How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Discuss making up beer kits - the simplest way to brew.
Post Reply
IHN
Steady Drinker
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:30 am

How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by IHN » Sat Nov 24, 2018 7:42 pm

First post, hope someone can help.

I'm attempting to get into the world of homebrew, and after trying a 'normal' kit brew, which went okay, I've got a Malt Miller Mini Mash kit on the go at the moment, which needed some grain steeping and hop boiling.

The brew seemed to go okay and it's been in the brew fridge for two weeks, at 19-20degC. The latest gravity reading is 1010, from an OG of 1045. It can't be far from done, but it's still, really, really cloudy.

Do I just need to give it time to clear before racking? It'll be going in bottles.

Any advice appreciated.

User avatar
HTH1975
Piss Artist
Posts: 224
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:24 pm
Location: Thirsk, North Yorks (ex-pat Geordie)

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by HTH1975 » Sat Nov 24, 2018 10:19 pm

If you can lower the temperature down below 10C it would help to clear the beer. Alternatively, try some finings.

User avatar
IPA
Under the Table
Posts: 1731
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:29 am
Location: France Gascony

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by IPA » Sun Nov 25, 2018 8:30 am

Transfer to another fv. Leave it for five days then add gelatine fining and leave it for another three days. Transfer to bottling bucket add priming sugar (2.5 gr per litre) disolved in a little boiling water and gently stir. Then bottle. A little tip. The first bottle should be a sanitised 500 ml fizzy water bottle. You can then check how carbonation is proceeding simply by squeezing the bottle. When it is rock hard the beer is carbonated.
"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." Dean Martin

1. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming... "f*ck, what a trip

It's better to lose time with friends than to lose friends with time (Portuguese proverb)

Alone we travel faster
Together we travel further
( In an admonishing email from our golf club)

User avatar
Meatymc
Drunk as a Skunk
Posts: 836
Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:36 pm
Location: Northallerton, North Yorkshire

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by Meatymc » Mon Nov 26, 2018 12:49 pm

Or a combination of the 2 - fine with gelatin, drop to below 10C then allow it to drift back up to around 17/18C before bottling.

User avatar
cwrw gwent
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 511
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:58 pm
Location: Pontypool, Gwent

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by cwrw gwent » Wed Nov 28, 2018 9:53 pm

If you're bottling the beer I'd just go ahead and wait for it to clear naturally. Barrels tend to take their time but my bottled beer goes from opaque to fairly clear after three days and crystal clear within a week.

User avatar
HTH1975
Piss Artist
Posts: 224
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2017 8:24 pm
Location: Thirsk, North Yorks (ex-pat Geordie)

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by HTH1975 » Thu Nov 29, 2018 10:28 am

It depends on the yeast if the beer will naturally drop bright with time. Some yeasts just don’t want to clear. If you WANT clear beer, then adding finings is a easy and simple way to do this (combined with crash cooling).

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by orlando » Thu Nov 29, 2018 12:42 pm

Meatymc wrote:
Mon Nov 26, 2018 12:49 pm
Or a combination of the 2 - fine with gelatin, drop to below 10C then allow it to drift back up to around 17/18C before bottling.
Finings tend to work quicker if the beer is already chilled. Try both ways and see which achieves your desired outcome. This guys experience echoes my own. This article has a lot more to say about fining in general and has some pertinent comments for those following the Protafloc thread, i.e. how much to use.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

Robwalkeragain
Hollow Legs
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2018 9:19 am

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by Robwalkeragain » Thu Nov 29, 2018 3:57 pm

Without boring everyone with science too much, protein haze is caused by polyphenols bonding with polypeptides...cooling the beer as low as possible will link them together creating a bigger surface area for the gelatine to work, then you add the fining and it'll glue it all together and drop it all to the bottom.

TLDR; get the beer below your intended serving temperature first, and you'll be fine.

User avatar
Northern Brewer
Piss Artist
Posts: 204
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:57 pm

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by Northern Brewer » Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:53 pm

The short answer to the headline question is - it depends, on the beer, on how much hops you've added, and in particular what sort of yeast it is. You don't want a wheat beer to clear at all, whereas some British cask yeasts drop like cottage cheese.

A bit of Irish moss/Protafloc during the boil will help drop out proteins which form a fine haze, but won't affect eg yeast which has the opposite charge.

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by orlando » Thu Nov 29, 2018 10:29 pm

Northern Brewer wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:53 pm
won't affect eg yeast which has the opposite charge.
Isinglass, gelatine, or Stokes Law (AKA time) sorts that.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

IHN
Steady Drinker
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:30 am

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by IHN » Fri Nov 30, 2018 2:41 pm

Thanks folks.

I've dropped the brew fridge temp down to 5degC, it's been like that for a couple of days and seems to be getting a lot better, if not quite there. I've not had chance to put it into another FV yet though, it's still in the original.

I'm tempted to rack and bottle it at the weekend, and leave it to settle/clear in the bottle. Does that seem sensible?

This was the yeast:

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product ... yeast-12g/

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by orlando » Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:30 pm

5 days is better but a couple is better than nothing, so if time is tight go for it. Are you going to use finings?
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

scotsloon
Piss Artist
Posts: 204
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:59 pm
Location: Kemnay, Aberdeenshire

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by scotsloon » Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:31 pm

What you desperately need to avoid is bottle bombs. you said on the 24th of Nov that the SG was 1.010. The rule of thumb is to check your SG over a 3 day period and if it hasn't changed then its probably OK to bottle. If its still in the FV can you take another SG reading and if its the same you should be OK to go ahead and bottle.

IHN
Steady Drinker
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:30 am

Re: How long for hops/yeast to clear in fermentation bucket?

Post by IHN » Fri Nov 30, 2018 4:56 pm

[i]5 days is better but a couple is better than nothing, so if time is tight go for it. Are you going to use finings?[/I]

I dropped it down to about 9degC on, I think, Monday, and dropped it down further to 5degC on Wednesday, so it'll have had a good few days at low temp by the time it's bottled on probably Sunday.

[I]What you desperately need to avoid is bottle bombs. you said on the 24th of Nov that the SG was 1.010.[/I]

I checked it again 48 hours later and it was steady at 1.010, so I'm happy nothing will explode. Well, ya know, ish :)

Post Reply