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Recently, I brewed a Belgian Tripel. I was very careful during the brewing process to chill the beer as quickly as possible using my stainless steel wort chiller and cold/ice water.  The chill process did take much longer than usual (approximately an hour) but was as fast as I could make it.  When I've taken samples of the beer to measure its gravity, the samples have been unusually cloudy.  This is decreasing over time, but slowly. I read about White Labs Clarity Ferm and decided it was worth a shot.  I should note that this enzyme is supposed to be added at the same time yeast is pitched, not at the 3.5-week fermentation and conditioning mark where I'll be using it.  Still, there is evidence to suggest that it will help clarify the beer even when used in a less-than-optimal manner. Chris Colby of the Beer and Wine Journal site did an experiment with Clarity Ferm in 2014, using the manufacturer's directions.  He brewed multiple 5-gallon batches of the...

During the creation of a wort, a group of proteins is formed that will show up when the beer is chilled to drinking temperatures.  This "chill haze" does not affect the flavor of the beer, but does make the beer appear cloudy or hazy.  For darker beer styles like a porter or stout, the haze might not be visible.  For lighter styles like pilsners, this haze might be undesirable.  Fortunately, it's easy to remove chill haze from a beer. 1. The Hot Break During the boil of your wort, it's important to boil vigorously.  This will help to coagulate many of the proteins that form chill haze.  This is what is known as the Hot Break.  When you're finished boiling the wort, gently stirring it in a "whirlpool" fashion with a sanitized spoon will cause the coagulated proteins and other particles of trub to collect in the middle of the kettle.  If you carefully remove the wort from the kettle, you can leave these undesirable proteins behind, resulting i...