Chill Haze driving me insane

[grasshopper1917]

Im not sure what I can do to help with chill haze on my beer it seems to happen totally randomly. I make mostly coopers prehopperd kits with malt extract and a bit of sugar. I leave it in primary for a week then rack to secondary for 2-3 weeks.

It seem like 50% of my batches I suffer with chill have - but I cant figure out why only some. For instance some of the batches I leave in secondary for 2 weeks are crystal clear while some i leave in for 3 weeks get the haze.

The are all clear in the bottle - it is just when i get them chilling in the fridge that some pour cloudy. Its not that I dont enjoy them jut as much - just wish i could figure out why some get the haze and some not??

 

[TexLaw]

Do you brew the same kit every time? If so, then that is a little strange. If not, then I expect your hoppier beers may come a little hazier, as well as anything with wheat or rye in it.

You can reduce chill haze with Irish moss or Whirlfloc in the kettle, as well as by chilling your wort as quickly as possible. Time in cold storage also will eventually clear chill haze.


TL

 

[homebrewer_99]

Ceramic mugs...it doesn't cure haze, but if you don't see it it won't affect your taste perception...

 

[BierMuncher]

While chill haze seems permanent...it will fade with time at cold termperatures.

Several things may help:

Use whirfloc tablets during the last 10 minutes of your boil.
Use gelatin in your secondary to help bind the yeast and clear the beer.
Give your beers extended chill times...more like 3-5 weeks and not just a day or two in the fridge.

My beers are pretty clear, but I keg.

 

[grasshopper1917]

Thanks for the tips maybe ill buy an old fridge so i chaill my beer over a longer time - usually they are just in for a day or 2 before i drink em

 

[k1v1116]

just a wild guess but when you say a bit of sugar you mean corn sugar right? you using the kind you get from a home brew store not the stuff from the supermarket? the stuff from a supermarket has cornstarch added to prevent clumping that will cause haze.

 

[Tankard]

After the boil, how are you chilling the wort down to pitching temperature? Chill haze can often be caused by too slow of a cool down process. Are you doing an ice bath or using a chiller?

 

[grasshopper1917]

Im making coppers pre hopped kits - they are no boil. I mix the kit - the malt and any sugar in about 5 liters of water on the stove - keep it a hot temp for 15 minutes to kill any bacteria if there may be any - dump er in the fermentor - then top it up with cold cold water to get it down to low 70's.

 

[NWernBrewer]

Ceramic mugs...it doesn't cure haze, but if you don't see it it won't affect your taste perception...

+1

I deal with chill haze as well - mine doesn't really bother me though. If I were in your shoes, with your priorities - I would invest in a way to quickly cool the wort and put the beer in the fridge at least a week before drinking. This should give you a good cold break and the extended cooling will help cause the remaining proteins to drop out...


At least that is my understanding, I don't bother with the clarity because I still have too many other things I am obsessing about.

 

[GunnerMan]

At least that is my understanding, I don't bother with the clarity because I still have too many other things I am obsessing about.

Same here but if I am serving to others I make it as clear as possible. That way they don't get the jitters.

 

[Jmac]

I dont think that I have made a clear beer yet as I cant keep from drinking it.. I started brewing 10 gallon batches in hops to build up a pipe line but I just started drinking more! Go figure! :rockin:

 

[CABeerMaker]

What I do to kill my haze is Irish Moss in the boil. Then I take my kettle and set it in the sink packed with ice to quick cool to around 80. Then I add to fermenter and top with cool water and usually pitch yeast when temps are near 65-70 range. When I transfer to secondary I add a little gelatin to help. Good news is it doesn't affect taste.

 

[sundaybrewingco]

And if people complain about the chill haze, just tell them they could have a Smirnoff Ice or a Wine Cooler instead...

 

[undallas]

And if people complain about the chill haze, just tell them they could have a Smirnoff Ice or a Wine Cooler instead...

Those are pretty hazy drinks...

 

[BrewN00b]

I tried something new that I assure you will bring your wort down to pitching temps in minutes. The day before you brew you take two gal of filtered water and put .5 gal each into 4 one gal plastic bags, freeze them solid. one brew day cut open the bag and dump one
bag at a time into the hot wort. With 3 bags it should be plenty cool. Mine was cooled to 67F within 3 minutes and almost perfectly topped of at 5 gal.

I bet it works for you too.

 

[DeafSmith]

My experience has been that my beer gets chill haze immediately upon being cooled. It begins to clear up a little after a week in the fridge, it's pretty clear after two weeks, and crystal clear after three weeks.

 

[steve57765]

Ceramic mugs...it doesn't cure haze, but if you don't see it it won't affect your taste perception...

thats what charlie paps says in his book

 

[GMC]

Here's the easiest way to get rid of chill haze,but you'll need a fridge to do it.Cool the beer in the secondary to below your regular serving temp.eg,if you serve it at 40 deg.,chill it to 36 deg. Wait a couple of days for the chill haze to form.Pour in your finings.I use gelatin,it works everytime.Wait for the chill haze to drop out and then bottle,or keg,whichever you use.When you serve it at your regular serving temp...Voila,no chill haze.

 

[MBM30075]

What is the general consensus about freezing spring water? Seems like a good idea to me, and seems like it would work quickly. Also, you'd be using an "internal" ice bath, so it seems much more efficient. Any downsides, though? Like, the parts that are affected first (i.e., the right-at-boiling-temperature wort), would they be cooled TOO quickly? Is that possible? If this WOULD work, it would really, REALLY simplify the wort cooling process. So, what drawbacks?

 

[HOP-HEAD]

Frozen, purified water (or pre-boiled) works fine... but you'll need a new plan when you go to full boils... as most do.

 

[Malticulous]

Keeping your beer 32F or slightly below for a week will clear it. Nothing else matters.

 

[Revvy]

Keeping your beer 32F or slightly below for a week will clear it. Nothing else matters.

Yes indeed, the longer in the cold the less the chill haze!

 

[jkarp]

Keeping your beer 32F or slightly below for a week will clear it. Nothing else matters.

Yes, this often helps but is definitely not a 100% solution. I've got beers in my beer fridge that have been chilling at 32 for several months and still exhibit chill haze on pouring.

 

[SchlazzGraft]

Keeping your beer 32F or slightly below for a week will clear it. Nothing else matters.

If you go below, you're going to start freezing your beer.. am I wrong?

 

[Malticulous]

Depends on the ABV.

 

[rayg]

I
The are all clear in the bottle - it is just when i get them chilling in the fridge that some pour cloudy. Its not that I dont enjoy them jut as much - just wish i could figure out why some get the haze and some not??

Probably something to do with the exact rate of cooling, since that's
probably somewhat different every time you do it:

http://www.byo.com/stories/article/indices/23-clarity/490-conquer-chill-haze

Ray

 

[robertbartsch]

So water freezes at sea level at 32F. Since beer contains alcohal, doesn't it freeze at a slightly lower temp?

 

[rayg]

So water freezes at sea level at 32F. Since beer contains alcohal, doesn't it freeze at a slightly lower temp?

I believe it's 29F for a 5% alcohol solution. This reference

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/ethanol-water-d_989.html

says 25F for a 10% solution, so it's in the ballpark.

Ray

 

[rayg]

Calculating the freezing point depression of a 5% alcohol
solution:

5% by volume is 4% by weight

100 gm contains 96 g water, 4 gm ethanol

moles ethanol is 4g/46g/mol = .08696 moles
molality is 0.08696mol/.096kg = .905833

Freezing point depression is the molal freezing point depression times
the molality or in this case (mfpd of water is -1.86C)

.905833 x -1.86C = -1.63

0-1.63 = -1.63C or 29.1F

But this is only approximate because the other dissolved
substances in the beer will lower it further (but not much
I suspect).

Ray

 

[ricenbeans]

Chill haze can come from cold break in many cases. If you use irish moss, then there should be a nice sedimentation of cold break as you chill the wort. As much as I wish I had a counterflow chiller, it is nice to be able to chill in the kettle, then stir the wort in a whirlpooly motion. The cold break will accumulate in the middle of the kettle and you can conveniently siphon from the edge of the kettle, leaving the cold break behind. This can definitely lessen your chill haze, but may not eliminate it.