Clearing my chill haze (polycar, gelatin)

So i have a party coming up in two weeks. I have six kegs that i plan to be serving. They are all very clear beer at room temp but they have chill haze when served. So i would very much like to get rid of the chill haze within the next two weeks. I have gelatin and polycar on hand. I believe that the gelatin will not remove the chill haze so it sounds like polycar is my best bet. I just read that polycar has to be removed from the beer before serving. Most of my beer is already in kegs (some is not). So, should i add the polycar and then force transfer into another keg? how long do i have to let polycar do its job and how volatile is it to being shaked?

I have no way of chilling the beer any colder than serving temp. I have a cheap made in china fridge and it works hard enough just keeping my kegs cold.

any advice? is it just worth it to live with the chill haze? should i get a different fining agent?

My understanding is that there aren't any adjuncts that are able to remove chill haze. It is a problem that started with the mash - had too many homebrews myself to be able to tell you exactly what the problem was... sorry. But basically it's there and you'll have to live with it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Chill haze isn't all that bad though, it's purely cosmetic. You can't taste any difference. But it just makes it tougher to get BMC drinkers to like it.

IIRC, Chill haze is caused by proteins that didn't coagulate and settle out during the hot/cold break. As such, you are pretty much stuck with 'em.

That said, I have had a beer that I thought had suffered chill haze. After a few weeks, it turned out that it was a very small amount of yeast in suspension and was cleared with two weeks at 38*

Both PC and gelatin should be used before kegging.

It takes a day or two to really clear, but gelatin likes to be used/does a better job when the brew is cold.

You could de-gas your kegs, add gelatin to them then transfer the brew to new keg so it'll be clear going in.

If you don't have the time my best recommendation is always ceramic mugs.

irish moss in the original boil, and a good fast wort chilling to give you a cold break will help prevent it.

zero experience on 'fixing it' after the fact.

Thanks guys,

I thought that i had heard multiple places that polycar can remove chill haze. It just had to be removed before serving. no one else has heard that?

Polyclar is actually a plastic dust that pulls the chill haze proteins out of the beer. Most people don't like the idea of drinking plastic so they rack off everything that settles out, but it's not mandatory. The first few pours might taste like a barbie doll though. here's more info

polyclar and gelatin will both work fine. Also, the proteins will often settle out on their own if given a couple weeks. Warm gelatin on cold beer works best because it strips the proteins out as it settles through the beer so it will float on top at first and settle as it cools. If you use polyclar I'd recommend racking off the sediment since it is plastic and not particularly tasty. If you use gelatin you should be able to just draw the gelatin off the bottom of the keg with the first few pints if you don't want to re-rack.

I had a similar problem a while ago...I just served into plastic beer cups that were translucent.

Nobody knew the difference.

Cheers.

eviltwinofjoni said:

Polyclar is actually a plastic dust that pulls the chill haze proteins out of the beer. Most people don't like the idea of drinking plastic so they rack off everything that settles out, but it's not mandatory. The first few pours might taste like a barbie doll though. here's more info

Click to expand...

Hmmnn...the morebeer link says that Polyclar requires 3-10 days, while Palmer says "only a few hours...a day at most."

I bought a few packets of the stuff, but the idea of adding it to my beer is now making me nervous.

Well, if i use the polycar, then what is the best method for transfering the beer without sucking up the plastic? i would be worried that my pickup tube would just suck up the plastic as well. anythoughts?

also, does my beer have to be cold in order for gelatin or polycar to work properly? could i use it at say 70* and still have it be effective?

You'll have to leave a bit of beer on the bottom, just like racking off your trub.

I don't know about polyclar but the gelatin will work best in cold beer, it will take longer for the gelatin to sink and will pick up more as it sinks. Also, the cold beer will make the proteins coagulate better (which is why you see them as haze) and the gelatin will be able to better "grab onto" them.

If you can keep it at freezing for a couple of weeks, that will remove the bulk if not all of the haze.

For beers I want to get completely bright, I use polyclar in the keg, leave the kegs at 0C for 48 hours, then filter, then put on gas. If you don't want to filter, you'll have to use the polyclar before it goes into the keg/bottle.

There are two 'grades' of polyclar if I remember correctly, one works quicker than the other. Check with whoever you bought it from and follow their directions.

Chill haze does make a difference to the body of the beer in my opinion - it seems to make for a 'thicker' beer.

EDIT: Here's the blurb for the polyclar I bought from MoreBeer:

"A non-soluble clarifier that removes both haze causing polyphenols as well as yeast cells. Mix 2 Tbls (or 5 g) with one cup of sanitized warm water and gently stir into five gallons beer. Let stand for a few days and rack off.

Polyclar VT is a coarser grade of PVPP (140 micron particle size), optimized for addition to vessels, where faster settling is required. The larger particle size also facilitates settling of the stabilizer, allowing the majority of the product to be left behind with the lees at racking.

A typical contact time of between 3 to 10 days is required, although there are no adverse effects from leaving Polyclar in contact with the wine for longer periods.

For wine use .5 to 2.5 grams per gallon depending upon severity of problem and desired affect. "

I like my beer clear and my buddies are major critics so I started using gelatin and then bringing the temp down to about 35F for 2 weeks and it does seem to clear out the beer really well. You could also try using a house filter and just pump it with co2 from one keg thru the filter into another keg. Just get one at home depot and try it on one batch and see if it works.

I posted this on another thread, this info was given to me by a company who supplies breweries with clearing products.

polyclar (pvpp products) remove polyphenols and tannins that cause haze over time (uaually in bottled beers) and not chill haze.

I myself haven't used it, but was advised the correct product to use for chill haze is ( daraclar 920 ) or if you want to combat both, ie remove polyphenols and tannins that cause haze over time and chill haze with one product use (polyclar plus 730).

I have a house filter at 1 micron but it will not remove chill haze. If you have a lot of yeast in suspension if you say racked to the keg instead of secondary and have a lot of yeast in suspension being picked up by your dip tube this works well.

One time I racked to my kegs and left them in the basement for a month When I poured a pin it pulled up a lot of yeast from the bottom of the keg. I pushed the beer thru the filter to another keg an my beer was fairly brite again.

I'm sure if left at lagering temps for awhile it will clear on its own.