What Makes Hazy?

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ssashton

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What makes a beer hazy?

I brewed an IPA recently:
Lager base malt
Caramalt
60g Fuggles (boil)
60g Challenger (boil)
40g each dry hop

Even though I use beer finings and cold crash, it's not particularly clear until I let it condition for 4+ weeks.

On the other hand, I also have a lager recipe on the go:

Lager base malt
Wheat malt
100g Saaz (boil)
15g Cascade (boil)
No dry hop

After less than 2 weeks conditioning the lager is almost clear as a commercial brew!

So what gives? Similar method, same base malt, similar total quantity of hops in the boil. Do some hop varieties create more haze? Does dry hopping create haze?
 
Dry hopping adds a significant amount of haze. There are a number of other reasons that your beer may be hazy (including yeast which may be less flocculant as stated above), such as lack of calcium, chill haze etc. If a beer is very heavily dry hopped it may not drop clear at all. With your recipe it will just take a bit longer probably.
 
Dry hopping adds a significant amount of haze. There are a number of other reasons that your beer may be hazy (including yeast which may be less flocculant as stated above), such as lack of calcium, chill haze etc. If a beer is very heavily dry hopped it may not drop clear at all. With your recipe it will just take a bit longer probably.

Thanks! I had assumed the boil hops would add most haze as you see the particles. I guess those are much bigger and easier to drop clear.
 
Thanks! I had assumed the boil hops would add most haze as you see the particles. I guess those are much bigger and easier to drop clear.
It should be possible to allow the boil hops to drop to the bottom of the boil kettle and then transfer relatively hop (and trub) free beer to the fermenter. Some people don't worry about this and dump it all in. I prefer to get clear wort into the fermenter.
 
Dry hopping adds a significant amount of haze. There are a number of other reasons that your beer may be hazy (including yeast which may be less flocculant as stated above), such as lack of calcium, chill haze etc. If a beer is very heavily dry hopped it may not drop clear at all. With your recipe it will just take a bit longer probably.
Interesting. I’m just drinking my second batch of Mandarina Bavaria. The first brew had no dry hopping and came out crystal clear. This brew I dry hopped and it’s hazy. Still tastes good and at 6%ABV a very nice ale.
 

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