Persistent haze following stuck sparge

[geobeery]

I'm 2 weeks into a session IPA fermentation/conditioning and have a persistent cloudy haze. It could of course be yeast that will clear up, but my previous batches on this recipe have at least showed some improvement by now. Also my wort was very cloudy due to a stuck sparge that I couldn't free up, which had to be moved to a separate vessel to unblock the tun, before shifting it back. I then let it settle for 10 mins before recirculating. The first 10L (pre-stick) was very clear and nicely coloured, but the 15L post-stick were very milky and 10 mins of recirculation failed to clear it. The mash was:

60 minutes at 67°
3.5 kgs pearl malt
1 kg marris otter
250g crystal

Pearl was a substitute for marris otter, which my supplier ran out of, so may be part of the issue. But the in/out mash temperatures was pretty spot on target 67, so I'd be surprised if the problem is starch haze.

Of course I'll crash cool next week and try finings, but I just wondered if anyone could help diagnose what I'm dealing with..

 

[clibit]

Well, no two fermentations are identical. I'm not sure of the cause, but I've used Pearl with no clarity problems. It could be the hot/cold break I guess. I think all you can do is proceed, I suspect it will clear eventually, be it in the bottle/keg or before that. Mine usually have, eventually. What yeast is it?

 

[geobeery]

What yeast is it?

Hi clibit. It's WYeast 1099 Whitbread, as per recipe. I'm doubtful its cold/hot break because the cloudiness (almost milky) preceded the boil, but then the chemistry is more complex than my understanding so perhaps!

 

[geobeery]

Well it never did clear up fully, but did at least get to the stage of passing for protein haze. I've concluded the cause was agitation during mash, although the precise chemical cause is still unclear.

 

[Dads_Ale]

It's odd that some malts seem to cause a haze. I have only had 2 brews made using Pale Rye Malt (from the same batch) take ages (several months) to fully clear. No taste issue but just a bit hazy. Although with the last batch the bottles cleared at room temp and the corny didn't at 5c. Possibly added a protein haze at chilled, see what happens when I put the bottles in the fridge (10c).