Cloudy Beer

I have been making an excellent American Pale Ale for some time now. First ferment for 10 days and then dry hop for 2 weeks. My beer is very clear when bottled. I try to let it stand in bottles for a month (try to...). Before I refrigerate I look at the beer in the light and it's crystal clear. Then after it's chilled it turns cloudy. Why? And how can I prevent this. Oh, I also use Irish Moss.
Thanks,
Justus

There are several things that could cause a chill haze. Mainly additional proteins still hanging around. Using Irish Moss as you did will help cut down on that. You'll also want to make sure to have a really good boil going all the way through the brew session and try to cool as quickly as possible. Both will help cut down on the proteins in your beer.

Just let the bottles chill in the fridge for 7-14 days. That should take care of most of the haze you are currently experiencing.

I've got the temps on my stove down, I know just where to turn the dial to get the boil. Now when you say boil, I don't go to the extent of a boil that splashes out above the pot, but I do rip roar boil. As far as chilling, immediately after boil is finished I put pot into a tub of ice water for 30 min., then dump into brew bucket and add 3 gallons of refrigerated water and it brings my temp to between 68 and 70 degrees. I have refrigerated for at least 3 weeks and it helps a lot, but not clear like Sierra Nevada is.

I get chill haze sometimes too, it seems to be a crap shoot for me. I have yet to make my IC and have been using the ice bath in the sink as well.

When I use 2 bags of ice I definitely get a better cold break than with one bag. 10-15 minutes before my boil is finished I fill the left side of the sink about 1/2 way with water and chill it by adding a little ice or a couple of frozen bottles of water. I do the same on the other side, but with less water. I place my pot into the left side of the sink and allow that to draw as much heat away as it will, once the water becomes hot, I move the pot to the right side and add as much ice around the pot as possible. Once all of the ice is melted on the right, I repeat the process with as much ice as possible on the left side of the sink a second time.

Usually chills the wort to about 65° in 15-20 minutes. When I use both sides I definitely get a better cold break, but sometimes I'm lazy and will only use one side of the sink, obviously with less of a cold break, and using one side definitely takes at least 30 minutes.

The method I use also depends on the style, if its a stout or porter, I really don't care, if its a lighter colored ale then I try to get as good of a cold break as possible.

If chill haze bothers you then use ceramic mugs......I do.

The only thing that cured my chill haze is leaving the bottles in the refrigerator for at least 3 weeks. Now I have a dedicated fridge just for cold conditioning.

homebrewer_99 said:

If chill haze bothers you then use ceramic mugs......I do.

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I've seen pics of your brews, sems like you have chil haze under control!

Personally, I use Irish Moss, and make evrey effort to cool as quickly as possible, but it like I said it's a crap shoot. Sometimes I get a good cold break, while other times it sucks.

Chill haze is one of the "problems" I am still struggling with.

Schnitzengiggle said:

I've seen pics of your brews, sems like you have chil haze under control!

Personally, I use Irish Moss, and make evrey effort to cool as quickly as possible, but it like I said it's a crap shoot. Sometimes I get a good cold break, while other times it sucks.

Chill haze is one of the "problems" I am still struggling with.

Click to expand...

Thanks, but not every batch is "great"..."very drinkable", yes, but not great...but you can bet I'm always striving for that elusive "greatness"...

Besides, what else can I do with those 100+ ceramic beer mugs I brought back from Germany???