I'm trying to achieve a uniform cloudy consistency to my amarillo pale ale and am wondering if there are any tricks anyone could recommend. Dry hopping helps, but the results have been inconsistent. Thanks for any and all info!
I don't know why you'd want this, but here are some ideas... - Don't use any finings (including whirfloc/irish moss) - add a little flour to the boil - boil very gently to minimize hot break coagulation - don't vorlauf before running off your mash - add some wheat to the recipe
Weirdness. We've got forum users who want to make hazy beers and forum users who want to make skunky beers. Maybe it's time for John Palmer to write How NOT to Brew.
I've always found a decent bit of wheat can make anything not black/brown pretty darn cloudy without much effort. Use a yeast that doesn't flocc out well too.
Maybe my affinity for hazed ales is a New England thing - with all the great unfiltered hoppy beers, one becomes accustomed to the soft mouthfeel and consistency. Thanks for your help!
Id guess that was yeast rather than chill haze, these beers arent cask conditioned are they? use a non-flocculating yeast
yup my money is on yeast. I love the yeasty profile of an EIPA or EPA when fresh, and IMO the beer is totally different when it clears up. In my kegerator when this happens I tend to give the keg a swirl
Instead of adding wheat flour, why not just add ~10% wheat malt? It'll haze slightly and help with head retention. Win-win.
I would assume rocdoc1 recommended wheat flour rather than wheat malt because (unmalted) flour has more proteins, and thus more haze, than malted wheat. It's an old witbier trick.
i assume since your name is "Heady978" - you might be aiming for a beer that looks like Heady Topper? i'm not sure why that beer looks the way it does. i believe it's some combination of dry hop particulate and yeast. to replicate that effect - maybe suck up a bunch of stuff at the bottom of your fermenter at bottling, then swirl before serving...
Instead of adding anything, I'd turn your beer fridge down to 32F. Get some chill haze. Will clear up as the beer warms... but at least it won't taste nasty.
Yep, haze from wheat malt will eventually settle out-my second keg of hefeweizen is usually crystal clear after a couple of months in the fridge, but with the flour it will stay milky. There are also starches from unmalted wheat(flour) that contribute top the haze.
I was under the impression that the haze you're referring too in Heady and other hoppy beers is "Hop Haze", where the hop oils remain in suspension in the final product. I could be wrong though. Also that "creamy" mouthfeel from Heady and/or Hillfarmstead beer is attributed to the Conan yeast, and not related to hop haze. I'm not convinced you are going to get what you are looking for just be adding flour to the boil.
You're probably right. I've been meaning to harvest some of the Conan from a can of Heady but haven't gotten around to it. Cheers
This assumes there are significant proteins/tannins to come out of solution and cause the haze. With most well made beers, there shouldn't be.
Appearance is over-rated...I've had many an ugly IPA...clear beers are kind of like dicks with ties : ) Did I say that?
