chill haze

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Pete H

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I was just wondering if anyone else is having issues with the cold weather in particular chill haze. Ihave had the same problem with my last two brews. Both brewed as per my normal method then kept in the warm for two weeks then up in my loft for a further 3-4. But these buggers just won't clear. 1 is a wilko cerveza the other a muntons midas touch. I've read about polyclar but I just wanted to get some opinions or solutions.

:cheers:
 
Yes, I've been struggling to get mine to clear down. I have one that I added finings to and then kegged on the 4th Jan that's still murky as a politician's conscience.
 
Cloudy beer doesn't bother me, I had z bitter that wouldn't clear once but it was still lovely, mmmmmmm beer :-)
 
chill haze can be a few things , your water can increase chill haze , also certain mashing methods , but a big 1 is cooling the wort too slowly , do you use a wort chiller ?
 
Pete H said:
I was just wondering if anyone else is having issues with the cold weather in particular chill haze. Ihave had the same problem with my last two brews. Both brewed as per my normal method then kept in the warm for two weeks then up in my loft for a further 3-4. But these buggers just won't clear. 1 is a wilko cerveza the other a muntons midas touch. I've read about polyclar but I just wanted to get some opinions or solutions.

:cheers:
My wilko cerveza was as cloudy as my mood after a trip to the mother in laws, it was still very drinkable though.
I saved a bottle to compare with the coopers cerveza i am currently fermenting for comparison.
 
Pittsy

Excuse my ignorance but i Know nothing of this wort chiller you talk about. The only thing i have been doing differently is by not adding any finings but leaving the FV in the cold for a week before transfering for batch priming. When i bottle its clear as hell and almost no sediment in the bottles which is great because that extra half inch makes the difference! :D
 
Pete H said:
Pittsy

Excuse my ignorance but i Know nothing of this wort chiller you talk about. The only thing i have been doing differently is by not adding any finings but leaving the FV in the cold for a week before transfering for batch priming. When i bottle its clear as hell and almost no sediment in the bottles which is great because that extra half inch makes the difference! :D

Wort chiller refers to how quickly you cool the wort after the boil, usually with an immersion chiller or a plate chiller. The quicker it cools the more chance that some of the compounds that cause chill haze will be caught up in your cold break and end up trapped in the trub at the bottom of the boiler not in your FV.
This is only one factor though, I know a brewer who doesn't chill the wort at all, just leaves it to cool naturally and gets no chill haze, whereas I use an immersion chiller and I have had haze in several brews. There must be some other factor, I think I'm going to try lowering my sparge temp a bit and see if that helps.
Last brew I used finings for the first time, Polyclar followed by isinglass. Partly because I'm fed up of chill haze and also because it's a US-05 brew and that's a bit crap at clearing anyway. This seems to have done the trick, very clear beer, even when cold.
 
I had an issue with my Cooper's Cerveza - it was cloudy as hell for around 8 weeks. However after this time it cleared down and is now crystal.

Therefore i would just recommend leaving it longer (and get another brew on in the meantime) :cheers:
 
Dave1970 said:
This is only one factor though, I know a brewer who doesn't chill the wort at all, just leaves it to cool naturally and gets no chill haze, whereas I use an immersion chiller and I have had haze in several brews. There must be some other factor, I think I'm going to try lowering my sparge temp a bit and see if that helps.

Yep, I'm another one of those :) I dump hot wort from the boiler into a no-chill cube to cool naturally and don't have a problem with chill haze. I use protafloc, but not any other finings. Can't help you with sparging as I BIAB, but one thing I typically do is cold-crash the ferment for the last couple of days, that could be a factor?
 
pittsy said:
chill haze can be a few things , your water can increase chill haze , also certain mashing methods , but a big 1 is cooling the wort too slowly , do you use a wort chiller ?
He's brewing kits so won't have any boiling wort to chill.
 
Thanks for all the replys, i think im gona go back to using finings and also try polyclar. Dont get me wrong they taste great but would like them cystal clear especially when i pass them around mates.

:cheers:
 
bunkerbrewer said:
Yep, I'm another one of those :) I dump hot wort from the boiler into a no-chill cube to cool naturally and don't have a problem with chill haze. I use protafloc, but not any other finings. Can't help you with sparging as I BIAB, but one thing I typically do is cold-crash the ferment for the last couple of days, that could be a factor?

No, I do that too
 

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