Preventing Chill Haze with Mash Technique

many of my recent brews are suffering from chill haze. it's especially disappointing in my very light and very tasty belgian golden strong ale. i've read all the posts regarding chill haze and most of them only talk about fixing the problem after the fact. it also seems to be the consensus that the proteins involved in chill haze can originate in a number of different place in the brewing process; during the mash, at hot break, and at cold break. i understand the processes that need to take place during hot break and cold break to reduce protein in the wort, but i'm unclear how chill haze can be reduced during the mash. is it simply a matter of preventing grain particles from leaving the mash, i.e. setting a solid grain bed, volaufing, and only transfering super clear sweet liquor to your kettle? or, are there other steps that i'm missing?

TIA!!

It's a matter of getting complete starch conversion. If you are not converting all the starch in the grain to sugars (maltotriose/maltose), then starches may remain and are the factor of chill haze.

In order to see if you are completely converting in your mash, you can do a simple iodine test.

Some people use gelatin finnings in the secondary to help reduce the haze. Some people I have talked to say this totally will fix the issue.

I'm going to vote for Irish Moss myself.

Some of the things that help to reduce chill haze are complete conversion of starch to sugar which a longer mash time helps. Using a good fining agent such as Whirlfloc. Quick chilling the wort after the boil. Aging beer long enough and then chill quickly to serving temperatures to drop the yeast to the bottom which can mimic chill haze. Not using wheat in the recipe which will cloud beer. Note that wheat beers are usually cloudy anyway and it is expected.

You may already know all this stuff but I am just trying to help you think about your process and maybe you will think of something that might be the problem.

I don't have completely clear beer all the time and do not concern myself as long as it tastes great. Young beer is mostly the problem in a lot of cases. They have not had enough time to settle out.

chill haze is different than starch haze. Starch haze should be present regardless of temperature. Good mashing should prevent it by complete digestion of starch. Chill haze only forms at lower temperatures when proteins and polyphenols complex and form haze producing particles. Aim to remove most of one i.e. all protein by a protein rest in mashing and using irish moss in the boil. Followed by fast cooling to remove hot and cold trub. Condition at low temperatures to allow remaining complexes to form then precipitate. If possible condition down to ~0 C for a day or two. Permenant chill haze forms if your conditioning temperature goes up and down. Gelatin is used to remove suspended yeast.

Could be high protein malt. I had a 55# bag that every batch I made with this as the base, was chill hazed. The last batch of the 55# bag was clear, after trying EVERYTHING mentioned above and then some.

What fixed mine was actually lowering the protein level of the total grist. Some malts, particularly real inexpensive brands, are not as good as others and will have through the roof levels of nitrogen and protein. Everyone says it is solely a conversion issue and not getting a good grain bed to filter through, but that's not always the case. For mine, it meant instead of 90% of the grist being that malt, I subbed in some 6 row malt (and everyone will tell you 6 row tends to haze easier, but not if your 2 row base is that high in protein) and some rice. By doing this and this alone, my last batch with this malt was crystal clear!

Again, that might not be your problem with the haze, but since it is rarely discussed on this forum as a possibility, I feel the need to share. Hope it helps.

There's also another product available (besides the finning agents we usually discuss). I don't know if it is available to the homebrewer though.
W. R. Grace - Chill-Haze and Chill-Proofing

Not getting a fast cold break will make it hazy too. I use two Whirlfloc tablets and cool it really fast in 10-15mins.

I find that too many homebrewers diagnose haziness as being chill haze; there are a number of things that lead haziness including incomplete conversion, an inadequate hot/cold break, moving the beer to quickly to packaging, etc.

If you have complete conversion, I suspect your rate of chilling is the weak link in your process; if you work to chill faster, encouraging a stronger cold break, your clarity will improve (all things equal). Another thing to consider is that haze could lead to stability issues down the road, as the compounds that haven't been precipitated out of solution are to blame.

Jason

crimpshrine27 said:

If possible condition down to ~0 C for a day or two. Permenant chill haze forms if your conditioning temperature goes up and down. Gelatin is used to remove suspended yeast.

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Good topic...

I got my first chill haze with my last batch of PA. I "think" it's true chill haze because it's very clear at 50 degrees and cloudy at 40. Taste great however.

I'm puzzled since I got one of my best cold breaks and use Whirlfloc, although a lot of the trub did end up in the primary. Conditioning temp is fairly constant at about 72 in a closet.

When you cold crash do you preform this in the secondary as you finsh up the schedule?

Just getting good hot and cold breaks has cleared up my haze problems. Even my Hefe pours clear until I dump the yeast in. I did not use Whirlfloc or Irish moss in it. The fact that it was a triple decotion mash may have helped.

Revvy said:

There's also another product available (besides the finning agents we usually discuss). I don't know if it is available to the homebrewer though.
W. R. Grace - Chill-Haze and Chill-Proofing

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Revvy, from reading that description, sounds an awful lot to me like Polyclar. They've even got this stuff at my LHBS.

I'm haveing the same issue with chill haze. My last brew was a summer ale that I did a protein rest with, had it cooled in 15min, looked great coming out of the seconday, and BAM! Chill haze. I'm not sure what the hell is going on. Can it be my water?

around 1tsp of irish moss at 15 and when in secondary, bottling, or kegging either of the three add some Polyclar picked up at my local LHBS. If all else fails let that sucker sit in the fridge for a while and clear up...This is most likely the issue!

I very strongly question the fast cold break technique. How does chilling to pitching temp fast make beer clear at serving temp, unless you chill prior to pitching to serving temp? I remember reading that in order for a brewery to prevent chill haze they have to chill to X temperature and then filter the beer. So at X temp the beer will be clear but lower than that it theoretically could develop haze.

Now guys that keg can get clear beer fairly easy because if they cold condition the keg the proteins clump up and fall out due to the temperature. Then they can just pour off the cloudy stuff (I'd drink it) and have clear brew rest of the keg. Unless I refrigerate cases until they are consumed that just isn't happening for my bottle conditioned brews. I have cold conditioned sixpacks to play games with my friends for a taste comparison between a two hearted clone and actual two hearted. The cold conditioned sixers were crystal clear besides a touch of hop haze.

The most likely culprit for chill haze is an inadequate cold break (assuming you are getting complete conversion). Hot proteins are in a different conformation than room temperature proteins due to thermal vibration and electrostatic interactions/hydrogen bonds/van der waals forces/etc. When they rapidly cool, the proteins can't go back to their most soluble form because they get stuck in less than optimal conformations, which makes them more likely to clump up together and fall out of solution/suspension. The faster you cool, the more proteins you will get rid of in this manner.

Also, how long do you let your beers go for before drinking? If its less than 3 weeks you may benefit from longer aging and possibly (i you have the facilities) giving them a week or two at 32-40 degrees.

I was just asking if my water could be the culprit, and if so what constituent would cause my problem. I have used the same techniques for years with out an issue. The only other thing it could be is my base malt, I did switch for a while but I'm pretty certain this started before the switch.

It seemed I was cursed for a While all my beers were turning out hazy...still tasted good but looked yeasty! For me Polyclar, Irish moss and letting it sit in the fridge have worked well...not planning to change unless the haunting returns.