Mom, where does chill haze come from?

Yes, cold temps, haha.
But seriously, I use irish moss in my boil, I leave most brews in the primary for two weeks, secondary for up to three weeks, and still get chill haze. I'd like to think I don't care, but dogginit, I do! When the beer warms up to room temp, it's crystal clear. But coming out of the tap or bottle (around 50 deg), it's haze city.
Is there anything that can be done about this? Is there anything else I should be doing? What causes chill haze?
Thanks HBT!

From my experience, the longer it sits at serving temps, the clearer it gets.

I have not had that experience. I've had kegs in the fridge for a month that still have haze.
I've been doing my homework and found Polyclar. Anyone out there using it or have any experience with it?

I've noticed that when I use irish moss and I cool the wort down quickly I don't get chill haze, otherwise I do.

How quick is quick? I use my IC and it takes 25 min for 5 gal and nearly an hour for 10 gal to cool the wort down to pitchable temps.

jacksonbrown said:

Is there anything that can be done about this? Is there anything else I should be doing?

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One key is to chill your wort down as quickly as possible, to maximize precipitation of cold break. What kind of chiller do you use?

I brewed a kolsch that had a strange kind of chill haze, it had almost a gun-metal tint to it when chilled. I cold conditioned for months, but it would not clear. While it tasted fine, it's was downright unappetizing to look at, not the kind of thing you want to present to friends. I first tried some polyclar in the keg, which didn't seem to help. I then added gelatin, and about a week later it cleared entirely.

As mentioned above, I use an IC, so chilling isn't that quick. A few post up from that I ask about Polyclar. From what I've read, using it in the keg wouldn't be as effecient as using it in the primary and then racking off of it (but I could be wrong about that). but it does intrigue me, and at $2.50 for 1 ounce (five batches worth), it's probably worth a try.

Its probably worth the $0.50 a batch to see if it cures what ails ya. Chill haze is simply protein dancing with polyphenols/tannins. The only way to prevent it is to either more aggressively cool your wort, filter at around 34 deg or add a clarifier like silica to drop out the proteins. Be careful of too much silica - you can behead your beer...

Gordie

I think it is best to have all your wort cooled to pitching temp in 15 minutes. I usually hit around that time, I use a gravity drain CFC though.

Gordie said:

Its probably worth the $0.50 a batch to see if it cures what ails ya. Chill haze is simply protein dancing with polyphenols/tannins. The only way to prevent it is to either more aggressively cool your wort, filter at around 34 deg or add a clarifier like silica to drop out the proteins. Be careful of too much silica - you can behead your beer...

Gordie

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That's not exactly true. It might be what 99% of the folks on this forum do to try and prevent chill haze, but it's more complicated than that at times

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/lets-talk-about-my-apa-malt-analysis-inside-80484/

Check out that thread I started and there's a couple links inside if you want to delve into the world of malt analysis and understanding what's in your malt. We all make adjustments to our hop schedule for different AA numbers, so why wouldn't you adjust your mash for different malt profiles???

To the OP: Sorry I don't have all the info just yet, but I'm finding there are many sources available that go deep into this and can help!

Good luck with it!

I had the same problem until I got the IC. I've used it once on BM's OctoberFAST ale. Cooled the wort to pitching temp in exactly 12 minutes. Opened the first bottle tonight (only eight days after bottling. I like to test 1 per week) and it was unbelievably clear. My wife thought I was nuts getting so excited about being able to see my daughter across the table through the beer.

It's the little things about this that excite me.

Your IC chills pretty slow - mine is more like 10-12 minutes. Try gently stirring the wort with the chiller as it chills - it will chill much faster than just letting it sit. If your chilling water is kind of warm you can try a pre-chiller using a bucket of ice water and a second smaller copper coil. Irish moss, a quick chill, and a few weeks in primary have made my last several beers crystal clear.

2008 BJCP style guide, 10A American Pale Ale, Appearance:

...Generally quite clear, although dry-hopped versions may be slightly hazy.

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I dry hopped my APA, and whaddaya know, chill haze. So there's one possible culprit.

BrianP said:

Try gently stirring the wort with the chiller as it chills - it will chill much faster than just letting it sit.

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QFT! The last time I used my IC I put my hand in the output stream of water. At first it was really warm then after just a few seconds it cooled off to tap water temps. I gave the brewpot a gentle swirl and sure enough the output was hot again.

I ended up gently rocking the pot the whole time without splashing and was able to keep the output of the IC warm, telling me it was pulling heat from the wort.

-Joe