When I buy an unfiltered IPA and it’s cloudy when I pour it, what is making it cloudy? Is it the yeast, and if so, why then doesn’t it taste ‘yeasty’ like my own IPAs do when the sediment gets stirred up in the bottle?
If there is no sediment in the bottom and its a well made and unfiltered IPA then the haze is probably hop driven.
Or alternatively it could be centrifuged. Many craft breweries are using them now.
If it is an unfiltered IPA it is probably a combination of yeast and hop tannins. But the difference between your IPA and a commercial IPA is you probably have a lot more yeast sediment in your beer, especially if you are bottle conditioning.
That unfiltered beer may be cold crashed and/or centrifuged, which helps clear out the beer before it gets into the bottle. So even though some of the yeast and other compounds that would be removed by filtration remain, they remain at lower levels than what you have in the typical homebrew.
So which yeasts would you suggest are best for creating a compact yeast cake, that don’t stir up easily in bottles? Ones that are suitable for an American IPA.
Its less about the strain and more about the quantity. You need very little yeast to get proper carbonation.
Sierra Nevada is the prime example. You can barely make out the layer of yeast on the bottom of their bottles.
Jamil say:
"…you need about 1 gram of dry yeast or 1/5 of a liquid yeast package per 5 US gallons of beer. If you’re not going to rehydrate the dry yeast, double the amount to 2 grams.
This is the rate Sierra Nevada uses after filtering, so this should be more than enough."
I think he elaborates in the Yeast book. This snippet is from a NB forum post.
Carbing in the bottles will then take longer, presumably?
perhaps slightly, but since it is fresh healthy yeast, if you keep the bottles in a 75-80f space they should carb up plenty fast.
+1
It shouldn’t be an appreciable difference.
I don’t secondary my beers, so what I should do is cold crash my carboy as best as I can for a few days and then bottle?
it certainly wouldnt hurt.
How long of a primary are you doing? Ive had beers that are pretty dang clear even after primary before any secondary or cold crashing.
I second this: I checked gravity on an ale I made 11 days ago this morning. In the hydro test tube, it looked like the clearest beer I have ever made. I will not be cold crashing this with the IPA I started to cold crash today. Cant wait to get them carbed up and taste them. I have never filtered any brew, but have been cold crashing where appropriate for about the last 6 batches or so. I really like what it can do for clarity.
Edit to add pic:
And that’s with a poor photographic background!
For my IPAs I normally leave in Primary for 3 weeks, including a 7 day dry hop. So 21 days in total. I’ve only used US05 so far for my IPAs and after 3 weeks carbing and about a week in the fridge they certainly are very clear. But they never seem to get rid of that slightly yeasty taste. Even when super clear. And as I said, the yeast at the bottom stirs up very easily making it difficult to pour without leaving at least a half inch in the bottle.
US-05 is quite powdery. I’ve had problems getting this yeast to drop out as well.
If you like the flavor profile of S-05, try fining w/ isinglass or gelatin a few days before transferring to the bottling bucket.
Also, make sure you’re keeping the racking cane a few inches above the bottom of the bucket. Just leave the last few inches in the bucket/carboy behind.
You could also try a more flocculant yeast. S-04 clears really well without fining or cold crashing. At lower fermentation temps (62-64F) the esters are very subtle.
S04 will drop like a rock but it never seemed to dry out as much as I liked for American styles.
+1
Hmmm, perhaps. It might take a little bit longer. I’ve got a dampfbier carbonating now that I cold crashed for 5 days, bottled it, and it’s been 2 weeks. It’s still bit light on carbonation. I trust that it will carbonate, but it just might take 4 weeks to get there. It’s damn clear though, and I like that. And there’s just a dusting on the bottom of the bottle (like Sierra Nevada) and I also really like that.
I would add yeast to my bottling “bucket” (keg), but I don’t want to waste most of a pack. The extra time waiting for it to carb is good for the beer anyway. I’m usually drinking all my beer (on tap) waaaaay too early and young.
Hey, I’ll be curious to hear how that dampfbier comes out for you. It’s a style I’ve wanted to brew for a while and I always end up brewing something else. And I assume it was mostly Pils with some Munich ?
Yeah, that’s basically it. Kind of Oktoberfest-y with that phenolic hefe yeast character. Nice an clear and gold, bordering on amber. Instead of Munich malt I used Red X malt. I think it was 65% Weyermann floor malted pils and 35% Red X. It’s a nice beer. Still needs time to carbonate, but I’ve been drinking about one a week to check it out. Another couple weeks it ought to be good to go.