Chill Haze

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brewbrew
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Chill Haze

Post by brewbrew » Wed Feb 15, 2017 8:33 pm

My Bohemian Pilsner is showing chill haze and I'm keen not to get it again. Any ideas on how it happens? I know it is to do with protein (or is it other things?)
My recipe was the Greg Hughes version - exact replication of the ingredients list and I used a 2 stage decoction mash with 50 deg C protein rest for 30 mins at the start. Boil was 1hr 15 mins
My water is very soft and one thing that I did differently on this brew was only putting in a fraction of my normal gypsum that I use for ales - I used just half a teaspoon in 35 litres of wort.

Any ideas on how to improve next time?

Cheers BB

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scuppeteer
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Re: Chill Haze

Post by scuppeteer » Wed Feb 15, 2017 9:41 pm

Yes it is protein, but not really to do with your method by the looks of it.

In order to reduce haze a beer must be chilled to below the ideal serving temperature and held there for several days. A cask beer for example would ideally be chilled to 6-8C and then served around 12-14C thus eliminating the haze. Lagers should be chilled to as near freezing as possible as obviously they are served colder around 6-7C.

Without knowing what your kit can do, this is my best guess.
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AFewTooMany

Re: Chill Haze

Post by AFewTooMany » Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:23 am

Do you get clear wort out of the mash and boil?

brewbrew
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Re: Chill Haze

Post by brewbrew » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:05 am

Yep - the post boil wort was more clear than my usual result - it was also drawn off through a hop bed (whole hops not pellets) over a bazooka filter.

BB

mosquat
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Re: Chill Haze

Post by mosquat » Fri Feb 17, 2017 7:34 am

Check out the latest Beersmith video, all about haze and how to avoid


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mosquat
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Re: Chill Haze

Post by mosquat » Fri Feb 17, 2017 7:36 am

[quote="mosquat"]Check out the latest Beersmith video, all about haze and how to

https://youtu.be/DpSudGRTkeU


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Kev888
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Re: Chill Haze

Post by Kev888 » Sat Feb 18, 2017 12:26 pm

If the beer is clear until chilled then yes, it will almost certainly be chill haze caused by protein and possibly tannin. There are several ways to reduce it - you're already doing a protein rest, cooling the wort rapidly after a strong and long boil with irish moss (or equivalent) kettle finings at the end are also good practice in this respect. But chilling for a while, possibly combined with gelatine (or similar) finings, is by far the most effective method IMO; you need the haze to form in order for it to then drop out quickly, hence the cooling - it will probably drop out without chilling eventually, but takes much, much longer.

Insufficient calcium is also linked to clarity problems IMO, so as you reduced the gypsum its probably worth double-checking that you had enough calcium left. If excess sulphate is a problem for you, then calcium chloride can help balance it and add calcium without further sulphate.
Kev

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orlando
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Re: Chill Haze

Post by orlando » Sat Feb 18, 2017 1:07 pm

Calcium certainly does help. I would also look at mash pH, if you have a problem with that it just cascades down the process. If that is OK then make sure you get a good rolling boil and not just a simmer. Finely judged kettle finings will also help, as will a rapid wort chill. Scups final remedy is notable too as it will help the haze forming components drop out of solution.
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