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 sex. 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 :)