Dark beer clear, pale is hazy

[mothman]

First time posting and I'm looking for a bit of advice on an issue I've had with quite a few brews now. Whilst the dark beers I've done are crystal clear the pales ones all turn out hazy. Sometimes it's just a bit hazy, but quite a lot of the time it's unacceptably very hazy. The only thing I'm sure of is that it isn't chill haze.

Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

 

[AdeDunn]

Assuming you are talking all grain, it sounds like your mash pH may be too high when making pale beers. Darker beers the mash pH will be lower from the dark malts than a pale beer, hence they're clearer. Try getting some test strips, and next time you brew a pale take a small sample whilst mashing and test it.

I live in a hard water area, so when I brew pales I adjust the alkalinity of the water I brew with to reduce it so that the mash pH is lower. I used to do this using RO water, sometimes lactic acid, but now I've switched to using CRS (a blend of acids sold for the purpose). You can also just use bottled water (I believe Ashbeck is the go to brand usually). On the flip side, darker beers, like porters, come out really well using the water here, with little adjustment needed.

 

[mothman]

Thanks for your feedback.

I had considered that and used a test strip during the mash and it indicated 5.0, which I thought was on the low side. Interestingly enough not hugely different to the dark beer mash.

I changed equipment very recently and have a new mash tun and it made no difference, except for better efficiency. It also doesn't seem to make a difference whether I'm fly sparging or batch.

The only other conclusion I can come up with is that I'm over sparging or picking up proteins I shouldn't be when transferring to the fermenter. The strange thing is though I used the same equipment and methods a few years ago and the results were absolutely fine.

I meant to add, it's pretty certainly soft water (in Midlothian). The local water report didn't state this however and before we moved I was in Warwickshire with much harder water and had no issues. I'd argue that that the water there made better beer though IMHO.

 

[AdeDunn]

Yeah, doesn't surprise me that harder water made better beer, no need to add lots of salts to it. My understanding is that soft water is only really good for pale lagers.

Hmmm, ok, surprised about the pH, as that is usually the big difference between dark beers and pale ones, the one that really jumps out. Are you using a different base malt between the 2 maybe? I ask, as first time I used Crisp Maris Otter, every beer I made with it was hazy, whilst at the same time beers I made with IREKS pale malt or Dingemans pilsen were nice and clear, same equipment etc, just different base malt... I switched to a different pale malt and fixed the problem, and got a better flavour in my beers (not saying it was because it was Crisp Maris Otter, could have just been that batch...).

The other thing I'd wonder about, well pales sometimes have more hops in them, especially dry hopping. Some hop varieties I have found can leave quite a bit of haze in beer when used in larger amounts. I don't cold crash or fine though (don't have the facilities to).

 

[mothman]

I did consider the malt. I'm using Thomas Fawcett, I usually do.

This brew has a fair amount of Galaxy in it and I'm wondering if that might be the source of the problem.

 

[Clint]

Could you post some of your recipes?

 

[AdeDunn]

Maybe it's something as simple as needing a harder boil? Of course, it could be as Clint is possibly thinking, that your pale recipes have a lot more late hops (dry hops especially).