Question about chill haze

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DeafSmith

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I just opened my first bottle from my second batch. Even though it had only been bottled for 10 days when I put it in the refrigerator (plus two days in the refrigerator), it tastes great - doesn't have a lot of head yet, but retains what it has well and even leaves nice lacing on the glass. Another couple of weeks, I think it'll be great! But it does have chill haze, and I don't know why - I used a Whirlfloc tablet, added it about 15 minutes before the end of the boil. This was a minimash version of the Sierra Nevada pale ale.
The original recipe had 2 1/2 lbs of 2-row, 10 oz. of Crystal 60L and 4 lbs of LME. My POS floating thermometer was way off so I didn't get very good conversion during the mash - I could tell that from an iodine test, so I threw in 13 ounces of DME that I had lying around. Glad I did, because with the added DME I hit the OG almost exactly - my OG was 1.051 and FG was 1.012. Standard one hour boil (late addition on half the LME and the DME), Perle hops at 60 min., Cascade at 15 min. and flameout. Cooled from boiling to 70 degrees in about 10 minutes with an IC with prechiller. Primary for two weeks, dry hopped in secondary for one week. I thought the fast chill with the IC plus the Whirlfloc would take care of the haze. Could it be due to unconverted starches from the poor mash? The beer appears clear when at room temp. - would starches only appear hazy when cold, or do you think this is normal chill haze due to cold break, or whatever?
 
First, you don't have all the bottles in the fridge do you? It is not done bottle conditioning and won't do much of it anytime soon in the fridge. If you just put a couple in to test...cool. If you put all of it in I would take it out and let it continue to condition for a couple more weeks at least.

It is normal haze because of the proteins still in there. If you can keep some chilled at 35-40 for 10-14 days I bet your haze will go away. I generally have some haze but keep the bottles cold for a couples weeks takes care of it.
 
First, you don't have all the bottles in the fridge do you? It is not done bottle conditioning and won't do much of it anytime soon in the fridge. If you just put a couple in to test...cool. If you put all of it in I would take it out and let it continue to condition for a couple more weeks at least.

It is normal haze because of the proteins still in there. If you can keep some chilled at 35-40 for 10-14 days I bet your haze will go away. I generally have some haze but keep the bottles cold for a couples weeks takes care of it.

No, I know it's not done - I just put one in the fridge to see how it's coming along - the other 49 are still at room temp. The haze doesn't bother me, as long as the beer tastes good (and it does) - I just didn't expect it after using the Whirlfloc and cooling rapidly with my immersion chiller. Thanks for the advice about chilling for a while - I'll do that after the beer is finished bottle conditioning.
 
I just wanted to update this for the benefit of other noobs who may have the same problem. After a couple of weeks in the fridge, these beers cleared up just fine, and after a month in the fridge, they are absolutely crystal clear, and taste great! Thanks for the advice to be patient.
 
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