Cloudy Beer

[jock128]

OK, so my 2nd AG brew was a resounding success ... Sort of. It has turned out full of flavour and everyone who has tried it has said how good it is, I'm really pleased. The idea of it was to be a nice summer brew so I also decided to lightly chill it, my only problem now is that the beer has gone from being crystal clear to foggy when chilled.

seeing as I'm relatively new to the AG scene can anyone point me in the right direction for this problem? I've done a quick search but couldn't find a clear answer (although I'm probably being a numpty)

Thanks all.

[jaroporter]

research "chill haze". it's only an aesthetic fault, noticeable even in many commercial craft beers. though there are steps you can take if you want to reduce the chances of it happening.

[DethApostle]

As Jaroporter has already said this is most likely Chill Haze.
Tips to try and avoid this are:
Cool the beer as quickly as possible after the boil so you get as much protein out of the wort as possible.
Crash cool (in a fridge as cold as it can go!) the beer after fermentation is complete before bottling/kegging to get as much yeast and other bits out of suspension.
Don't chill the beer so much before serving. Ales (and most lagers) don't really need to be cooler than 10C imo

You'll never totally avoid it, but you can get to down to a personally acceptable level!
It is totally asthetic... but it's also more satisfying holding up a pint of your crystal clear beer before taking a swig!
DA

[Matt12398]

I've noticed a massive difference in clarity from using a plate chiller rather than an immersion chiller as it's a very effective way of getting a really good cold break.

The other option is finings which will help with clarity but as mentioned, it's just an aesthetic thing really.

[jock128]

Thanks guys,

I did think it was just aesthetic, but you never know! The beer still taste awesome (Even if I do say so myself )

I was thinking of getting my grubby little mitts on a platre chiller in the next 6 months or so, so perhaps that will help in the long run.

Crash cool (in a fridge as cold as it can go!) the beer after fermentation is complete before bottling/kegging to get as much yeast and other bits out of suspension.

I think I may well give this a go as well with my next brew that I'm going to do in a few weeks.

[soupdragon]

Not tried it yet myself but Crisp do clear choice malt. It's supposed to have less of the stuff that causes a haze. Rob sells it as does Worcester hop shop. I'll be ordering a sack after I've used the last of my pale malt.

Cheers Tom

[scuppeteer]

Not tried it yet myself but Crisp do clear choice malt. It's supposed to have less of the stuff that causes a haze. Rob sells it as does Worcester hop shop. I'll be ordering a sack after I've used the last of my pale malt.

Cheers Tom

The clear choice is really good, mostly designed for use as a lager malt but I do know of several breweries that use it all the time, purely to combat the chill haze. Its the same price as Crisp's standard Maris Otter.

[Cazamodo]

Not tried it yet myself but Crisp do clear choice malt. It's supposed to have less of the stuff that causes a haze. Rob sells it as does Worcester hop shop. I'll be ordering a sack after I've used the last of my pale malt.

Cheers Tom

The clear choice is really good, mostly designed for use as a lager malt but I do know of several breweries that use it all the time, purely to combat the chill haze. Its the same price as Crisp's standard Maris Otter.

I've been meaning to try this malt. Crisp is not too far from here and the sales manager pops in here from time to time, and was talking about it before they coined the name 'clear choice' I was waiting to hear how well it worked, but seems to resolve chill haze!

Nothing worse than seeing a pint of lager poured and its cloudy, when I know I spent all my time making sure it was crystal clear when racking into the keg.

[jock128]

Nothing worse than seeing a pint of lager poured and its cloudy, when I know I spent all my time making sure it was crystal clear when racking into the keg.

Exactly!

Thanks to you all, it's one of those questions that you dread to ask about because it sounds like such a basic question ("Everything is fine until you chill") and it's great to know the support is here when needed. Perhaps getting too emotional now (Group hug????)

[neil smith]

Hi. I used to get chill haze but I got some auxhillary finings from a local micro and never had it sinse.

Regards Neil

[jock128]

Hi. I used to get chill haze but I got some auxhillary finings from a local micro and never had it sinse.

Regards Neil

Thanks, you don't know what the finings we're do you?

[Mr. Dripping]

If you can chill your beer to below the temperature it will be served at, all of the proteins that would form the chill haze at the serving temperature will drop out.
What I do these days is rack to a secondary when fermentation is complete and add some aux. finings, chill down as close to zero as possible for 2-3 days and then rack in to final serving container with some AllkleerA.
There are times when even this type of treatment can fail to clear a beer, I usually find this is a problem with highly hopped beers.

[MashTim]

ClarityFerm and Polyclar730 also work well on chill haze, ClarityFerm also reduces gluten to make the beer 'gluten free', Polyclar also acts as a stabiliser and extends the shelf life of the beer.

[bigdave]

I use bog standard baking gelatine to clear my beers.
1) after fermentation rack off into a clean FV then place in a fridge set as cold as it can get.

2) after 2-3 days dissolve the gelatine in water as per the instructions & stir in to the FV in the fridge.

3) leave for a further 3-4 days & keg/bottle.

With some drinks which I intend to be served cold, I have been known to repeat the gelatine stage.