by Jim Brewer

Types of Haze

Permanent Haze

Yeast Haze

Chill Haze

Permanent haze is just that, it won’t go away – Usually caused by contamination, so pay closer attention to your cleaning and sterilization process.

Yeast haze is in every beer.

The easiest way to clear your beer of suspended yeast is to cool the beer, usually late in the secondary fermentation drop the temperature to 34 – 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Give it a week to flocculate to the bottom; this will also help to promote proteins and polyphenols (tannins) to settle. Occasionally, you may still have some suspended yeast in your beer giving it a slight haze.

Isinglass is made up of long, positively charged molecules that latch onto negatively charged yeast, easily 100 times the size of a yeast cell, which makes the yeast clump heavier and will drop fast. Isinglass will usually settle in 24 hours.

Gelatin works much the same way as isinglass, but at a less effective rate. Gelatin dissolves more readily and easy to find (unflavored gelatin from grocery stores is just as effective as from a homebrew shop).

Chill Haze is caused by natural positively charged particles.

If you are an all-grain brewer you can start clearing your beer by giving your malt a protein rest, however most malts are well modified and do not require a protein rest. In the boil, a hot break is formed, this break material should be left behind in the kettle when transferring into your fermenter, likewise the cold break should be left behind when transferring into your secondary fermenter.

Irish moss is used in the last 15 minutes of the wort boil. This is a negatively charged substance that binds to some the proteins and settles to the bottom of the brew kettle.

Polyclar is the most popular fining agent used by homebrewers and professionals brewers. This is a negatively charged partical that will bind to chill hazing proteins and will settle out in 8 hours.