I am working through a small test batch using Q21’s Tek.

I started with 120g powdered MHRB in 120ml vinegar, which sat for three days. I then added calcium hydroxide and water to yield a solution around pH 12 of porridge consistency. This solution sat for four days, with intermittent mixing. Over the next week or so I did three pulls using about 60ml of limonene per pull. Each limonene pull, including the first, was mostly colorless but quite cloudy (this is in contrast to what many posts describe as reddish and clear). Q21 does mention limonene clouding in his tek but that is after salting with vinegar, whereas I’m seeing clouding before the salting step.

I tried freezing the limonene to precipitate out any impurities or water, as suggested by one threads I found on cloudy limonene. This did not resolve the cloudiness.

I’m wondering if anyone has ideas about what could be causing the clouding or why the color might be relatively neutral instead of reddish. Ultimately I’m trying to determine if I should continue to salt with vinegar or if I should start over.

Thanks for the read and help

Clouding is likely due to lime particulates suspended in the limonene. You can pull from the limonene with vinegar but your crude acetate will most probably be contaminated with calcium acetate; there is a simple test for this - once you've evaporated the crude acetates down to dryness, take a sample of the resulting ~resin and add a little 95+% ethanol or 91+% isopropanol and any calcium acetate will form gelatinous blobs.

If this turns out to be the case, the best thing to do is return the crude acetates to the bark/lime paste (after evaporation of the test alcohol) and repeat the pulls. With any luck you will have removed the problematic particulates with the first pulls. Limonene is a bit finnicky though. And it sounds to me like your lime paste is too runny (depending on how you like your porridge) and this will have contributed to the cloudiness. So if it seems remotely sloppy, before doing the next pulls be sure to stir in some more lime carefully and thoroughly - no lumps! - to get a pastry-dough-like consistency. You can always add a tiny dash of water if it turns out to be unworkably firm.