Getting a nice hazy/cloudy appearance.

I've never had Alpine Nelson, but my guess would be hop oils.

 

Use english base malt. Both pearl and halcyon can make your beer insanely hazy (Smash barley wines I've done with each have been hazy when cold and looked like egg drop soup during the boil).

Another option to to chill very slowly and get a shitty cold break. That way you'll get haze when cold.

Dry hopping adds a light haze (dry hop the shit out of it), but Nelson, like you say, looks like orange juice-hefeweizen mixture.

 

They could also be leaving something out of the video. Lots of breweries will respond to an email, if you're polite.

 

Using whirlfloc isn't exactly troublesome, unless you have a memory problem (for example - I forget I have the stuff and order more , and then, with two containers of the stuff, I forget to use it).

But I see what you mean. Various tests with and without whirlfloc routinely have suggested very little difference in the beer. I can dream up some hypotheses, but they are pretty uninformed.

 

I tend to think protein from the Rye & hop oils. A lot is process too though. Best bet is to just email them & report back. I would bet us more hop oils. If they are letting the beer sit for 2 weeks at 48F then probably cold conditioning & brite, I would think proteins would drop out but hop oil would stay suspended no matter the temp.

 

Do you see where I said "I see what you mean?" I got your point.

Edit: I said I could dream up an uninformed hypothesis:
All I can think of is that by dropping proteins with whirlfloc, hop oils might persist in the beer rather than stick to the proteins that might eventually settle. It could be a matter of timing - drop the proteins, then add more hops (e.g., hopback, dry hop, etc.). But I do not know what I am talking about really. I'm just trying to think of a logical explanation for why they might do this, unburdened by facts. This would be one of those things that someone with a chem lab devoted to beer could test, and probably has. But I am not aware of it.

 

AFAIK ... the reason to use Whirlfloc / Irish moss is to improve coagulation of the protein produced in the hot break. IIRC ... reducing protein is alleged to improve flavor stability.

Ways to increase haziness ...
- pitch a less flocculent yeast
- dry hop heavily
- don't cold crash before packaging
- skip the finings when packaging

 

Flaked oats. Lots of em!

 

My guess is that they are aiming at a certain level of haziness and use a previously determined amount of Whirlfloc to get it there. They don't want brilliant clarity but they don't want cream of malt soup either.

edit: For the OP - just add 5-10% wheat or rye to your grist and you'll have plenty of haze.

 

Some very hoppy beers are brilliantly clear. Pliny the Elder at RR brewpub isan example.

 

Dry Hopping will introduce hop polyphenols which will create a hop haze. I am not sure if there is a way to ‘optimize’ this effect. Maybe extended dry hop contact time? I wonder if whole hops contribute more hop polyphenols then pellet hops?

It is my understanding that Russian River uses a centrifuge: http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?17141-Small-Scale-Centrifuge

It is my guess that Russian River mitigates the hop haze via the centrifuge process?

Cheers!