Help me diagnose Chill Haze

[MN_Jay]

Hey all, I've been getting a problem with chill haze in my beer. Two of my extract batches are drinkable now but as soon as I put them in the fridge, they cloud up. Very frustrating since they are very clear before they go in there. While making the wort, I use a wort chiller and actually can have it down to pitching temperatures (< 80F) in 7 or 8 minutes so I don't think that is the problem. I do however do 3 gallons boils on an electric stove and never really had anything close to a boilover. It gradually comes to a boil and then rolls for the hour long boil, so I'm wondering because of the lack of hot break, do you think that could be the problem?

Everything else seems to be in order - good sanitation, 65 degree fermentations, secondary clearing carboy, good carbination.

 

[Soulive]

Try using some Whirlfloc/Irish Moss and/or some gelatin...

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Any idea what level of calcium you have in your water?

Plamer suggests that even with extract, calcium levels shouldn't be lower than 50 and can cause haze problems if they are. IIRC, he even cites that it's an issues for extract (even tho the mineral are there).

Otherwise, try finings.

 

[homebrewer_99]

On "cure" for CH that definitely works are ceramic mugs...

 

[BierMuncher]

Chill haze is a fact of life.

The only sure cure is a very extended (months) chill period.

You can speed the process using whirlfloc tablets at the end of the boil and gelatin in your secondary, but cold conditioning is the real factor.

Stick a sixer of your beer back in the fridge and forget about it for 30 days and see what happens.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

When brewing with extract you should be brewing with as "clean" of water as you have access to. R/O, distilled..... the minerals and what not are already in the extract. This may help, but I doubt that is the problem.

I find that a prolonged secondary fermentation clears my bears the best, and produces the best taste. Everyone has their own methods though.

 

[MN_Jay]

I've always used spring water that I buy at the store by the gallon, so I'm not sure what levels of calcium is in there. I may have to go with the irish moss or at the very least, the ceramic mug... It's not a huge deal as it still tastes good but just the sight of the chill haze has me thinking I'm doing something wrong.

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

It's not a huge deal as it still tastes good but just the sight of the chill haze has me thinking I'm doing something wrong.

Chill haze isn't caused by doing something wrong, it's caused by just not doing some things to get rid of it. I figure it's extra work, so I usually don't bother about it

 

[MN_Jay]

I suppose brewing porters and stouts gets rid of the problem too....

 

[fishops]

brew weizens!

 

[thereefgeek]

It'll eventually drop out, but kegging & force carbonating is the way to go since you don't need to save any residual yeast to carb in the bottle.

I've been brewing 10 gallon extract batches for about 12 years and got my kegs about a year into brewing and it really simplified my life. I just brewed a batch on the 22nd of June and it's damn near ready to keg.

Also, I'm fermenting in an old chest freezer with a temp control. 68f for fermenting ales, chill to about 35-40f in the 2nd for a few days to clarify, drop it to 30f to keg and carbonate, bring it back up to about 40f to serve. I can knock out a batch in about 2 weeks. Pre-chilling the beer helps all the yeast to fall out, and sometimes (rarely) I'll add gelatin. Gelatin is really only effective if the beer's been chilled first, and then I'll swirl it around in the carboy with a clean racking cane. All the haze falls out like a rock that way, but time and patients will acheive the same result.

 

[impulserush]

Chill haze is a fact of life.

The only sure cure is a very extended (months) chill period.

You can speed the process using whirlfloc tablets at the end of the boil and gelatin in your secondary, but cold conditioning is the real factor.

Stick a sixer of your beer back in the fridge and forget about it for 30 days and see what happens.

What is and when do you add whirlfloc? I have the same problem with my BB American Amber. Clear till I chill. I am going to do a BB amber cerveza this week, Would like not to have the same with that batch.

Help

 

[Reno Homebrewer]

5 Star Chemical makes "Super Irish Moss", which is a white powder instead of normal Irish Moss. It is a proprietary blend that uses a negative charge to attract more proteins and it has worked great for me. You only add 1/2 tsp. with 10 minutes left in the boil.

 

[impulserush]

Will any Irish moss do or does it have to be this?

Other suggetions

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

I imagine that Super Irish Moss is just that... Irish Moss on steroids. It's probably somewhat more effective than regular Irish Moss, I guess.

Whirlfloc is also an Irish Moss derivative.

They'll all help to clarify your beer, but you can get haze from a variety of sources, so if you use one and you're still getting a haze that bothers you, use an opposite charged clarifier to get the rest.

 

[impulserush]

What do you mean opposite charged clarifier?

They'll all help to clarify your beer, but you can get haze from a variety of sources, so if you use one and you're still getting a haze that bothers you, use an opposite charged clarifier to get the rest.[/QUOTE]

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

The way clarifiers work is by drawing various particulate in the beer to themselves and bonding with them, then sinking to the bottom so that it's easier to leave them behind.

So if your problem is a negatively charged particulate, you want a positively charged clarifier.

I think irish moss is negatively charged, so it'll get positive stuff out, but negative stuff will remain behind. Whereas I think gelatin is positively charged, so if you used those two, you'd get pretty much everything.

I'm not 100% sure which are negative and which are positive offhand. I know there are resources out there that give it, it might even be in Papazian's book.

 

[impulserush]

I am going to do another batch tomorrow morning. I use tap water, but I have well water. Should I use bottled spring water or will my well water be alright?

Also when I use gelatin, when would I use it in the beer brewing process?

Will the Irish Moss and Gelatin change the flavor?

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

I am going to do another batch tomorrow morning. I use tap water, but I have well water. Should I use bottled spring water or will my well water be alright?

Also when I use gelatin, when would I use it in the beer brewing process?

Will the Irish Moss and Gelatin change the flavor?

Does your well water taste good? Do you drink it normally? If it's good for drinking, it's usually okay for brewing. Extremely hard or soft water can affect brewing, but you can often do more harm than good by trying to fool with it.

Gelatin is used in secondary, I believe, and you have to wait a few days after you use it for it to get out of the way.

Irish moss and gelatin should not affect the flavor at all. The whole point of a clarifier is that it gets itself and other things out of your finished beer.

 

[impulserush]

Yes I drink the water, I will try the Irish moss and see how it goes.

Thanks