chill haze question

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livewir

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So I just popped the top on my second brew, a brewers best red ale kit.

It seems I have a chill haze problem, my first brew had this as well (brewers best pale ale) I attributed the first brew's problem to accidentally steeping the grains too hot .

2lbs Light DME
3.3Lbs Light LME ( late addition at 20min remaining)
12oz Crystal 60l (25min steep at 155 degrees)
1oz Black Patent malt (25min steep at 155 degrees)

1oz willamette bittering
1oz willamette @ 10min remaining.

took about an hour in an ice bath to get down to temp

OG 1.044
Pitched nottingham at 72degrees.

Fermented 7days@ 65-68degrees
Racked to secondary with a 1.011 gravity

Secondary for 7 days @ 65-68 degrees

It's been bottled for just over a week and has carbonation. It's tastes green and watery, and I know that will get better with time, but I'm concerned about the Chill Haze.

Any thoughts ideas?

IMG_0638.jpg
 
livewir said:
So I just popped the top on my second brew, a brewers best red ale kit.

It seems I have a chill haze problem, my first brew had this as well (brewers best pale ale) I attributed the first brew's problem to accidentally steeping the grains too hot .

2lbs Light DME
3.3Lbs Light LME ( late addition at 20min remaining)
12oz Crystal 60l (25min steep at 155 degrees)
1oz Black Patent malt (25min steep at 155 degrees)

1oz willamette bittering
1oz willamette @ 10min remaining.

took about an hour in an ice bath to get down to temp

OG 1.044
Pitched nottingham at 72degrees.

Fermented 7days@ 65-68degrees
Racked to secondary with a 1.011 gravity

Secondary for 7 days @ 65-68 degrees

It's been bottled for just over a week and has carbonation. It's tastes green and watery, and I know that will get better with time, but I'm concerned about the Chill Haze.

Any thoughts ideas?

IMG_0638.jpg

Whirlfloc!
 
I use whirlfloc in the last 15 minutes of the boil, and gelatin in the secondary.
This is the result at 6 weeks old
2003860235441252332_rs.jpg
 
Awesome! thanks for the tips!


I'll be moving a Lager to it's lagering vessel in about a week, Would Gelatin affect the brew in anyway?
 
Also, to prevent chill haze, a great thing to do is to chill your wort as fast as possible. The better the cold break, the less chill haze you'll have. I never get chill haze in the winter, when my IC has very cold tap water and I get a great cold break in less than 10 minutes.

A great way to deal with chill haze if you have it, is to chill the bottles in the fridge for a couple of weeks after it's carbed up. The chill haze will be gone.

I never use gelatin or other finings (just whirlfloc in the kettle), so I can't help with that. My beers are crystal clear, though, without the finings.
 
First thing... You're in a huge rush.

7days primary, 7 secondary.... slow down. Go 10-14 days primary, 14 days secondary. Or as an alternative, 21 days primary then bottle. You didn't give the beer enough time to clear before bottling. You can rush the clearing by dropping the temperature of the secondary after about a week to 40F or so and leave it like that for 3 days.

Second. For how long did you chill the bottle before you poured it? If you put it in the freezer for 30 minutes, then poured. Yes, you'll have haze. Try leaving a bottle in the fridge for a week, then try it. Much clearer.

Stop drinking your young beer. Let it sit warm for another two weeks, then chill some bottles for another week. You'll be happy.
 
Bobby_M said:
First thing... You're in a huge rush.

So true. Good beer requires patience. Much patience.

Also, as was alluded to, the faster you can cold break the clearer the beer. I use irish moss in the last 15 minutes. At flame out I pull the kettle from the burner and dump 2 bags of ice into the kettle. Let it set for 15 minutes then rack it to the fermenter. Since going to this route, I have little if any chill haze. And, I get almost no sediment inthe bottle as well. Double Plus!!

:mug:
 
Bobby_M said:
Stop drinking your young beer. Let it sit warm for another two weeks, then chill some bottles for another week. You'll be happy.
+1 for this very sage advice. And annoyingly, if you wait longer than that, the beer will be even better.
 
I have to agree with everything that has been said. I am just today crash cooling a beer that has been in primary for a week. It is done by all means and will set a week at 35*F before transfer into a serving keg, but what I have right now is as clear as your picture. I had excellent cold break in my kettle (best I have ever had), and used a hopsack for my boil for a brilliantly clear pre-pitched wort. I have never had chill haze in a beer, but I have always chilled with a cooler of some sort and it never took too long. So, never experiencing haze I wouldn't "know" what to tell you other than what has been said already. Waiting is a hard thing to do but it always pays off big time.
 
+1 Yooper and Bobby!

I use a double coil immersion chiller. One coil in a sink of ice water and one in the kettle. It gets 5.5gal down to 70*F in 20 minutes.

After 2 weeks in primary, I rack to a carboy for clearing. That's when i add the gelatin. 1/2 tsp/gal. one week at room temp and 1 week in the fridge at 45*F. I'm sure I don't even need the gelain, but for me, presentation is everything.

Time is the main actor however. Make sure fermentation is done before racking, and a week more after that wouldn't hurt any. I do a 2-2-2 system. 2 weeks primary, 2 secondary, and 2 in the keg. Not only will the brew be clear, but you will have given it at least the minimum time to age, at least for the lighter low-octane styles.
 
Are you sure it's chill haze? i.e. the beer is clear at room temp? It could just be the way the picture was taken, but that beer looks like it's got a lot of suspended yeast and is more cloudy than hazey. Either way, as mentioned, more time will cure both. My first batch was cooled very slowly and had a terrible chill haze problem but after a couple months with the bottles sitting in the fridge, it turned out cyrstal clear.
 
+1 to reshp1. I think that looks like suspended yeast. Cold and time will fix this beer. I made the exact same kit and it became perfectly clear 5 and 1/2 weeks after i brewed...with exactly 2 servings left. I wanted to cry. :(

:tank:
 
Now that you say that I haven't popped a top at room temp, I'll give a few more weeks in bottles then a week in the fridge and see if it helps, I know that time makes the beer better, I was just concerned that I was doing something during the brew that caused the chill haze. I'll start extending my primary and secondary length and add some irish moss to the boil.

I have no problem waiting, I've just been popping 1 at 1 week intervals to taste the how the beer ages. I still have 45 of the red ale. Unfortunately I only have 30 of my first pale ale left, I've given too much of it away to friends...that beer is really tasty at 1 month in bottles.



I know...RDWHAHB
 
livewir said:
Now that you say that I haven't popped a top at room temp,

You should be able to tell even in the bottles. Hold a warm one and a cold one up to the light. If it's chill haze, there will be a considerable difference in the clarity of the two.

Nothing wrong with sampling to monitor what's happening in the bottles and seeing how the flavor changes as beer ages. ;)
 
Another option is to put your beer mugs into the freezer and drink your beer out of the frosted mugs. Or just use steins. The haze will become invisible. But I agree with the serious comments provided by others - a hard cold break and allowing your beer time to settle in the bottles.
 
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