Hazing

[thescotsman]

Hi all

I have a problem where no matter what I try my ales always have a slight hazing.

I use a Grainmaster which means I can cool wort very quickly and I have temperature controlled fridges for primary and secondary. I have run secondary for three weeks plus, yet the perfect crystal clear beer illudes me.

Any ideas?

 

[IainM]

I have a problem where no matter what I try my ales always have a slight hazing.

Does someone force them to wear Fosters labels and tell them they're gluten free?

 

[IainM]

Seriously though, try putting them in the fridge for a week or two. Any particles large enough to scatter light should drop to the bottom. Otherwise, a combination of protofloc/whirlfloc at the end of the boil, and some isinglass after fermentation, and it should be crystal clear.

 

[DoctorMick]

Are you adding anything like protofloc during the boil?

My last beer is crystal and it didn't take much effort, protofloc in the boil, fermented for just over 2 weeks and then cold crashed at 2c for 4 or 5 days. It was crystal clear after a couple of days in the bottle and the only difference to my other brews was the extended cold crash so I'm assuming that is where the biggest improvement happened.

 

[MickDundee]

Just start brewing wheat beers and it'll never be a problem again!

 

[thescotsman]

I am using protofloc for the last 10-15 mins and I am secondary fermenting for 2wks + at 18 degrees. I cold crashed the last lot down to 3 degrees for a couple of days (experiment) and I still have a haze - it is slight but still there.

 

[TheRedDarren]

Cold crash for a bit longer, I cc for about ten days.
Only when I use oats of a shed load of hops do I get haze now.

 

[thescotsman]

Cheers - I'll do that.

Your comment about the hops. The last batch is a made up brew where I used all the left over hops I have collected over the last couple of months and I threw in alot! Maybe that is one of the reasons on this brew. It tastes brill, possible my best yet and guess what I have lost my notes. Arrrghhgh ;-)

 

[GlentoranMark]

Have a you tried using Gelatin? Have a read of this. I've never tried it but I will for my next brew.

Cold crashing will also make a big difference.

 

[MickDundee]

Have a you tried using Gelatin? Have a read of this. I've never tried it but I will for my next brew.

Cold crashing will also make a big difference.

No good for the vegetarians of the forum (I'm not one, but I have enough trouble trying to get my wife to try my beer without it being not suitable for veggies). I take it vege-gel doesn't have the same effect?

 

[geetee]

I bought some auxillary finings, added after fermentation is finished. Add 3.5ml per litre and cool as low as you can - approx 2-3 °C. My beer usually clears within 2 days. Once chill haze is gone it stays gone even if the beer is warmed up.
I believe some of them are crushed seaweed (carageenan) so suitable for veggies in place of gelatin.

 

[GlentoranMark]

No good for the vegetarians of the forum (I'm not one, but I have enough trouble trying to get my wife to try my beer without it being not suitable for veggies). I take it vege-gel doesn't have the same effect?

I don't think it would do any harm trying? Maybe test it on a demijohn amount? It would also help to compare.

I didn't even know there was such a thing as Vege-Gel until you mentioned it :)

 

[MyQul]

@OP your not trying to clean some sort of massivley hopped IPA are you(or something with a large amount of dry hops)? As these styles will always be hazy because the hop debris in it

 

[Covrich]

I also think water treatment can play a part in clarity.. since I started treating this year my clarity has improved a lot

 

[IainM]

No good for the vegetarians of the forum (I'm not one, but I have enough trouble trying to get my wife to try my beer without it being not suitable for veggies). I take it vege-gel doesn't have the same effect?

In this post a forumite used a vegetarian gelatin substitute by accident, and came to the conclusion that it was clearer than if they hadn't used finings.

 

[Dutto]

Did you leave the beer to carbonate for two weeks in a nice warm place? If not then it may still be carbonating. This will cause a haze.

Did you leave the beer to condition undisturbed for two to four weeks thereafter in a cool dark place? If not then the yeast may not have had the time or conditions required for it to fall to the bottom of the bottle. This will cause a haze.

Are the bottles kept to condition somewhere near a light source? If so the yeast may stick to the side of the bottle and it might look like a haze even thought it isn't.

After conditioning and clearing are you then chilling down the bottled beer before drinking? If so, this may also cause a haze to develop.

There are numerous reasons to develop a haze in a beer; but a haze has never put me off drinking it. :thumb:

Remember that Brewing is similar to ***. Coming first doesn't always mean you have won!

Be patient, take your time and if it hasn't cleared after two months drink it anyway! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Simonh82]

The last beer I made I added half a protofloc tablet in secondary. I wanted to use vege gel after reading the post linked to earlier but couldn't find any in the shops at the time.

I mixed half a crushed table with about 250ml of boiled water. Then added to the fermenter and gently stirred.

The beer had been cold crashed to 5°C and I held it there for a few days. I came out crystal clear.

I'm going to repeat in the future either with protofloc or vege gel as I also found my beers often ended up a little hazy.

 

[stevey]

Mine were always a little hazy (I do always brew hoppy IPA's, and often dry hop) and I thought it was because I no chill, until I went on a bit of a diet to knock the beer belly down a bit. Consequently, I left a brew priming for much longer than I usually would; it was the clearest all grain I've ever made.
So I now know its all about the conditioning time and being patient.
I'd got used to cloudy beer, thinking I'd never get a clear one; but now I know its all about waiting. I'll still drink cloudy beer if it tastes nice rather than wait another month though :)