My first attempt

[Planet Squirrel]

Hiya, I have just started drinking my very first home brew and generally it is not bad , I had about 2 pints yesterday and I have not died or been ill so all's good. The only slight problem is the beer is cloudy, tastes ok but cloudy. After reading the book which arrived yesterday (which my wife got me for anniversary :) ) I'd suggest it is chill haze rather than contaminated; I blame the hot weather as I've only been able to get the room with the PB down to 20deg at the best.

It's been in the pressure barrel since july 5th, so it's had plenty of time to settle, I think I'm just goign to have to get used to drinking cloudy ale for a few more pints. :)

Next time I think I'll put the PB in the garage for a few weeks then move it inside, leave few days to settle and then drink.

This first one was a woodforde's wherry best bitter, any suggestions for my next one?

 

[Samarith]

My Wherry has been in the keg since mid-June and it still cloudy, really wish I'd fined it now. I have no way to cool the keg atm, so I'm just accepting the the cloudiness.

The 10 bottles I did clear beautifully in the fridge.

Not sure how you can have a chill haze and not be able to get it below 20deg. :wha:

 

[Planet Squirrel]

I must have misunderstood the book, it said an insufficient cold stage after cooling cause chill haze. I assumed that meant it hadn't had enough time at a cool temperature, oh well just back from shopping and having another half a pint now. :thumb:

 

[Samarith]

As I understand it, chill haze is caused by proteins clumping as the brew is cooled.

Getting rid of these proteins is done by boiling the wort (hot break) and crash cooling the wort (cold break), this causes them to clump and they can be seperated out from the rest of the wort. This part takes place prior to the fermentation, so with a kit it should have been done by the manufacturer.

During fermentation you might notice dark speckles on the foam in the FV (looks like the chocolate dusting they do on fancy coffee), this is protein and if you're dedicated you can skim it off.

 

[Aleman]

Getting rid of these proteins is done by boiling the wort (hot break) and crash cooling the wort (cold break), this causes them to clump and they can be separated out from the rest of the wort. This part takes place prior to the fermentation, so with a kit it should have been don't by the manufacturer.

Unfortunately although kit manufacturers do 'boil' the extract they do so under a vacuum to help evaporate off excess liquid. When you boil under a vacuum the boiling point is reduced so you don't actually reach the temperature required to denature these proteins. . . . I find it amazing that these kit beers clear as well as they do. . . . It also might be an explanation why a kit beer made with additional spray malt rather than sugar takes longer to clear, as the spray malt contains additional protein, if you used sugar you would dilute the protein content of the original wort . . . which I think the manufacturers cater for when constructing teh kits.