The Beer That Wouldn’t Clear: A Shake N Brew Journey

Brewing beer at home is a journey filled with successes, challenges, and sometimes, mysteries. Recently, I found myself dealing with one of those mysteries: a batch of beer that simply wouldn’t clear up. This blog post dives into that experience, covering the brewing process, the challenges faced, and how I ultimately achieved a crystal-clear beer.

The Shake N Brew Method

Shake N Brew is my go-to method for efficient brewing whenm I don´t want or have time to brew an All-Grain batch. It’s a straightforward process that involves mixing Dry Malt Extract (DME) with water, adding hops and yeast, and shaking the keg or fermenter to aerate the wort. This method is quick, effective, and reliable. However, as I discovered with this particular batch, it’s not without its surprises.

The Brewing Experiment: DME vs. LME

To test different brewing results, I brewed two versions of the same beer—one with DME and the other with Liquid Malt Extract (LME). After fermentation and a long time conditioning, I noticed that the LME beer was almost crystal clear, while the DME beer remained stubbornly hazy. This was confusing because I was certain that the difference in clarity couldn’t simply be due to using DME versus LME. After all, both beers were brewed with the same care and attention.

Troubleshooting the Haze

Given that the beer wasn’t infected and there were no off-flavors, I quickly ruled out contamination. My next theory was that the floating dip tube in the keg might have gotten stuck at the bottom, pulling up the dregs with the beer and causing the haze. The DME version was brewed in a 9L mini keg with a torpedo design. Although I had never experienced a floating dip tube getting stuck before, I knew it was possible.

To investigate, I carefully opened the keg and poured a glass directly from it. Unfortunately, the beer was still hazy, which proved that the issue wasn’t with the floating dip tube. As expected, tilting the keg to pour the beer stirred up the dregs even more, leaving the beer hazier than ever. Now, I had only one chance to salvage this brew.

The Last Resort: Gelatin to the Rescue

If the DME version remained a hazy mess while the LME version was almost crystal clear, I wouldn’t be able to make a good comparison between them in my upcoming experiment video and blog post. So, something needed to be done. My last resort was to add gelatin to the DME beer and leave it for another week.

After sitting in the cold keezer for a week, the DME beer poured out crystal clear. The gelatin had done its job, and I was relieved to have a clear beer at last.

Temperature and Vessel Differences

One factor I hadn’t initially considered was the difference in conditioning temperatures. The DME beer had been conditioning at 8°C, while the LME version had been at 2°C. This significant temperature difference undoubtedly sped up the clarification process for the LME beer. However, both beers had been sitting for months, so even at 8°C, the DME beer should have cleared on its own. This left me questioning whether temperature was the sole factor.

Another point worth mentioning, which wasn’t covered in the video but is important for this blog, is the difference in the fermentation and conditioning vessels. The DME beer was in a thin-walled mini-keg, while the LME beer was in a much wider Kegmenter. The Kegmenter’s broader design might have contributed to the LME beer’s faster clarification, as the shape and size of the vessel can affect how the yeast and other particles settle.

The Recipe: Shake N Pils

Here’s the recipe I used for this beer, which you can try using the Shake N Brew method:

• Ingredients:

  • 1 kg of Light Dry Malt Extract (DME)
  • 11 grams of Magnum hops
  • 11 grams of Saaz hops
  • 11 grams of Perle hops
  • Angel Yeast BF27 Lager yeast (or Saflager 34/70 as a substitute)
  • BrewNutri-Z yeast nutrients (or your yeast nutrients of choice)

• Process:

  1. Mix Dry Ingredients: Add all dry ingredients except the yeast into the keg or fermenter.
  2. Boil and Add Water: Boil 1 liter of water and add it to the dry ingredients in the keg, then shake the keg vigorously to mix and aerate the wort. Leave it to steep for 10 minutes to extract bitterness from the hops.
  3. Cool and Add Cold Water: After steeping, add cold water directly to the keg to lower the temperature, stopping the bittering process and bringing the wort to a yeast-pitching temperature.
  4. Pitch Yeast: Once the wort is cooled, pitch Angel Yeast BF27 Lager yeast (or Saflager 34/70).
  5. Ferment: Ferment under pressure at around 20 PSI. Begin fermentation at 20°C for 2 days, then gradually ramp up to 25°C over 3 days. Let it sit at 25°C for another day before cold crashing.
  6. Clarify: If your beer doesn’t clear up after fermentation, try adding gelatin as described in this video->

A Shoutout to Angel Yeast

I want to give a big thanks to Angel Yeast for supporting this project. Their BF27 Lager yeast is a powerhouse, delivering clean and crisp results even when things don’t go as planned. You can explore their full range of brewing products here->

Final Thoughts

Brewing is all about learning and adapting. This beer posed a challenge, but through some troubleshooting and a bit of patience, I was able to turn it into a clear, crisp Pilsner. Whether you’re a seasoned brewer or just starting out, remember that every brewing problem has a solution—it just takes a bit of persistence.

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Thanks for stopping by, DrHans Out!