Troubleshooting hazy beer

[xico]

Hello all, I am trying to narrow down my problem. The last series of beers I have been making have been hazy. I thought it had to do with the adjuncts I usually put into the mash but I'm also not too happy with the opaqueness with a brew using Safale 05 which tells me there is a problem in my process.

I will give as much detail as possible to improve the quality of advice.

System: Brewha BIAC Medium
Brew in a Conical
~22 gallon vessel with a mash colander that lifts out of the kettle.

Lots of Ca in the water according to well tests from all municipal water systems. This is an average from the wells used based on their seasonal use so it is a rough estimate but the best I have:

Ca 60.0 mg/L
Mg N/A
SO4 2.9
Na 12.0
Cl 2.1
Hardness: 67 mg/L

12 gallons batch volume

70% Pilsen Malt
15% Vienna
5% Acid Malt
3% Crystal 40L
5% Crystal 20L
2% Crystal 60L

Mash pH of 5.1 (Lower than I wanted)
30 minutes from 112-120F, 10 minutes 121-145, 60 minutes 146-150, 25 minutes 151-155, 10 minutes to mash out at 168F, then lift the colander, and begin sparge (with amended salts and at ~168F)

90 minute heavy boil

60 minute whirlpool with hop additions then 15 minutes to crash temp to 62F

5 Days primary started at 66F and let slowly ramp to 68.
6 days off yeast in secondary (last 4 days dry hopped 2 ounces per corny keg of 5 gallons)
Both kegs have been crashed to 33F and carbing for six days now. I tasted them both and was shocked to see the haze. What am I doing wrong here?

Water
I need to use Ca to get my sulphate and chloride count up but can't find anything about cloudyness from higher Ca. Looking at my numbers, I am nearing 127 mg/L in order to balance out my ions. Is this the issue? Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

Equipment
The lift of the mash colander creates a fast drainage that I wonder may disturb the bed enough to allow particles to slip into solution again. Using a kettle as a grant, I was considering controlling the flow by a valve so I can properly fly sparge. Is there a rate that I should be going for (1.0 gallons/min or the like)?

Hop additions
Can whirlpooling contribute to this? The brewery I worked at whirlpooled for 60-90 minutes, dry hopped prudently, and we made beer clear enough to see the bubbles on the other side of the glass.

Has anyone heard of crashing the temp quickly, pulling off the trub and then heating back up to pasteurization temps to whirlpool? Would this not help in getting those tannins and proteins out of the system before throwing your flowers into the pot?

 

[JLeuck64]

How long are you fermenting? Only reason I ask is I notice that my beers clear up considerably the longer I leave them be in the primary, they stay clear after that as well.

 

[mattdee1]

Clarity can take time. Or finings. Or both.

 

[Gavin C]

Some tips/ideas here in a recent thread.

 

[xico]

Perhaps I can be extending my primary time, when I use sluggish yeasts that produce a lot of diacetyl I will give primary at least a week before I take it off the yeast, and then another week or more in secondary before crashing. Safale 05 in the past though has always been a thorough fermenter and I didn't have clarity issues with my old system and this yeast. I will keep the kegs at 33 for a couple weeks before I try to bottle them out I guess, and hopefully some of the proteins and tannins will drop out.

I've never used finings before but perhaps it's time to give it a go.

 

[Izzie1701]

I could never get safale 05 or 04 to clear the chill haze till I started using gelatin and cold conditioning for at least 2 weeks. Without the gelatin the beer was clear at room temp then chilled and went hazy. After I started cold conditioning with gelatin it looks filtered.