keep up the good work !

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thank you and thanks for the support. (Sorry for the delay in replying as I've been setting up my new brew space at my new house.)

[@svengalil]

Greetings from Lincolnshire, UK. First time viewer and subscriber to your channel. Great work indeed and keep up the great work.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thank you and I appreciate you chiming in. I had never heard of Lincolnshire before so I had to look you up, beautiful city and it would appear Lincolnshire probably has a ton of history. Hopefully in the next year or two after our new house is built we'll be getting over to your side of the world to appreciate the world outside of our own. Love history and sadly here in the U.S. it doesn't date back nearly as far or as interesting.

[@Louz_Drumz]

All great points. Great video

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thank you.

[@PartyTimeBrewing]

Very well presented! Cheers!

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thanks as I worked pretty hard on this one as I had a fair amount of people asking me about this before I did the video.

[@WolfKingBrewing]

Some great tips here! Well-made video. Clarify ferm is awesome stuff! I generally use whirlfloc, cold crashing and gelatin and get good results in general, but I do find gelatin fining to be sort of inconsistent. Sometimes it works amazingly and other times it is only MOSTLY clear.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thank you and I did have one brew with Kveik that acted up when I tried to clear it up so I can relate but overall the cold crash and the gelatin have worked well but I've been shocked at how much the clarity ferm has done on too many occasions.

[@59apachestepside]

Biofine Clear works wonders in the keg. 1 or 2 teaspoons per 5 gallons beer is clear after dumping the first pint. My beer typically always drops crystal clear after 3-4 weeks in my kegerator depending on recipe. I only keg particular about clarity when I need to transport kegs for a remote occasion. I started incorporating and intermediate “brite” keg before transferring clear beer to a fresh serving keg. No sediment to shake up and haze a beer when it arrives at its destination.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thanks I was wondering about the Biofine but would love to see a comparison. Also I was going to recommend a floating dip tube (a recent addition for me) to avoid the first pour with yeast but traveling has a habit of shaking things up so even that would help shortly after agitation. The 3 to 4 weeks I'm assuming you mean without Biofine, correct? As I would expect it to do a lot like Gelatin which is usually 3 to 4 days although about a week or two later it is usually even a bit more see through.

[@JH-in5oq]

It took me awhile to get clear beer, but now it’s consistently clear. Basically what this guy says is true. Keep your wort as clear as possible throughout the process. Aim for clear wort going into the fermentor. I make my batches .5 gallon bigger so that I can leave all the sediment in the bottom after fermentation. Do a long primary fermentation to give it time to settle. At least 3 weeks, it should look clear before you rack into keg. After kegging leave it overnight to get cold. Add gelatin, set at serving PSI, and wait 2 weeks. No force carbing you have to be patient. Tap the keg and the first 1/2 pint will be cloudy. After that should be very clear.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Isn't it funny when you first start wanting clear beer you have so many issues but once you take your time and follow a process that works for you (everyone has their variations) you can't stop getting clear beer even when you really didn't care. I would say try dropping your batches to only around .25 more than you need as that should be plenty unless you are doing a fruited beer as I just did two and Blackberries are as bad as their friend the Red Raspberry as they were a nightmare to get the beer without sucking up the fruit particles so I had to leave a bit more behind compared to usual. I actually do almost everything you do to a fair degree. I ferment for 2 to 3 weeks although I usually pitch Clarity Ferm more so for sharing my beer to people that might have gluten issues as I figure it helps with some of the protein/chill haze if it is present too. Then after transferring to the final keg, I put a bit of gelatin in, set to about 2 psi higher then I expect to leave it at and give it about 2 weeks if I can wait that long. I also use floating dip tubes about 95% of the time too. My recent Soursop Gose came out amazingly clear and I quick carbbed it with over pressuring and shaking the living hell out of it about 2 days before tapping and was shocked how clear it had become in just the 2 days after shaking...and trust me I got a serious workout shaking it. I shook 4 - 3 gallon kegs as I was under the gun to complete the taste testing for the upcoming videos.

[@smitty7592]

Great video and all great suggestions. One other component to clearer beer is your water, specifically calcium levels. Beersmith recommends 50-150 ppm, but at least 50 will help with flocculation among other things. Per the Oxford Companion of Beer: Proper calcium levels in beer can lower pH, preserve mash enzymes, increase extract yield, improve yeast growth and flocculation, accelerate oxalate removal, and reduce color.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I had heard this but forgot. Now you have me going down another rabbit hole as I am beyond OCD on this stuff. 😂 - I just did a google search for "Benefits of calcium in beer." Now, I'm thinking that next time I do a brew on the slightly lighter brewing salt additions, I might bump everything up a tiny bit to ensure my calcium levels aren't too low. Thank You.

[@jimo5481]

I have been going with the two teaspoons of gelatin, and it has been working out great.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Awesome as I'm dying to do a video testing 1 vs 2 tsp to see if there is any noticeable flavor or aroma differences but according to Brulosophy it doesn't.

[@iamonky]

Thx. Great Video!

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thank you.

[@hifly1929]

I think I`ll start with the 2% moisting the grains. Heard that one before but forgot. Then maybe just keg it, let it sit for a month maybe 2 and then push it to the next kegg. Gues that could work as well. like you said time,... thanks for so much info. New subscriber :)!!!

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thank you very much and I'm sorry for the late reply (been working a lot). I really do love the clarity of the wort when adding the moisture to the grains before the crush but I am usually lazy but hope to get better when my new house is completed as I'll have a lot more area to work. Gelatin is my go to but honestly everything adds to it from the grain bed, the White Labs protein enzyme if you choose to use that, the cold crashing, and then the gelatin helps speed things up a bit.

[@joe.skiles]

Thanks for the video! Biofine clear is amazing, you should give it a try. 1/2 oz per keg is all you need. I just inject it through the gas post if the keg is full already, shake it a bit, give it 2-3 days and its crystal clear. Best to get it into your keg right when you rack into it though. To keep oxygen out while you add it, just use a plastic QD and poke a plastic syringe into it. Works great.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thanks for the feedback (sorry for the delay as I was out of town) on Biofine as I hadn't spoken to anyone who had used it yet. I will do a few more videos related to this in the not-to-distant future and will do some major side-by-side comparisons including Biofine. Thank You and cheers! 🍻

[@paulgerrard9227]

Many say why bother. Lets see if they buy a cloudy beer in a pub. Never. So always seek clear beer

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Very true for most beers, especially the bigger commercial brews. I'm a hit or miss on some of the hazy beers and usually avoid them as some just taste like a think juice.

[@vorg_]

We use a flocculant and then we use three stages of filter; pre, 20micron, then 5micron. Crystal clear beer. I recommend you try finishing it like this since you have a filter set up already. If you do the gelatin first and use a pre-filter; you shouldn't run into clogging issues.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Actually what you didn't see if I actually have a few of those filter setups as I use to try to run the beer years ago through a coarse filter and then directly into a finer filter in line back to back but...like I said it use to get stuck which drove me nuts. As of late the few items I've been using when I really want a clear beer have been working amazingly well. I was actually shocked with the Clarity ferm as I was just testing it for chill haze but it works really well after a whirlfloc tablet to the point I probably don't even need the gelatin but I'm so use to it, I just do it anyways.

[@iantaylor1696]

Excellent video. Some tips on how to add the clearing agents would be helpful ie do you stir it into the wort or can it just sit on top. When brewing under pressure I inject gelatin with a pressurized coke bottle through the valve but have mixed results. Good stuff keep it up.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Great suggestion as I could easily cover only clearing agents and how to use them. Thanks.

[@wd6358]

Good timing. Just brewed a WCIPA yesterday and ill be using gelatin for the first time with this brew. My Red IPA came out fairly clear without it.. Good info!

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Awesome as my choice for IPAs is either West Coast (easier to find at my local breweries) or the hard to find Red IPA (which almost always has a bit of rye...which I really like a lot). So when should I swing by to get my growlers filled?

[@wd6358]

@@BitterRealityBrewing Haha anytime after Texas thaws out! Check out the weather here in DFW this week. We haven't hit these temps in 30 years!!

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

@@wd6358 Holy Crap! 33F No Thank you! and I thought all the rain we've been getting was bad! I've been to a handful of cities throughout Texas and always felt it was a lot like West Palm Beach weather where I grew up but 33F...is FAR from South Florida temps.

[@wd6358]

@@BitterRealityBrewing We'll be in the negatives tonight! High of 9 tomorrow! I'd love 33 at this point

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

@@wd6358 Let's put it this way...I get cold on the dairy aisle in a grocery store, so no thank you...I think I'd have to move further south.

[@jct4647]

I'm a bottler of mainly Ales, and by using high floculant yeasts like Lallemand Nottingham or Mangove Jack's M42 or Mangove Jack's M44, compacts anything to the bottom and I can pour a clear beer out of a bottle similar to any commercial version.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Awesome as I haven't bottle conditioned lighter colored beers in a long time (years) and I know some of mine would come out really clear but it was usually due to sitting in the fridge for prolonged periods. Nottingham has always been a popular yeast and I've tried Mangrove Jack's M44 West Coast which I liked but M42 I can't remember if I used that or if I still have it in my beer fridge waiting to be used. Thanks for sharing as I really didn't have a lot of advice for people bottling as I always remember telling people to pour slow and leave the last bit in the bottle to avoid the massive B vitamin boost from the yeast on the bottom.

[@ravilshirodkar1901]

Very useful video, from start to finish. I love to use gelatin in brews where it enhances the overall experience, like in a Cream ale / lager. I'll try using a bit more based on your reco of a teaspoon / gal, tho I'm a small batch brewer (1.3 to 2 gal max). Must try Clarity Ferm when I get a chance to order it from the US. I live in Mumbai (India) and must rely on friends/relatives in the US when they swing by. Cheers and happy brewing. Ravil

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

so you'd be 1/5 tsp per gallon which might be hard to measure but if you are close you should be good. I wasn't worried about the gluten but feel that is a big bonus since I share my beers out to a lot of people regularly. I'm itching to brew a cream ale and a lager.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I am starting to realize that we are spoiled when it comes to availability of products here in the U.S. and I guess we just don't realize how hard it is to get some products in other parts of this world. Although I did watch a video about a year ago with a person in India showing how to use certain herbs to help with his bittering as he wasn't able to get hops and I was impressed at his resourcefulness at achieving his goals.

[@ravilshirodkar1901]

Thank you so much for replying. I loved making / drinking the cream ale... achieved lager-like clarity by end of four weeks in the bottle (refrigerated). Time and cold conditioning as you pointed out.

[@ericblank6232]

Really great videos and tips. Well put together! Regarding filtering: Instead of using an inline mechanical filter like you have shown in the video; could you use different micron size bags? Like they use for cannabis extractions

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Easily as I've used coffee filters and even paper filters (by micron) for wine filtering so a bag would work the same.

[@matt8630]

Great detailed information. I used Irish moss on my pale ale that is currently fermenting. I'm planning on using gelatin in the keg. Question: should I "cold crash" in the keg for a few days before connecting to CO2? I would do the cold crash in the fermenter, but I have a thin plastic fermenter with a spigot. I'm afraid of the possibility of oxygen being sucked into the bunghole if using the fermenter. Cheers!

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I do all three at the same time. Just move your beer carefully as possible to a pre-CO2 purged keg (closed transfer if possible) with the gelatin added just before the transfer. Then add to your keezer (or like) and put the CO2 on it. (I prefer to just apply 30 psi for a few days and thing bring it down once it is carbonated but the whole time it is chilling out) This way it is ready to drink even as it is still clarifying as I hate to wait. If you decide you can get a floating dip tub so that way you pull from the top of the keg so you will see clear beer much earlier otherwise it might take a bit longer if pulling from the bottom like most of us. I just starting trying out a floating dip tube and am impressed but honestly I don't see much of a reason to get any expensive ones as the expensive ones only help with the last glass unless you have other things floating around in your keg that need to be filtered out.

[@apack76]

I am new to homebrewing (started in Jan 2021) and went down the rabbit hole of homebrewing VLOGs! I just started using whirlfloc and havent racked my beer to a bottling bucket yet. When do you recommend putting gelatin before bottling? 2-3 days before bottling? Thoughts... Thanks for your awesome video!

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Thank you a welcome to the endless rabbit hole as there is plenty of room down here. Most people who bottle don't use gelatin from my understanding as the options are limited. #1 you want to avoid O2 so if you are going directly from fermentation to bottling I'd recommend avoiding the gelatin. After 2 to 3+ weeks of bottle conditioning and 2 to 3 weeks of being in a fridge your beer should be relatively clear unless it had something to create a haze like wheat, flaked grains, or certain yeasts. If you REALLY want to try gelatin you can do two things - one you could cold crash with the gelatin in a container like a carboy or you could add gelatin during bottling and after the bottle is carbonated, flip them over for a day (disturb them a bit) and then put them in the fridge and they theoretically should clarify a bit better. Back when I went straight to bottling I had some clear up nicely within a few weeks in the fridge and some took a great deal longer based on the style and what was in them. Just starting I really wouldn't worry about clarity and when it comes out clear just count it as a bonus. Thank you again for the support and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

[@mattschuster9241]

I am still bottle conditioning my beers, and generally get very clear beers with only a whirlfloc tablet and a little time in the beer fridge.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Awesome and honestly I have some very old (but still delicious) Saisons I made a while back that use to look a little hazy but all of them with age in the fridge are very clear.

[@staveb0mb]

Like you mentioned, I have heard rapidly cooling the wort helps with clarity. I have the ability to chill rapidly with a plate chiller. As I pump this through my system everything seems to come back together but later settles into two distinct laters in my fermenter. You recommend chilling the wort and letting it settle and then taking only the clear wort from the top to put into your fermenter? Thanks. Great video!

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Actually this is very normal sometimes worse than other times. When it is done fermenting assuming you don't need a secondary for something (most of the times you shouldn't need a secondary), just move everything but the trub (yeast cake) to a keg or bottles even if it is a little foggy as the cold crashing in a keezer or fridge it should clarify the rest of the way based on the grains and yeast used as some of course will simply never clear up 100%. If you are using a keg (and in theory even bottling) I still recommend using gelatin as it will help a lot.

[@emericmartin1326]

Thanks for this video. It’s the most thorough on the topic I could find. Just a question about lactic acid. I recently started to use 5 ml in a gallon of water to reduce the PH of the mash. My beer is hazy regardless the temperature ever since. I tried using gelatin but with limited success. Could lactic acid lower the Calcium in the water and thus impact the flocculation of the yeast? My water contains 80 ppm of calcium.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I'm really not sure but I know lactic acid can be used to dissolve into solution as it has been used to remove calcium build up on equipment. I did a bit of research and can't find anything relating to it being hazy nor can I remember where I have used it if the beer had a haze afterwards or not. I did see a test where Brulosophy did a comparison of phosphoric acid vs lactic acid but both of his beers came out really clear and all he uses from my understanding is gelatin and cold crashing. Have you tried using a full teaspoon of gelatin?

[@emericmartin1326]

@@BitterRealityBrewing I tried a full teaspoon both in the fermentor while cold crashing and later in the keg. I recently tried to add gypsum to increase the Ca with the same amount of lactic acid to see if things improuve. It's curently fermenting.

[@jongerenski1545]

Just started using Whirlfloc and it’s amazing how clear my wort is when checking OG! I also cold crash before bottling and have been pleased with the clarity. I’m going to start recirculating wort during the mash on my next brew as I’ve got a new pump coming later this week. With the pump if I want to limit the flow do it on the output side of the pump, correct?

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Correct on the output, that is actually something I learned in 2020 to avoid damaging my pump. Also keep with the Whirlfloc tablets as I mentioned I've used straight Irish moss and the Super moss (which I thought would be the best) and honestly the good old Whirlfloc seems to have the best results for me. I can saw a difference when I went from Irish moss to the super moss but I saw a huge difference when I went to the whirlfloc tablets.

[@jongerenski1545]

@@BitterRealityBrewing thanks

[@lawreven2522]

Thank you so much for your video! It's very informative and clear. May I ask two question: 1)I am using a all in one system and plate chiller, should I do whirlpool right after boiling process or I should whirlpool after I chill the wort with plate chiller? When should I do whirlpool? 2)For cold crash, If turn the keezer to 35f and put my fermenter in for cold crash like 24 hour or more, will that affect my other beer in the same kezzer?I mean can I store my beer in the kezzer and also use it for cold crash? Thanks

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

1. Whirlpooling isn't necessary but can help allow any debris from the grains and hops to clump into the center of your all in one system to reduce how much is pulled into your fermenter. I almost never do this as I know everything will fall out of suspension rather quickly during fermentation and the remainder during cold crashing. 2. I use my keezer as my one and only cold crashing source for almost all of my beer and have been doing this for many years without any issues. I do keep my keezer at 34 F on the bottom as the temp towards the top is usually in the high 30's and sometime even in the low 40's. (I could keep it warmer if I installed fans to circulate the air flow but I tried and had some issues with space so I never completed that install. So I simply keep it cooler and take my temps from the coldest spot on the bottom, right next to the compressor area of my keezer. So with that said keep in mind if you drop your keezer to 35F make sure you are getting readings for your temperature control from the VERY Bottom to avoid seeing 35F from half way up in the keezer as that would mean the bottom would be around 32 or lower which could cause your beer to freeze into ice. I made this mistake once as I moved my temp probe to the shelf and forgot to put it back on the bottom (My temp probe is rubber banded to the side of a can of beer that I will never drink.)

[@lawreven2522]

​@@BitterRealityBrewingThank you very much and I just rewatch this again since I got problem on my last batch. I think I make a terrible grain bed and it turns out most of my grain from the middle to bottom got very sticky and the mash is not completed. Most of wort was run though only the top part of grain in the inner bucket in the all in one system. So I remove the nylon bag inside the inner bucket(yea, I think I over do it with inner bucket and nylon bag together for filtration instead of making a good grain bed), and mash again and keep string the grain bed. The wort turn super hazy of course. That why I am checking how to do better for the grain bed and thank you again for all the information!

[@gilleslejeune6823]

Thanks. With Gelatin floculation, what about living yeast we need to carbonate the beer in bottles after sugar addition ?

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

For bottling, I've always just relied on cold crashing and time. I will say I've never personally tested it but I've had a few people tell me you can use a small amount just before bottling but if so I would add a very small amount of cask & conditioning yeast to help boost yeast count for bottle conditioning especially if the beer has been filtered or aged a bit before bottling.

[@dantyner5595]

Would you recommend cold crashing in the fermenter and also gelatin in the keg for a clear beer? I have done just gelatin in the keg and been happy, wondering the differences if one or both are better than the other. I am currently cold crashing 24 hours to try it, but was thinking about adding gelatin to the kegs also.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Sadly my fermentor only gets to the low 60's so all of my true cold crashing is in my keezer and If you really want it clear I would recommend adding the gelatin, just be careful not to splash things around. In 3 to 5 days with gelatin and low cold crash temps if your brew can be clarified (based on yeast and ingredients) it should show a considerable difference in clarity but a little more time will always help a bit. I just started trying a floating dip tube which pulls from the top as the top of your brew clears much faster compared to the beer near the bottom of the keg.

[@Pingwinho]

All great tips, but your bottling method is backwards. Add gelatin too secondary and cold crash in bulk. Then bottle.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I'll have to re-watch the video. My new recommendation (Video still needing to be produced) is if you have kegs, is to add everything to a keg, purge, and then transfer your beer to the keg with bottling sugar and any additions like Gelatin and then bottle off of that keg.

[@prodanman]

Been watching & re-watching your Beer Clarity video. We brew BIAB & modified my lid for a Clawhammer Sprayer For recirculation. Should I recirculate like the last 10-15 minutes in my mash? What would you recommend. I'm brewing a Oktoberfest with flaked barley so I know I won't get overly clear beer but I would like it as clear as possible.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I've never been asked or considered only recirculating the last 10 to 15 minutes. During the mash, I would use some rice hulls (about 4 oz for a 5-gallon batch, assuming you only have about 1 lb of flaked barley, if more, consider increasing that) and let it sit for 10 minutes to allow your grain bed to rest before starting recirculation. Once you start recirculation, I would let it run low and slow for most of the mash duration, not just the last 15 minutes. The rice hulls will help with circulation and contribute (a very tiny amount) to catching some of the debris being recirculated. Plus, consider some gelatin during your cold crash to help clear things up over a few days while being carbonated. (Be very careful if you have to move this keg after cold crashing, as it can stir things up.)

[@splashymothtv9952]

I just started brewing my first batch with a 5 litre kit from Grain Bucket and I noticed while transferring the wort into the fermenter is that my wort is greenish grey, its a pale ale. The kit doesn't come with any sort of clarifier. It's now on day 3 of fermenting.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Greenish grey sounds a bit weird but I'd just let it go and once it is done fermenting if you are bottling, I wouldn't worry about the clarifying as it will clear up a lot once it has been fully carbonated and been sitting in the fridge for a while chilling out. After your 5th+ brew if you are bottling you can mix a little bit of gelatin in with the priming sugar solution. 5 liter sounds like you are bottling as I started with 1 gallon kits which is about 4.5 liters.

[@chrismd00]

Irish moss isn't moss: it's carageenan and the Floc tabs are the same thing but more purified.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Yep, sorry if I didn't make that clear as I didn't want to deep dive into it being a type of algae. I've never had good luck with Super Moss from 5 Star, and although plain Irish moss does a good job, it is a pain to clean if not cleaned up immediately. I've come to prefer the Whirlfloc tablets for doing a great job and not adding to my clean up.

[@fdk7014]

You add the moss at 5 minutes? I usually add at 15 minutes as that is the instructions I've been given however I usually end up with some transparent clumps sticking to the the boil kettle which I'm sure is the protafloc (in my case, same thing) coagulating.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I have a lot of Irish Moss and used to use it a lot but prefer the Whirlfloc tablets (that of course contain the Irish Moss) . I fully agree with you on how great it does but when I used just the straight Irish Moss, I found cleaning up the transparent clumps sticking to the kettle it was a bit of extra work to clean up, plus they feel a bit gross. I also tried Super Moss from 5 Star but I really didn't feel it did a good job at all (I think it would have worked better if I used twice as much as recommended.)

[@Reptile36snakeman]

Would like to hear more about cold crashing and how you do it. I will be kegging for the first time in a few weeks after I get the first beer done. Could you elaborate more on this. How you do it? I heard about suck back and was trying to avoid this. Awesome content! 👍🏻

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I add 1 tsp of gelatin to 1/2 cup water and once blended (15 seconds in the microwave, and then 10 second bursts until dissolved) I add it to a clean keg and purge it with CO2. I then do a closed transfer of the beer from the carboy/fermenter which I have a video on that but it is also in most of my PART 2 beer brewing videos. I then put the keg in the keezer and allow it to cool while carbonating with CO2 (You'll never have suck back in a keg). This usually take 3 to 5 days but if you want the clear beer sooner than it might be read, you can use a floating dip tube to pull from the top as the bottom of the keg will take longer to settle out compared to the beer at the top of the keg which will start to clarify sooner.

[@Reptile36snakeman]

@@BitterRealityBrewing so finish fermentation in my secondary carboy then keg it with my closed system I made. Transfer to keg. Put keg in the fridge and Leave it pressurized for 2 weeks and drink?

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

@@Reptile36snakeman OK I missed that part about the 2nd carboy. Have you already moved your beer to the secondary? And if you did, why? Was there a good reason to move to the secondary? unless you are adding flavors or dry hopping in a secondary, I was recommending moving everything to the final keg from the primary (assuming it was 100% done fermenting) with the gelatin, cold crashing (in the keezer or like) and carbonating it all at the same time. If you are dry hopping then yes you might want to wait before doing all of that although I dry hop in a keg which is my secondary and then I move to another keg as my final resting place. Check out my Top 10 recommendations video that comes out tomorrow at 10 AM (it is a weekly series going for 30 weeks and tomorrow will be week 21 where I actually cover a lot of the secondary fermentation and kegging as a secondary.)

[@Reptile36snakeman]

@@BitterRealityBrewing thanks so much. Think I got what you’re saying. I have been watching a lot of those videos and will try to catch that one tomorrow. Just doing planning first batch new anvil will be Tuesday

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

@@Reptile36snakeman Awesome! Let me know what your first brew is and how it turns out! My first was a big Pliny the Elder which came out amazingly well as one of my best IPA brews I ever brewed.

[@jazzyboydc]

When do u add gelatin in. Before fermentation or after. I've read about both ways. What's ur preference

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I've just about proven the best time to add it is to the keg either just as you are preparing to cold crash it or after it has been cold crashed. Don't add it to any keg that is going to get moved around a lot of shaken as the gelatin will be pointless or you could add more again which I have done once before with great results. Personally I add it to an empty and clean keg. I then purge the keg with CO2 and start my transfer of my beer that has finished fermenting 100%. I prefer to move it under pressure if possible but of course based on the fermenter that isn't always possible.

[@OysterBoysBrewingCo]

When using gelatine do you ever have it where the Krausen coagulates at the top and won’t drop out when cold crashing? I think I may have been using too much gelatine.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Did you make beer gelatin? 😂😂😂 Just kidding but that would be interesting. Actually I always move the beer to its final resting place in a keg where the gelatin is so I am always past the krausen issue as it is left behind in the original carboy/fermenter.

[@OysterBoysBrewingCo]

@@BitterRealityBrewing Haha to be fair I listened to a Brulosophy podcast about it and they recommended adding it when its moved to the keg. Plus I was using sheets and I've heard powdered is best.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

@@OysterBoysBrewingCo I didn't know there were sheets available as I only use the powdered stuff in about 1/2 cup of spring water.

[@mousetrapbrewing9566]

Do you know if super kleer works on cold beer? Or if it needs to be room temp.

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

I'm not sure if it is overly temp sensitive but I will say it has worked better for me when my wine and beer temps were in the low 70s. I did try it after cold crash and didn't see as much improvement compared to the 70 to 72 F temps which appeared to work a bit better for me. Honestly I've had much better luck with gelatin compared to Super Kleer aka Chiosan and Kieselsol.

[@mousetrapbrewing9566]

@@BitterRealityBrewing awesome thanks for the reply! I’ll just stick with gelatin then.

[@slugger777]

Thanks for the tips. I have a lot harder time seeing as some people drinking beer with me are vegan. Soo no isinglass or gelatin for me. But thanks for the tips. Might try some biofine in the future I see that is at least vegan

[@BitterRealityBrewing]

Clearity Ferm is an enzyme which will help if you need it crazy clear, but honestly we did a beer last year that had nothing in it and had a lots of wheat, but after a nice long cold crash in the servering keg it came out crazy clear.