Have you ever experienced this situation—you've placed a bottle of clear homebrewed beer in the refrigerator, but after it has cooled, it has become cloudy? If so, then you've experienced a common phenomenon in homebrewing known as chill haze. It’s fairly common in homebrewing, and it's fairly annoying. Fortunately, chill haze is flavorless, so it's fine to just ignore it. On the other hand, we're beer geeks, so we want to know why it happens and how to deal with it.
The tldr; of how to deal with chill haze: close your eyes, drink the beer and enjoy!
What Is Chill Haze?
Okay, so if you really want to know, then we have to get a little scientific, but that's okay, because then we can run around using big fancy words that make us seem smart. So..., chill haze in beer is a protein-polyphenol complex that is soluble at room temperature, which is why your beer is clear when warm. These protein-polyphenol complexes generally form from the binding of malts' protein and hops' polyphenols. However, when you chill the beer to refrigerator temperatures, these protein-polyphenol complexes become less soluble and start to clump, forming tiny though visible particles that cause chill haze. Viewed from a distance, the beer looks hazy, but if you have good eyes and look closely, you can see mist-like particles in the beer.
Does Chill Haze Really Matter?
Honestly, it depends on the style of beer you’re brewing and how much you care about clear beer. Some styles, like NEIPAs or wheat beers, are supposed to be hazy. But if you’re brewing something like a pilsner or pale ale, you might want that nice, clear look. Remember, chill haze doesn’t affect flavor, so if your beer tastes good, there’s no harm in a little hazy. But if you're brewing for a competition or you’re after that professional, crystal-clear appearance, these steps can help you eliminate chill haze.
How to Reduce or Eliminate Chill Haze
Chill haze is easy enough to deal with, but like many things with brewing, it involves technique, patience, and a little science.
-
Get a Good Hot Break: When boiling wort, you want a strong rolling boil—not just a few bubbles. This helps proteins clump together and fall out of the wort, which is called a hot break.
-
Get a Good Cold Break: After boiling, you want to quickly cool the wort for a good cold break. The quick chilling causes a different set of proteins and other compounds to coagulate and precipitate out of solution. This also helps remove these haze-causing particles before fermentation.
-
Use Irish Moss or Whirlfloc: Use either Irish Moss or Whirlfloc tablets during the last 10-15 minutes of the boil. These are similar fining agents that bind to proteins and make them settle out faster.
-
Cold Crashing: After fermentation is complete (make sure of this) but before bottling or kegging, chill the beer to near freezing for at least two days. When you cold crash a home-brewed beer, chill haze begins to precipitate within 24 to 48 hours. For the greatest effect, extend the cold crash time to about 3 to 5 days, or longer, if you desire.
-
Post-Fermentation Fining: If your beer is still hazy after fermentation, you can add gelatin or Biofine to help clear it up. These fining agents bind to particles floating around in your beer (including yeast) and settle them to the bottom.
-
Clarity Ferm: Clarity Ferm is an enzyme that helps break down haze-causing proteins. It also reduces gluten, which is a bonus if you are trying to produce a gluten-reduced beer.
All Said and Done
If your goal is a perfectly clear beer, then yes, chill haze is annoying. On the other hand, chill haze is flavorless, so for the lazy among us, it's easy to ignore. But if you want to eliminate chill haze, then play it by the book: get a good hot and cold break, cold crash, use finings and enzymes. Unless they're brewing for competitions, most home brewers don’t stress about a little haze. They do stress, on the other hand, when their beer glass is empty. And that's easy to fix, too. So, cheers!
