Dry hop question

[DJL531]

7 weeks ago I brewed an all grain pale ale. 50/50 Pale Ale and Vienna malt. I bittered with Magnum and then dry hopped.

Dry hopped with pellets and for a short period of 3 days. Dry hop was done in a fine mesh bag, in the keg. Put this under pressure at room temp (lack of space in the fridge) and even at room temp it tasted amazing. It was cloudy like a NEIPA but with a low ABV and no hop burn. It made its way to the fridge, still pouring hazy, which is fine, but after about a week or so in the fridge (40 deg) It cleared up really nice. I was not expecting that.

So, if I would have simply chilled this for a week or two would I have lost this 'haze' I got out of the first gallon? The first few glasses did have a fine sediment in them, which was expected.

Also, yeast I used was Safale S-04.

Thanks.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Chilling helps clear most beers.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

The question is about how to maintain a stable haze?

There is ongoing research into what factors create the best stable haze in a NEIPA style beer. It is most likely a synergy between proteins, hop oils/polyphenols and yeast properties. I find that most of my dry hopped APAs and IPAs will have a significant haze for the first week or so. As yeast and "other stuff" settles out, they will steadily clear and be mostly clear at around two weeks.

I don't have a lot recent experience using S-04 in anything other than dark beers. If you wanted your beer to stay hazy (hopefully with the goal of keeping hop flavors in suspension than just the appearance) then you might want to lean on high protein grains (oats, wheat, chit, etc.) and probably much more hops than is typical for a Pale Ale. There are probably better yeast than S-04 (like London Ale III), but S-04 is one that people use.

 

[DJL531]

The question is about how to maintain a stable haze?

Actually I was not expecting to have a hazy beer. I'm new to kegging so I attributed it to having more volume and no added sugar to cause carbonation and settle out as it sits for 2-3 weeks. I had teh S-04 on hand and I read it brought out some of the flavors in the hops I was using. Allow me to explain:

This batch was 5 gallon and split into two 3 gallon kegs. One was dry hopped with Pacific Jade and the other was dry hopped with Vic Secret. Similar flavors between the 2, but the Pacific Jade tasted better in my opinion. That keg has gone empty and the Vic Secret is in the fridge now. I'll let it sit for a week or so and see if any haze is left. Yesterday I pulled 10-12 oz out of it and it was murky, so I assume the sediment causing the haze is starting to settle out.

Haze or no haze, I will brew this one again with different dry hops.

 

[Dog House Brew]

04 flocculates like crazy and leaves most beers clear. I really like that yeast. It also lets the hops come through nicely. I’ve never used Pacific Jade, sound like something to try.

 

[Beenym88]

Beer will be hazy for a short time unless you actively try to make it clear this is completely normal. Chilling will remove haze unless a person really put the effort in to make a hazy beer.