Cloudy Amber

[unclebarrel]

Hey guys,
after a little bit of advice/reassurance.

A week and a half ago I put on an amber ale, upon checking the gravity last night I found that it looks more like watery gravy than beer.
I was kind of expecting a nice rich looking ale.
I used a Morgans amber ale kit. The kilo pack of sugar/dextrose that you get when you buy a home brew kit (not great I know but felt like I had to use it ).
I bittered it with fuggles and dry hopped with galxy ( I am aware ambers are not always very hoppy, but I love hops....dont we all )
The brew was at about 28 degrees when I pitched the yeast ( safale 05) , I pitched it at that warm a temperature because I wanted to go to bed and could be bothered waiting till it cooled down a little.


Now for the big NO NO........in an attempt to cool it quickly, I washed off and sterilised a couple of cooling blocks, like for eskys, and dropped them in for ten minutes.
I assure you, I washed and sterilised them GOOD !!!!!

Was this my problem ??

Look forward to advice......or public ridicule !!!
FYI...this is only my 3rd brew, so be gentle !!


Scott

 

[labels]

Some more information would be good.

Is it fermenting? Can you see a thick foam on top of the beer and is the airlock bubbling. Is there any activity that you can see.

As for the cooling bricks, if you indeed sanitised as you say and they did not leak, I don't see a problem however, beer is at it's most vunerable for infections at that point.

Steve

 

[thedragon]

Scott, we've all done things that seem like good ideas at the time but have regretted later. Some more info on the current situation would help. What does it smell like? Did you have a sip of the sample used to check the gravity? How's it taste?

 

[warra48]

Cloudy looking beer after only 1 weeks in the fermenter, and using US05?
Sounds fairly normal to me at this stage.
Once you reach final gravity, that's being sure your fermentation is over, drop the temperature of the brew to about 2C or so for a few days.
Then bottle (I assume you bottle), and leave it for 3 to 4 weeks to carbonate and settle down.

I'll bet it will clear in that time.

 

[Helles]

A week and a half at ambient temp
It is still fermenting and full of active yeast
Dry hops can add to the cloudyness
They all look impresive coming out of the boiler
Cloud up as they ferment And then clear
Into Malty hoppy goodness if all things are done right
Hydrometer reading mid/late ferment will be cloudy taste yeasty and sweet More often than not

 

[super_simian]

The brew was at about 28 degrees when I pitched the yeast ( safale 05) , I pitched it at that warm a temperature because I wanted to go to bed and could be bothered waiting till it cooled down a little

Could you..or couldn't you?

 

[unclebarrel]

I COULDNT be bothered ! Thanks for the typo check !

It is fermenting, there is not a 'thick' foam on top,but foam none the less and the airlock was bubbling for a few days. As for the smell and taste, it does smell like beer ! Has a slight yeasty and ever so slight sour smell/taste, nothing drastic though.
I am planning on bottling tomorrow night, should I turn off the immersion heater as per your suggestion Warra ? I am in melbourne so for the next couple of days the temperature will be 16. My fermenter is in an insulated box I made, so the temp will cool a little but be pretty stable overall.
Maybe I bottle on sunday ??


Thanks heaps for all your advice fellas. Good to know there are experienced dudes out there who are willing to help.


Scott.

 

[jakethesnake559]

I COULDNT be bothered ! Thanks for the typo check !

It is fermenting, there is not a 'thick' foam on top,but foam none the less and the airlock was bubbling for a few days. As for the smell and taste, it does smell like beer ! Has a slight yeasty and ever so slight sour smell/taste, nothing drastic though.
I am planning on bottling tomorrow night, should I turn off the immersion heater as per your suggestion Warra ? I am in melbourne so for the next couple of days the temperature will be 16. My fermenter is in an insulated box I made, so the temp will cool a little but be pretty stable overall.
Maybe I bottle on sunday ??


Thanks heaps for all your advice fellas. Good to know there are experienced dudes out there who are willing to help.


Scott.

Hi Scott,

As warra mentioned, it's important that you make sure it has finished fermenting before bottling/dropping the temp.
You should get the same hydro reading 3 days in a row and it should be down around 1.010 (depending on what you're brewing of course).

If you have access to a big empty fridge, you can put the whole fermenter in there and drop to 2c.
This will cause any yeast in the beer to drop out of suspension and go to sleep on the bottom....giving you better clarity.

Anyway, if it smells and tastes OK at this stage, it should end up OK.

Good luck...post some more details for better advice :icon_cheers: .

Jake.

 

[unclebarrel]

Hi Scott,

As warra mentioned, it's important that you make sure it has finished fermenting before bottling/dropping the temp.
You should get the same hydro reading 3 days in a row and it should be down around 1.010 (depending on what you're brewing of course).

If you have access to a big empty fridge, you can put the whole fermenter in there and drop to 2c.
This will cause any yeast in the beer to drop out of suspension and go to sleep on the bottom....giving you better clarity.

Anyway, if it smells and tastes OK at this stage, it should end up OK.

Good luck...post some more details for better advice :icon_cheers: .

Jake.

no stress guys, thanks again.
Another gravity check tomorrow and if its stable I might bottle it and see how I go !


Scott

 

[unclebarrel]

no stress guys, thanks again.
Another gravity check tomorrow and if its stable I might bottle it and see how I go !


Scott

Just an update if you blokes care to hear.
I bottled the amber on friday night, I did bottle one little clear bottle just so I could keep an eye on the clarity.
All is well ! A bit of sediment but nice rich looking brew !
I can hear the 'I told you so" 's coming now !!!!!

But seriously, thanks again for all the advice.


Amber in the bottle ( lets hope it tastes good)....Hefeweizen in the fermenter !!!

Happy days !

UB out.

 

[thedragon]

I did bottle one little clear bottle just so I could keep an eye on the clarity.

This is the first time that I've heard of using 1 clear bottle to watch the clarity - great idea.

I hope that the amber turns out well. I'm sure that it will. Let us know how it tastes.