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TL;DR How can I tell what this cloudiness in my wort is? will it cause off flavors? if so, how do I get rid of it? and most importantly, if this is a problem, how can I prevent this from happening next time?

Ran my first all-grain mash about a week ago, 5 Gallon Saison. I've heard to look out for cloudy wort and the many reasons it may be cloudy. I'm not too concerned with a cloudy brew as long as it tastes good.

Lautered until the wort was nice and clear, looked almost like a dark bourbon. Then sparged. Collected a little less than 7 gallons. At this point the wort looked as clear I would expect an extract wort to be.

After the boil, cooled and transferred to the primary and you can hardly see through it, it's SO cloudy. Just a solid opaque haze in the primary.

I normally use a whirlfloc tablet, but in the hustle a my first all-grain I forgot to add it. I wonder if it would have dropped a lot of this out?

I read the cloud could be grain flour, I didn't crush my own, I bought it precrushed, but read that it SHOULD have settled out by the first week? Also wouldn't this cloud be in the wort prior to boiling?

Also read it could be tannins with proteins, a haze that doesn't go away and may cause off flavors.

The only clarifying agent I have is Biofine Clear, I intend to use this 2 days prior to kegging since it drops the yeast out and keeps my kegs and lines a little cleaner. Will this be enough? Will waiting this long cause problems?

EDIT, recipe for reference:

Malt: 10 lbs. Belgian Pale malt 0.75 lbs Briess Caramel 20

Yeast: Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison Yeast.

Hop Additions: 2.5 oz Hersbrucker @60 min 0.5 oz Hersbrucker @10 min

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  • Note: It is called beer the moment you add yeast to the wort.
    – Atron Seige
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 12:09
  • What beer are you brewing? Please provide malts and yeast
    – Atron Seige
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 12:21
  • The cloudiness I'm referring to is pre-yeast addition. But has sustained during primary fermentation.
    – nevets138
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 15:26

2 Answers 2

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It could be many things at this point. It may just be happy yeast in suspension. But sounds more like the hot break and cold break proteins are still in the wort. They should drop out after fermentation. When a lot of these proteins are available to yeast it can produce some off flavors (some even desirable) generally not a huge concern for most styles

Most beers won't clear until well after fermentation. Clairity usually isn't a concern at the point you're at right now.

Once you've hit your terminal gravity. See if it starts to clear, once you're happy with your secondary duration you can fine using normal methods. Cold crash, gelitan, biofine etc.

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  • It could be hops due to massive dry/late hopping.
    – Atron Seige
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 12:21
  • Thanks! Just curious, being new to all-grain coming from extract brews, is it expected to see a greater amount of residual proteins in all-grain from extract?
    – nevets138
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 15:28
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    @nevets138 yes, brewer extracts have already had a hot break and that protein trub removed in manufacturing. All grain will have more proteins than extracts.
    – Evil Zymurgist
    Commented Jun 8, 2016 at 20:00
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It could come from many things, from something as straightforward as poor conversion to something as esoteric as mash pH.

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