New To Kegs

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Darrylw

New Member
Joined
29/7/09
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
New to keg system and having bit of trouble with the last 2 batchers being cloudy. Any suggestions please. Thanks
 
New to keg system and having bit of trouble with the last 2 batchers being cloudy. Any suggestions please. Thanks

There are numerous reasons this could happen. We need more info. How long in the keg? What type of beer? How long have you been brewing & how long have you been kegging?

Its probably not the kegs that are your problem. More likely the beer.

Do a search on cloudy beer, also hazy beer (there is a difference)

Welcome to the forum.
 
What the above poster said.
You could also try gelatine. Works a treat for clearing up beers in the keg.
This will still depend on other factors as outlined in the above post...
 
+1 for gelatine

also are you force carbing or naturally priming the kegs. You'll get more cloudiness if you prime.

also on the aforementioned subject of haze - does the beer clear as it warms in the glass
 
You could try one of these from Ross

View attachment 29284

Jeez I hate this kind of response. Why jump straight to an expensive technological solution when you haven't even explored any procedural issues with Daggs' brewing and kegging process? Filtering should be a last resort IMO.

As mentioned above, Daggs, have a read on the forum about the reasons for cloudy beer and see if anything lines up with your process. At a wild guess, I would say (if it's not wheat beer) you are not giving your beer enough conditioning time before transferring to the keg, or your transferring provess is picking up too much yeast from the bottom of your fermenter. It could also be your yeast strain - some resuspend very readily, while others set like concrete. Alternately if you are mashing, it could be a procedural problem with your mash regime or boil. As mentioned by Bconnery, gelatine is also a good cheap solution to the problem.

Cheers - Snow.
 
How long did it sit in the keg?
If it sits in the fridge for about a week, mine tends to clear up fairly well.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice, coopers lagar with brew enhancer 1 up to 10 days fermentation. Did not drain off any before filling keg. beer seems to clear a little bit after awhile not enough though, taste is ok, carbonating over 2 days at 220 kpa I have brewed for about 5 years with bottles, switched to kegs about 2 months ago, how much gelatine per 19lt keg. Once again thanks everyone the for input. Darryl
 
Jeez I hate this kind of response. Why jump straight to an expensive technological solution when you haven't even explored any procedural issues with Daggs' brewing and kegging process? Filtering should be a last resort IMO.

As mentioned above, Daggs, have a read on the forum about the reasons for cloudy beer and see if anything lines up with your process. At a wild guess, I would say (if it's not wheat beer) you are not giving your beer enough conditioning time before transferring to the keg, or your transferring provess is picking up too much yeast from the bottom of your fermenter. It could also be your yeast strain - some resuspend very readily, while others set like concrete. Alternately if you are mashing, it could be a procedural problem with your mash regime or boil. As mentioned by Bconnery, gelatine is also a good cheap solution to the problem.

Cheers - Snow.

Obviously you don't filter. Why go into a long winded reply on the topic of cloudy beer when it has been said a thousand times before on this forum. At $145.00 I would hardly consider that an expensive investment nor really technical, just another way of stripping all the crap out of your beer, not withstanding protein haze and giving you a nice bright sparkling beer. If you haven't already done so so check out Craftbrewers description of their filter.

<_<
 
Obviously you don't filter. Why go into a long winded reply on the topic of cloudy beer when it has been said a thousand times before on this forum. At $145.00 I would hardly consider that an expensive investment nor really technical, just another way of stripping all the crap out of your beer, not withstanding protein haze and giving you a nice bright sparkling beer. If you haven't already done so so check out Craftbrewers description of their filter.

<_<
Mate I've drunk plenty of filtered beers, seen one in action and spoken at length to people who filter. If you don't think $145 is a lot to spend on something that doesn't really improve the flavour of your beer and replaces a less technical solution for beer clarity than other tried and proven methods, then you are a wealthier man than I. The point I was trying to make is that we didn't have enough information yet (chill haze? protein haze? yeast haze?) to just jump in and say an expensive solution is your best bet. Not having a go at filtering, per se, just saying let's explore all options first.

Cheers - Snow
 
I agree with Snow's point that a filter will fix the symptom, but it might mask the real issue....ie, is it a procedural problem? (edit - particularly if it's AG)

And yes, I filter. But not all the time....I use it as a tool, not a crutch. I filter when it's got to get into the keg quickly, and I don't have the time for other methods...and my fined beers, if treated correctly, are as bright as my filtered ones. It just takes longer. ;)

ps - at the moment I'm not filtering at all...I broke the cartridge and haven't gotten around to replacing it. But I will....
 
Filter is on my wish list further down the track. I drank many a magnificent pint of Hull Breweries Yorkshire Bitters on holiday in Scarborough (and I was a CAMRA member then so already a beer afficianado) and every drop of their product was filtered since 1928.

However that doesn't help the OP. Have we established yet whether this is a chill haze problem or a yeast problem? If the former then Polyclar and if the latter, perhaps switch to yeast that sinks like a rock, such as Nottingham.
 
Things to help your kit to keg brew
Make sure when you go to get not so slosh the fermenter around - this just resuspends the trub matter
Do you chill prior to transferring? Chilling helps to drop yeast out of suspension
Make sure watch inside the fermenter as you are transferring to check the trub isn't being sucked through the tap - especially important when there's not much liquid left in the fermenter.
Do you rack to secondary for some conditioning time? Helps to get off the trub, can kickstart the yeast for a few more gravity points, and also clears the beer a little. Follow this with a chill and some gelatine (or you can chill and rack onto gelatine)

Haze can be fixed by the addition of polyclar if it's chill haze. Add a few days after gelatine, then wait a few days more to keg.
 
etc etc.......... Did not drain off any before filling keg. ...................Darryl


Darryl,

This may be part of the problem, as there is a lot of gunk in the tap and surrounds. Next time, drain off a pint or two before attaching the transfer hose.

Also, 14 days in the fermenter will clear it up better. The beer going into the keg should
be crystal clear.


cheers
BB
 
Back
Top