Hi m8, we had a bit of a discussion about my cloudy beers over at Jims and how it may have been the water. Well I'd reply in that thread but the latest changes to that forum have made it horrid to read and I cba to search for it. 
Anyway, I've had a few pints of my 4th AG tonight and it was virtually crystal bright from the first pint off the full to the brim cornie keg! I'd actually bottled the last 2 litres remaining into a PET bottle and this was rather cloudy despite tasting good so I had low expectations of the kegged stuff. Couldn't believe it when I pulled a pint, virtually no haze whatsoever and that was the very first pint!
I have previously tried racking to secondary prior to kegging and still ended up with hazy beer. This recipe also had Terrified Wheat in it which I believe can cause problems, no such problem with this one. It is without doubt my best brew to date, both in look and taste and one I am going to repeat tomorrow (or later today rather).
So, what did I do that made such a huge difference? I ripped out several shelves from my fridge and left the fermented brew in there for two days prior to kegging. No secondary involved, just chilled it. I think the fact that I overshot my 23l finish mark by a few litres also helped as it meant that I could fill the cornie literally to the brim without taking the top layer out of the fermenter when I filled the keg. I also think that this is what caused my 2l PET bottle to be so cloudy, I was sucking dregs to fill that.
So tomorrow (today) I plan to repeat my mistakes and overshoot the quantities required by a similar margin and chill the fermenting vessel for a couple of days. :) I'd never get away with this if I weren't divorced, loving it. :)
Anyway, I've had a few pints of my 4th AG tonight and it was virtually crystal bright from the first pint off the full to the brim cornie keg! I'd actually bottled the last 2 litres remaining into a PET bottle and this was rather cloudy despite tasting good so I had low expectations of the kegged stuff. Couldn't believe it when I pulled a pint, virtually no haze whatsoever and that was the very first pint!
I have previously tried racking to secondary prior to kegging and still ended up with hazy beer. This recipe also had Terrified Wheat in it which I believe can cause problems, no such problem with this one. It is without doubt my best brew to date, both in look and taste and one I am going to repeat tomorrow (or later today rather).
So, what did I do that made such a huge difference? I ripped out several shelves from my fridge and left the fermented brew in there for two days prior to kegging. No secondary involved, just chilled it. I think the fact that I overshot my 23l finish mark by a few litres also helped as it meant that I could fill the cornie literally to the brim without taking the top layer out of the fermenter when I filled the keg. I also think that this is what caused my 2l PET bottle to be so cloudy, I was sucking dregs to fill that.
So tomorrow (today) I plan to repeat my mistakes and overshoot the quantities required by a similar margin and chill the fermenting vessel for a couple of days. :) I'd never get away with this if I weren't divorced, loving it. :)
