Cloudy Beer. Too Much Protein. Any Tricks?

[ntillemans]

I brewed a 6.7 % Abbey Ale. I did a mini mash with flaked oats, flaked wheat and flaked barley. I tried to hit all the rests; but the beer is still very cloudy just days before I mean to keg it (5 weeks from brew day). The ale hit the target gravity, tastes good and has a nice, creamy mouthfeel. But the clarity is way off for the style...more like a cloudy wheat beer. It's sitting in the secondary carboy in my kegerator at 38 degrees. I've added gelatin; but that hasn't done much at all. Anything else I should try?

Thanks

[Nate Diggler]

Time, or filtering. If it isn't a competition beer... fuck it, enjoy your tasty cloudy beer

[Mylo]

Well, you frost brewed it.... Might as well cold filter it. Then you can have the coldest beer on Earth.


Mylo

[ziggy]

polyclar. It's supposed to remove chill haze. Also try one of those quik kleer double pack things. I don't remember exactly what they are called but it's two packs of liquid that you put in.

[ntillemans]

Well, you frost brewed it.... Might as well cold filter it. Then you can have the coldest beer on Earth.

Heh. I would rather the Belgian went through conditioning closer to 32 F. But, then, I don't want my serving beer any colder than 38 F. I would rather serve beer at closer to 45 F. I need to convert another chest freezer. So I can have one for fermentation and one just for serving.

Time, or filtering. If it isn't a competition beer... fuck it, enjoy your tasty cloudy beer

I just went to a local brewery last night. Their Belgian Pale Ale was just as opaque. So, I don't feel so bad about it. I'll see how it looks at serving temp.

polyclar. It's supposed to remove chill haze. Also try one of those quik kleer double pack things. I don't remember exactly what they are called but it's two packs of liquid that you put in.

I read that polyclar can cause accelerated deterioration of beer due to the removal of polyphenols. Have you added it to any beers yourself?

[ziggy]

Nope, never used polyclar. Also never have cared about a beer being cloudy.

[TampaBrew]

I have used gelatin on many beers. Works well. Sometimes, i'll add it at kegging. SOmetimes I add it after it's carbed. Depends on whether i remember or not.

Belgians are usually a bit cloudy though.

[ntillemans]

Nope, never used polyclar. Also never have cared about a beer being cloudy.

It doesn't bother me too much either. It's just always nice to have more control over the finished product with a little bag of tricks.

I have used gelatin on many beers. Works well. Sometimes, i'll add it at kegging. SOmetimes I add it after it's carbed. Depends on whether i remember or not.

Belgians are usually a bit cloudy though.

I added the gelatin about a week ago and it still looks like a Hefeweizen. I'm sure it cleared up a bit, though.



I could think of worse things. The residual oat and wheat protein add some pleasant characteristics to the style. So, I'll take it...

Still, in this case, I'm guessing an ounce of prevention would have gone a long way towards producing a clear beer. I didn't have any 2-row on hand for the mini mash. So, I was missing some enzymes in the mini mash. I thought hitting all the mash rests would help damage control; and I thought Irish Moss in the boil and cold temps and gelatin in the secondary would clear up any residual cloudiness. But it appears to me that gelatin only does so much. And, short of filtering the ale (or waiting longer), it doesn't sound like there's much else I could do to fix it now.

Thanks everyone who responded.