Chill Haze?

[Snotty]

What are you doing to get rid of it?

I have been using Irish Moss and mid to high flocuating yeasts and I am still getting a chill haze.

When warm, my beers are crystal clear. But chill them up and boom, hazy.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

[_CJ]

What are you doing to get rid of it?

I have been using Irish Moss and mid to high flocuating yeasts and I am still getting a chill haze.

When warm, my beers are crystal clear. But chill them up and boom, hazy.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

Tell people it's a result of your natural, unfiltered brewing process, and drink up.

I've never really understood the obsession with clarity, and I've never done anything to try to get rid of chill haze. I've never used Irish Moss, but I usually use high flocuating yeasts. Some of my beers haze up, others don't.

[Jeepindog]

Recirculate a *LOT* after your mash. Oh, yeah- you're an 1850's fly sparger! :flipoff2: Well, keep your pH between 5.2-5.5 and don't mash out too hot- never above 170*. Irish moss will really only help coagulate the proteins that are already there. The best way to do it with your method is to do a protein rest at around 122* for 20 minutes. The next thing to look at is the vigor of your boil. The more rockin' your boil, the more clear your beer will be. Lastly, rack to secondary for a minimum of two weeks, unless the style mandates othewise (wit/wheat, etc.) Finally, bottle condition and then chill in refrigerator for a couple weeks before serving. This cold temp will coagulate the proteins causing your haze, and drop. Dry hopping will almost always cause a beer to be hazy, no matter what. Mostly it's just an age thing- the older, the clearer. Close your eyes and it will taste the same, right? :beer:

Lachlan

[Snotty]

Most of the time I don't really care. But I have two beers that I will be making that I really want clear.

I know I have some issues with the boil. My pot is really to small and I boil over if it gets rolling to much.

Did you have one of those Belgians yet?

[husker267]

Lachlan has it right on. The only additional comments I have is to whirlpool after your boil if possible to remove a bulk of the trub and personally, I use whirlfloc with pretty good results.

Personally, I don't use a normal secondary any more. I'll ferment in a carboy and rack to a corny a couple weeks after fermentation is complete. The keg goes into fridge for at least a couple weeks to mellow and clairify. If it's still really cloudy, I'll rack into another keg, if not I'll force carb it and drink up.

CJ - the deal with clairity is primarily visual perception - clear is more desirable (for most styles). Just like if you are offered two identical plated dinners, one is very neatly arranged and pleasing to the eye, the other is sloppy, with the gravy dripping off the side of the plate. Even though both have the exact same items, which one would you choose?

[_CJ]

CJ - the deal with clairity is primarily visual perception - clear is more desirable (for most styles). Just like if you are offered two identical plated dinners, one is very neatly arranged and pleasing to the eye, the other is sloppy, with the gravy dripping off the side of the plate. Even though both have the exact same items, which one would you choose?

Yeah, I know it's more desirable to people adhering to classic style guidelines or people that are trying to please a judge at a competition, it's just not of much concern to me. That's all I'm saying. If somebody prefers clear beer for whatever personal reason, that's cool too.

I actually prefer a little haze. I'm probably off base here, but I see a little haze as a sign of the beer being more natural and unmolested. All too often clear beers I've had at brewpubs and micro breweries have had a metalic taste to them, which I speculate comes from a filtering system.

You can probably guess which dinner I'd prefer....;)

[Jeepindog]

It's hard to make a beer more "natural and unmolested" than a homebrew. Grain, hops, water and yeast *ONLY.* It is really quite easy to make a homebrew clear. The true beauty of homebrewing is that you can brew what you want, how you want, and enjoy it for your own reasons.

[xjmatt]

Chill haze is caused by proteins that will precipitate out of your wort/beer when it's chilled. That's why it shows up when it's cold but is gone again when you let it come up to room temp because they will just re-dissolve back in.

Clarifiers like Irish Moss and Whirlfloc do a lot to clear up your beer but don't do much to precipitate the proteins that cause chill haze. The best thing to do to get rid of it is to chill your wort as rapidly as possible from boiling to the yeast pitching temp. This will thermally shock those proteins into permanently precipitating out. For lighter beers where I care about clarity I use both my immersion chiller and my counter flow chiller. I put the immersion chiller in an ice water bath and then run from my cold water source through the Immersion chiller then to the counter flow chiller. If I do this my beer goes from boiling to about 66 degrees and I get no chill haze. Option 2 is cold conditioning your beer for 2-4 weeks and then transfer it to a serving keg.

I've done both of these with success. That said I prefer darker beers, and I don't usually care to enter my beers in competitions. Compliments from friends and family is enough for me so chill haze isn't my major concern but every so often I'll get a bug to make something light and super clear.