Can anybody tell me what type of filter I can buy to remove chill haze. I brew all-grain and keg all my beers. I know if I keep it cold for about a month, it will eventually settle out, but I dont want to wait that long with my ales.
Waiting is the only way I know of. Actually adding Irish moss to the boil should also help.
Do you use Whirlfloc? That, combined with hard boiling and rapid cooling make mine crystal clear.
If you are still wanting to filter, our host sells one IIRC.
Northern Brewer Plate Filters
Gelatin will help a bit. Getting your pH lower (especially in the mash) will help too. Filtering seems like a lot of unnecessary work. A lot of commercial beers, especially IPAs, aren’t all that clear anyway.
+1 to this. I’ve been using gelatin for about 5 beers now and it works like a charm. I just add it to the keg when filling (I’ve added it after carbonation too), shake the hell out of it, then wait a day or so to dispense. Dump the first pint and the rest are clear as a bell.
Here’s the process I use: http://www.brewcommune.com/forum/viewto … ?f=5&t=206
Super easy.
Chill haze is formed by proteins combining with poly-phenols at a given temperature, the cooler the temperature the more readily these to compounds combine to form the larger particles which cause “chill haze”. So there are two ways to help offset this in the BREWHOUSE…1. Reduce the amount of proteins in the finished beer - 2. Reduce the amount of poly-phenols in the finished beer.
For #1 we can perform a protein rest, limit the amount of wheat and flaked adjuncts which are high in protein from use in the mash, perform a rigorous boil for 90min, and chill the wort to fermentation temperatures quickly to precipitate a substantial cold break (which is basically the same process as chill haze -proteins and poly-phenols).
Since we’re home-brewers and we don’t usually have the means to do multi-step mashes (most home-brewers) and we like to experiment with our beers…we kind of have to ignore the first two precautions above…the final two are simply best practices and we should be doing those anyway.
So it comes to #2…the poly-phenols. Here is where we can actually make a difference in our finished beers. To reduce these in your product we need to address the sparge. First, by conditioning your sparge water pH and acidifying it to a pH between 5.5 and 6.0. I cannot comment on the use of a buffering agent like pH 5.2 because I’ve never used it, but IMO the best way to achieve this is to use an 88% lactic acid. Depending on your liquor make-up you can add this to the sparge water…it will only take a very small amount. My liquor pH is 7.9 and my residual alkalinity is fairly low…I basically have pilsen water…and I add 1ml to 7gal of sparge water to get my pH to 5.6 and alkalinity to basically 1ppm as bicarbonate. You can get a copy of the widely popular bruin’ water excel doc to work this out for your water.
The second sparge issue is the final runnings. If we run our wort off to a gravity below around 1.008 the wort begins to pick up excessive amounts of poly-phenols and even though your extraction of these compounds may not contribute any phenolic flavors/aromas to the finished product, the amount of phenols in solution will contribute significantly to haze.
So for fly sparging pay close attention to the gravity of your last runnings and for batch sparging be careful to calculate your water volumes to keep you last sparge at a gravity above 1.010. For both methods treat your sparge water to 5.5-6.0 and you will significantly minimize you poly-phenol extraction. And, as always keep you liquor at 165-170 degrees.
This may seem like a lot of :blah: but it really works…when I brewed for a living this, often overlooked aspect of the process, was scrutinized by QC…but then again there was no luxury of time to let it settle out…which is what will happen eventually-if it is kept cold…like everyone else says.
Bon Vino Mini-jet or Super jet will work well. Or you are supposed to be able to use a cartridge water filter and a particulate filter.
I’ve used gelatin and it takes awhile to drop clear too, not as long as simple lagering though. YOu could also try something a little more aggressive like SuperKleer.
Very helpful information troutguy; thanks for posting this.
I just experienced a strange chill haze phenomenon. I brewed a pumpkin ale, cold-crashed it and added gelatin, and let it chill for a couple of days before bottling. After the beer was carbonated, it was crystal clear, and I drank most of the batch without a problem. At one point I left a few bottles in the fridge for a week or two, and when I went to drink them they were quite hazy. It’s funny how long it takes for the haze to develop, and I could have finished the whole batch with no problems, just chilling a couple bottles at a time and drinking them the next day.
