Measuring Total, Permanent And Chill Haze In Beer

The formation of haze in beer can be problematic, as it affects the quality of the end product. Beer consists of various ingredients such as proteins, carbohydrates, polyphenols, fatty acids, nucleic acids, amino acids, etc. These ingredients can precipitate and a haze or turbidity is formed. Most beers are clear at room temperature. If there are haze-producing proteins and tannins (both primarily from malt) suspended in the beer, haze parti­cles don’t form because of the warm temperature. When beer is chilled, these proteins and tannins react to clump into larger particles that are big enough to reflect light.

In this procedure you will measure total and permanent chill in beer and the difference between the two values is the chill haze value.

The Application

• Hach Portable 2100Q or Benchtop TL2310 TL2360 ISO Turbidimeter
• Hach Sample Cells
• Ice
• Salt
• 95% Ethanol
• 2 pitchers/beakers or sonication device
• 1 x 500 mL Erlenmeyer flask
• 10mL pipet