After a 20 year hiatus from HB, I have been looking for simple recipes to refresh and hone my skills. This was my 4th extract recipe within the last 2 months and I have been advancing my technique such as controlling ferment temps, rehydrating yeast, and oxygenation of the wort with O2. I used a whirloc tablet as prescribed, yet when I racked this to my secondary it was extremely cloudy/hazy. I hope cold crashing it for a couple of days will settle things out.
So it brings me to question the use of carapils. I understand it is utilized to increase the body/mouthfeel and aid in head retention, but not for color or flavor. While I did steep this, I have been reading conflicting reports as to whether this grain can be steeped or needs to be mashed, and should be used with other diastatic grains (i.e., 2 Row, Pilsner) in order to complete the starch reactions properly. Briess's website stated it can be steeped. So what is the real story, especially relating to this recipe? And by steeping did that contributed to the cloudy/hazy appearance.? Any assistance is appreciated.