Most of my homebrews leave a really cloudy film on the glass that's unlike anything I've ever ever seen in a commercial beer. It's really gross looking when I finish a beer. What are the potential culprits and how can I mitigate? I thought maybe it's hop oil since I dry hop most of my beers, but I don't know what to do about it. Googling "cloudy glassware" just turns up articles about cleaning glasses, which is no help!
Without a pic I'm gonna guess yeast/hop debris. If this is the case you could cold crash to put a clearer product into your glass.
I was planning to take a picture tonight, but oddly enough the one I opened didn't leave much of anything on the glass. It also had zero sediment in the bottle, so it does seem to be related to whatever debris. Next time I drink one that's super gross I'll post a picture, because it's unlike typical lacing.
I'll add that I dry hop in a mesh bag that does a really good job of filtering out the hop debris, but I've never cold crashed before bottling. I might be able to make room in the fridge since I only do 1 gallon batches, so maybe I'll give that a shot next time. Regarding cold crash temps, I read this earlier and thought it sounded like BS: "Regular refrigerators actually fluctuate in temperature which causes problems with the beer, while a fridge with a controller is held at a constant temperature." Any truth to that? The article didn't elaborate into what those problems might be, and I'm having a hard time buying it. Source: http://www.homebrewingstoredirectory.com/8-things-you-should-know-about-cold-crashing-beer/
I didn't see this thread until now. I'm just posting to say that I experience the exact same thing with a lot of my beers. It seems to be a function of the hops and/or the yeast. If I brew a beer without dry hops and ferment with US-05, there is usually nothing left on the inside of the bottles. I simply rinse them out, inspect them, and then sanitize them before using to bottle my next batch. But when I dry hop, or when I use certain other yeasts or bacteria, I sometimes observe a film of material on the inside of the bottles. Often it is hard to see, and I have to hold the bottle up carefully to the light to see the film (which often presents as tiny bubbles or spots, nearly invisible). Other times it is more obvious. PBW gets rid of it, but it's a pain in the ass to soak and then rinse all those bottles (I rinse them very thoroughly because I am paranoid about PBW making its way into my beer). Why does this happen to people like @chrunck and me, but not to others? I don't know. I don't cold crash or fine my beers, which may help explain it. I always rinse out my bottles thoroughly immediately after pouring the beer, so it's not as though they're sitting around growing mold or anything. That said, I rinse them with only tap water, not with any kind of detergent (again, I'd be paranoid about rinsing all of the detergent out, which is why I don't use any). I have tried using a bottle brush, and although the brush removed some crud, it didn't get it all. PBW is the only thing that works for me (though I plan to experiment with some other cleaners soon). Often I just throw out old bottles and buy new ones, which is definitely not ideal. I also find that commercial bottles are often easier to de-label than old homebrew bottles are to clean, so I do that quite a bit. Still, it's an irritating aspect of homebrewing and it makes me dread the work that I have to do in preparation for bottling day.
I've definitely had this before, as well, and a weak bleach solution works well to get those bottles crystal clean. Just have to rinse well after the soak.
Is this an issue in the pint glass after pouring and drinking a beer or is it an issue in the bottle it was poured from?
Ah, good question. For me, it's an issue in the bottle it was poured from. I guess the OP is probably talking about drinking glasses, which have never presented this problem for me.
Oddly enough, I haven't had this problem since I started this thread. Makes absolutely no sense. My gut feeling was that it was hop debris from dry hopping. I did start putting bottles in the fridge for more than 24 hours before drinking, so that may have helped things settle out.
