Cloudy beer from kegs

[Diablo]

I've just got my kegerator set up and kegged my first two batches last week. However, the beer from the kegs is cloudy even after 9 or 10 pints have been pulled. My bottled beers were always clear with maybe a slight chill haze but the kegged beers are pretty cloudy. I never used finings before but did use Whirlfloc in the boil for the two kegged beers. Is there something about kegging that makes the beer cloudy or do I just need to leave it longer in the kegs before drinking ? It was been kegged since Monday.

 

[david_42]

I haven't seen this, maybe the kegs are a bit cooler than your bottles were making the chill haze worse.

 

[Diablo]

I guess I can let a glass warm up to see if it is just chill haze.

 

[Slinkymaster]

i'm having the same problem

 

[Hammy71]

I've had a few cloudy beers from kegs. But....it always came from me being 'sloppy' when transfering the beer from the carboy to the keg. If you stir up a bunch of the trub when your siphoning....it'll take 3-4 weeks sometimes for the beer to clear up in the keggerator. Keeping it cold for an extended period before you drink will help it clear. You have to figure...your bottles sit still for 3 weeks (hopefully...) before you open them....you've hit this with CO2 and tried to drink it after a week. Give it a week or two. If it still doesn't clear you may want to start using some gelatin finings...(speeds up the clearing process with cold beer....

 

[Dwain]

First, does your beer taste good? If so, +1k with Hammy. Be patient, it will be fine. If it tastes good and it's not chill haze, it almost has to be trub. Let us know. - Dwain

 

[samc]

+1 - Three weeks is usually when my kegged beers clear up which is about the time it takes to get a bottle well carbed. You can also cold crash for a few days prior to kegging which should speed the process.

On a side note, I brew I2PA often and finally went to Rogue in Newport to compare. They serve a very murky unfiltered I2PA which was almost as good as mine (LOL), ok theirs was pretty good as well just a lot more $$$$$.

 

[Slinkymaster]

The beer taste fine, it just looks like im drinking motor oil. They have only been in there for a 7-8 days and this is my first time using my kegerator, hopefully time will clear it out. Not that I personally care, its just a hard sell for the miller lite drinkers of the world.

 

[JesseRC]

If the keg has been sitting for as long as your bottles would , then you cant compare. Let the keg sit. +1 for cold crashing next time.

 

[bgough]

The first couple of brews I kegged took about 2-3 weeks to start clearing up.

After these first couple, I started cold crashing for about 2 days before I kegged. Now the beer seems to clear up in about a week. Usually crystal clear by 2-3 weeks.

Either way, you should let it sit for a couple weeks before you really start drinking it. Just because it's cold and carbed, doesn't mean it's conditioned.

 

[Diablo]

The beer tastes good. The cloudiness doesn't bother me so much but I had a couple of friends over for beers on Halloween. They still thought the beer was great and they seemed surprised that they had zero hangover the next day.

My bottled beers were always clear but I never drank those 5 days after packaging.

I guess the moral of the story is: Time heals all beer.

 

[shortyjacobs]

It takes me a minimum of 2 weeks to clear naturally in kegs in the fridge.

If you want a shortcut, go buy Knox unflavored gelatin packets. Sprinkle one packet into cool water in a pot. Wait 30 minutes. Bring the water up to "almost simmering", (but NOT boiling!), you are aiming for 180°F here. Hold it at 180F, or shut off the heat (which is what I do), and let sit for a few minutes to kill everything in there.

Bring pot to keg, (cool it if you want, but I just dump it in hot), disconnect gas, purge CO2, pop the keg lid, dump in the gelatin/water and swiftly secure the lid on the keg, (the beer will foam when you dump in hot gelatin water, so be quick with the lid). Reattach gas, purge keg a few times to get rid of any O2.

Wait 24 hours, pull one cloudy/gelatin-y pint, and your beer will be crystal clear thereafter.

 

[KillerKellers]

Yeah, I find my kegs clear up in a couple of weeks... but if I rush it, I just tell people "its natural and unfiltered." Damn hippies think its extra special at that point!

 

[knightbeer39]

^
that's funny