Brewing our third IPA

[ccsueIPA]

I learned a great deal with our first two try at a decent IPA and we are both so excited about the one that we just turned over into the secondary fermenter.

We are hopeful that this batch is going to be clearer. And while it has just started the conditioning phase we were hoping to find some information on fining. I have not search the topics yet so forgive myu eagerness - but if anyone has some tips, please drop us a note.

cc

 

[Phil]

How hazy were your previous IPA's?

You can often get a slight haze from the sheer amount of hops used. I make IPA's with around 100IBU or more and they always have a very slight haze about them.

With my other beers I use gelatine to get them to clear quickly. One sachet dissolved in water on the stove (although not boiling) then thrown in the beer in the keg.

/Phil.

 

[ccsueIPA]

How hazy were your previous IPA's?

You can often get a slight haze from the sheer amount of hops used. I make IPA's with around 100IBU or more and they always have a very slight haze about them.

With my other beers I use gelatin to get them to clear quickly. One sachet dissolved in water on the stove (although not boiling) then thrown in the beer in the keg.

/Phil.

Well, our first was very cloudy indeed - the second was much better with the only addition to the recipe being Irish Moss. Still not where I would like to be however but better for sure.

With this third batch I was thinking about the "gelatin" route but i am not kegging - I will be bottling. Silly question but can I still somehow use the gelatin with intentions of bottling?

Please excuse the novice questions - we are new to this very exciting hobby.

cc

 

[J_P]

Hi CC welcome to the wonderful world of brewing.

You mentioned you used Irish moss, did you rehydrate it and for how long? You should rehydrate it an hour or so before you add it (usually 15 minutes from the end of the boil).

Personally I use a protafloc tablet when I add my 15 minute hops. Once the boil has finished I leave it for 20 or so minutes for all the break to settle out and then run it into the fermenter.

Once the beer is fermented out I fine it with gelatine like Phil describes and leave it for a day before bottling / kegging. If the beer still wont clear I find a week or two in a cold environment clears pretty much any haze.

Keep us posted on how you're doing :drink:

 

[ccsueIPA]

Hi CC welcome to the wonderful world of brewing.

You mentioned you used Irish moss, did you rehydrate it and for how long? You should rehydrate it an hour or so before you add it (usually 15 minutes from the end of the boil).

Personally I use a protafloc tablet when I add my 15 minute hops. Once the boil has finished I leave it for 20 or so minutes for all the break to settle out and then run it into the fermenter.

Once the beer is fermented out I fine it with gelatine like Phil describes and leave it for a day before bottling / kegging. If the beer still wont clear I find a week or two in a cold environment clears pretty much any haze.

Keep us posted on how you're doing :drink:

UGH! Sadly, no I did not “rehydrate” the Irish Moss – as much research that I have done, I have not read that yet… Ant that bring s me to this point… With as much info as there is online, books and mags – why is there NO definitive source on brewing?

Again – we are very new so I am sure all these pearls of wisdom will come into play soon enough.

Thanks – I think I may look into this “gelatin” form of fining while this batch is still conditioning. It only has been in the secondary for one week so I have some time for research.

Since its to late for something like protafloc tablets, are there any other safe additives that can be added before bottling?

cc

 

[J_P]

Hi CC welcome to the wonderful world of brewing.

You mentioned you used Irish moss, did you rehydrate it and for how long? You should rehydrate it an hour or so before you add it (usually 15 minutes from the end of the boil).

Personally I use a protafloc tablet when I add my 15 minute hops. Once the boil has finished I leave it for 20 or so minutes for all the break to settle out and then run it into the fermenter.

Once the beer is fermented out I fine it with gelatine like Phil describes and leave it for a day before bottling / kegging. If the beer still wont clear I find a week or two in a cold environment clears pretty much any haze.

Keep us posted on how you're doing :drink:

UGH! Sadly, no I did not “rehydrate” the Irish Moss – as much research that I have done, I have not read that yet… Ant that bring s me to this point… With as much info as there is online, books and mags – why is there NO definitive source on brewing?

Half the fun is finding out for yourself, the net, books and videos can only take you so far the rest is up to you 8). It's very hard to totally balls things up completely as long as you sanitise properly

Thanks – I think I may look into this “gelatin” form of fining while this batch is still conditioning. It only has been in the secondary for one week so I have some time for research.

Since its to late for something like protafloc tablets, are there any other safe additives that can be added before bottling?

Now is the perfect time to add gelatine. Boil the water, turn off the heat, dissolve the gelatin and add to secondary easy. Breweries use Aux finings and isinglass to clear their beers I've never used them before but I know Wez has so if you can get hold of them then give Wez a PM and ask how to use them. Personally I've not had any clarity problems I can't shift with gelatin and a spell in a cold environment (read locked in the shed in February).

 

[Wez]

Firstly cc a very warm welcome to the forum, make yourself at home!

J_P mentioned that I use finings, this is true however I have a haze issue since upgrading from 5 gallon to 10 gallon brews however I did used to have a chill haze problem, and I fixed it with the following process (approximately).

After fermentation get the fermentor in a fridge for 24 hrs at 4c
Add 50ml aux finings and leave at 4c for 72 hrs
Add 50ml issinglass and leave for 72hrs at 4c (don't mix AF and IG they cancel each other out)

Bring up to serving temp - hay ho - crystal clear :pray:

This though isn't working for me on the bigger batches so i'm fault finding my processes again.

One important point to remember with beer It's more about how it tastes that how it looks. But then....we do all want a nice star bright beer though

Would be interested to see the recipe you're working from if you wouldn't mind

Wez

 

[ccsueIPA]

Firstly cc a very warm welcome to the forum, make yourself at home!

J_P mentioned that I use finings, this is true however I have a haze issue since upgrading from 5 gallon to 10 gallon brews however I did used to have a chill haze problem, and I fixed it with the following process (approximately).

After fermentation get the fermentor in a fridge for 24 hrs at 4c
Add 50ml aux finings and leave at 4c for 72 hrs
Add 50ml issinglass and leave for 72hrs at 4c (don't mix AF and IG they cancel each other out)

Bring up to serving temp - hay ho - crystal clear :pray:

This though isn't working for me on the bigger batches so i'm fault finding my processes again.

One important point to remember with beer It's more about how it tastes that how it looks. But then....we do all want a nice star bright beer though

Would be interested to see the recipe you're working from if you wouldn't mind

Wez

Sure but I am at work right now - I will be out of here soon and I will gladly post my IPA recipe...

I am really glad I signed up here.

 

[Wez]

Great, Thanks

You'll find we're a friendly bunch Glad you joined us :)

 

[russt1969]

You'll find we're a friendly bunch

Much nicer than "other" forums :):)

 

[Wez]

Hey, cc

Would still like to see the IPA recipe you've used if you don't mind

What method of fining have you settled on?

 

[ccsueIPA]

Hey, cc

Would still like to see the IPA recipe you've used if you don't mind

What method of fining have you settled on?

Sorry guys - I have been in and out of the house - will try and get it posted sometime today....

 

[Wez]

Nice one cc, thanks

 

[J_P]

I've a quick question for you CC. I tried some American craft beer recently and the thing that stood out for me, aside from the clever use of hops, is how do you make the beer so malty?

 

[ccsueIPA]

I've a quick question for you CC. I tried some American craft beer recently and the thing that stood out for me, aside from the clever use of hops, is how do you make the beer so malty?

Well I may not be the one to take this question (again, I am very new)

However on this my 3rd attempt at a unique IPA that was actually one of the things that I tried to deal with. I love IPS's and all their hoppy character. I feel like I was able to get a very nice full Hop flavor and aroma with my 2nd batch. It was a nice beer. But it did not have a wonderful balance of the malt vs. hop. With this 3rd batch I wanted two things; 1) a better balance of malt and 2) keep (and maybe even kick-up a bit) my hops aroma and taste.

I came at my recipe a lil strong on the malt 9.9 light malt extract - hoping that this would up my ABV and also compete (hopefully nicely) with my Cascade hops and give me the balance I am looking for.

cc