Will storing bottles at 45* knock out chill haze?

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h4mmy86

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Hey guys,

I have a little wine cooler (like a mini-fridge) that only chills down to 45 degrees, and I want to know if that is cool enough to allow chill haze to form and then fall out and settle if I stored a few bottles of homebrew in there for a couple weeks.
 
Hey guys,

I have a little wine cooler (like a mini-fridge) that only chills down to 45 degrees, and I want to know if that is cool enough to allow chill haze to form and then fall out and settle if I stored a few bottles of homebrew in there for a couple weeks.

Yes. I don't like beer super cold so my beer fridge is set at 45 and the beers get very clear.
 
Chill haze occurs when a protein combines with a tannin to form a precipitate below a certain energy state. I haven't studied this a ton, but i do believe that the temp at which you get the precipitate to form (and then fall out of the solution) depends on what proteins are in the beer, as well as the ph of the beer, and a number of other factors, sometimes you'll get a precipitate at 60°, and sometimes you won't get it until 34°.
 
Here's from White Lab's website:

Chill haze in beer results from the precipitation of complexed polyphenols and proteins during cold storage. The
nature of this precipitation has been shown to be the result of hydrogen bonding between the polyphenols and the
proline-rich fraction of particular polypeptides. This haze develops over time and, initially, is reversible (haze
disappears when the temperature of the beer increases). As the hydrogen bonding becomes stronger this chill haze
can become permanent.

So fining treatment helps eliminate it since it does have some reversability.
 
Chilling the hot wort to pitch temp in 20 minutes or less will help eliminate it too. I've seen chill haze form as soon as the bottles start getting cool in the fridge at about 45-47F. Usually by morning,if at all. It then took 3-5 days to form & settle out.
 

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