Cloudy Keg Beer

[chewyheel]

My two most recent kegs have been cloudy, and I'm not completely sure why, but I may have an idea and want some feedback.

Before filling a keg I do a Star San soak of the keg and scrub/wipe with a kitchen sponge, I also break down the tap and soak in beer line cleaner and and clean the line as well, then rinse the line and tap parts with clean water. My default keg temperature is 40 degrees.

However, during my last two kegs I forgot to scrub/wipe with a sponge and only did a star san soak, so that might be the culprit.

Also, what are other common causes of cloudy beer so I'll know for future reference?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jwalk4]

Aside from yeast choice, chill haze, time spent in the keg, and water chemistery? I'm sure there's a few others.

You scrub your keg BEFORE you soak with star san, right?

 

[chewyheel]

Typically I do scrub before soaking.

I've heard of chill haze but not super familiar with it, from my understanding isn't it the colder the beer is stored the likelier it is to be hazy?

 

[jwalk4]

Typically I do scrub before soaking.

I've heard of chill haze but not super familiar with it, from my understanding isn't it the colder the beer is stored the likelier it is to be hazy?

Yeah, always scrub before star san. Star san is just a ph based sanitizer. Once it loses its ph, it no longer works. Lots of things can throw out ph, so always sanitize last.
Eg. Dump trub, rinse, scrub, rinse, starsan soak.

Chill haze is when proteins that are in our beer clump together when cold. Thus forming a hazy appearance.

The best way to combat chill haze without getting overly technical is to get a good strong boil, use whirlfloc or irish Moss finings, and chill your beer as fast as possible. Other solutions include filtering, gelatin finings, and cold crashing.

Personally, I don't let a little chill haze get me down, although I do the first 3 things I mentioned. But I would be worried if my pilsner looked like a NE IPA.