From: rp9780@mexico (Rudyard A K Porter)
Subject: Re: Munich malt and haze
Organization: Medtronic, Inc.
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 13:16:31 GMT

joseph@joebloe.maple-shade.nj.us (Joseph Nathan Hall) writes:
: 
: In article <84980001@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com> (rec.crafts.brewing), farland@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com (Bill McFarland) writes:
: ) I am an extract brewer and previously brewed batches with small amounts
: ) (~1/4 lb) of Munich malt (crushed).  I have liked the flavor and smell,
: ) so last batch I substituted for all the Crystal malt with Munich malt (1 lb).  
: ) I have ended up with a very hazy beer.  I am steeping the grains in a
: ) boiling bag and removing them just as the water starts to boil.
: 
: Oops, there's your problem.  Can you say, starch haze.
: 
: ) 1) Is Munich malt more likely to haze than crystal malt?
: 
: If you don't mash it, sure it will.  The innards of crystal are sugar
: and dextrins.  Munich malt, on the other hand, contains starch that
: must be converted to sugar and dextrin by mashing.
: 


Herein lies the crux.  Munich malt does not actually contain many
starches, as other malts would.  A special process of double malting
tends to render the inner core of the grain as pre-mashed. Thus it
contains a trace of maltose, and lots of glucose.



: ) 2) Is there any way to use substantial quantities of Munich malt without
: ) mashing?
: 
: Not if you don't want the haze.
: 


Don't ever add more than 1 lb (generally) of specialty malts without mashing then
first.  If mashing scares you, as it does most of us, try a partial
mash method.  Papazian has a section on it.



: ) 3) What can be done about chill haze in general?  My beers always have
: ) some degree of chill haze.  Does Irish moss or any of the other clarity
: ) products actually help this?
: 
: Irish moss may eliminate some haze but not much.  Mostly it helps
: you get a good hot break.  To chillproof your beer, do one or more of 
: the following:
: 
: 1) use 10-20% of a non-malt adjunct (rice syrup, sugar, etc.).
:    works wonders.
: 2) add lots of Polyclar a day or two or three before bottling.
: 3) add bentonite a day or two or three before bottling.
: 4) use gelatin, isinglass or silica gel to fine your beer.  these
:    will affect your beer's head retention, so take it easy
: 5) use a partial mash if you are using a lot of crystal or if you
:    are using any starch-containing malts
: 6) use a filter on the chilled brew
: 
: If you have the time and space you can put conditioned bottled or kegged 
: beer that has a slight haze in the fridge at about 32F for a couple of 
: months.  A protein (chill) haze will fall out unless you are unlucky.
: 
: Of course, a starch haze will never clear.
: 
: Miller's book has a pretty good section on this topic.

I think what you have is a protein chill haze, and they can be
difficult bastards.  What I do is when I add my boil to cold water, I
wait for about an hour for it to cool and complete the cold break,
leaving proteins, tannins, renegade hops, and any thing else on the
bottom of the fermenter.  Then I siphon off the good stuff to another
fermenter, leaving the junk behind.  I think I got this idea from
Papazian, or derived it from information therein.  Works great.
Rarely have any chill haze using this process.

: 
: uunet!joebloe!joseph   (609) 273-8200 day   joseph%joebloe@uunet.uu.net
: 2102 Ryan's Run East        Rt 38 & 41             Maple Shade NJ 80852
: -----My employer isn't paying for this, and my opinions are my own-----

--
*******************************************************************************
Rudyard Anderson Knox Porter             *  Life's but a stumbling shadow,
rp9780@medtronic.com                     *  Full of sounds of beer glasses,
Minneapolis, Minnesota                   *  Signifying everything!  
                                         *     1st draft, MacBeth
*******************************************************************************
From: krb@hpuerca.atl.hp.com (Kevin Barnes)
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1992 16:35:40 GMT
Subject: Re: English Cider
Organization: the HP Response Center, Atlanta