[j14douglas]

I am new to this forum and relatively new to home brewing. I have had some good success with US pale ales and IPA's and recently turned to an English pale ale, since i am originally from England (moved to the US in May 2020). The recipe was based on one of my favourite beers from the UK and uses a mix of UK and US hops. I brew using a small 5 litre BIAB kit and after 2 weeks of primary fermentation I primed and bottled and left for another 2 weeks before cold crashing. The colour of the beer on bottling was perfect and the clarity was crystal clear so i was very hopeful that the final beer would be spot on. Today i had my first taste (after 24 hours cold crashing) and the beer poured cloudy and slightly darker in colour than before and there was very little yeast/sediment left in the bottle. On previous brews for different recipes the clarity has always improved upon cold crashing. Any thoughts?

[RC]

Welcome! Assuming the beer tastes ok, the cloudiness is probably just chill haze. At cooler temps, proteins and polyphenols from the malt temporarily bond into large aggregates and form haze. If it goes away when the beer warms to room temp, then that's what it is.

Clarity upon cold crashing on the one hand can improve as the yeast sediments, but on the other hand can get worse from chill haze. Net clarity will depend on the balance between these two things.

Beer that gets darker after packaging is usually a sign of oxygen damage. Move the beer as gently as possible during bottling, and if possible add a small amount of new yeast in your priming bucket. It will consume any added oxygen and can help the beer stay fresher longer. Since the damage is already done with this batch, drink it soon as soon as possible and enjoy it before the flavor deteriorates.

[tommymorris]

I agree with RC on everything. However, the beer has only been chilled for 24 hours. It might be more clear in a few days to a week. That said if it tastes good drink it.

To fix chill haze chill faster after your boil.

To fix clarity, cold crash in the primary fermenter (after fermentation completes) and then add gelatin to the primary. Leave the gelatin in for a week and then bottle. Follow RC’s instructions about adding a bit of yeast to the bottling bucket.

https://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/06/how-to-clear-your-beer-with-gelatin.html

[j14douglas]

Thanks RC and Tommymorris for the advice. The beer tasted ok but not as flavourful as i wanted but importantly i didnt pick up any off flavours. so maybe it's ok and i just need to tweak the ingredients to change the flavour next time.

I will leave it for a few days in the fridge to see if a few extra days help with clarity or not and check it at room temp to see if it's chill haze. Also thanks for the tip about oxidation and adding some fresh yeast during bottling. My chill time from boil to yeast pitching temp is typically no more than 20 minutes using the ice bath method. Without an immersion chiller i am not sure i can get it down any quicker.

Thanks again for the tips!

[neuse]

"and if possible add a small amount of new yeast in your priming bucket." What is the added yeast for? I've never done that - thought it was just needed for special circumstances like super long fermentation, etc.

[Silver_Is_Money]

If you can keep it at about 32-34 degrees for a week or so it will hopefully rid itself of the chill haze.

[narcout]

I will leave it for a few days in the fridge to see if a few extra days help with clarity or not and check it at room temp to see if it's chill haze. Also thanks for the tip about oxidation and adding some fresh yeast during bottling.

Chill haze tends to dissipate if you keep the beer in cold storage long enough.  The particulate will eventually aggregate and drop out of suspension.  In my experience, it takes more like 4-6 weeks than a couple of days though.