BioHaze™ in the Brewhouse
BioHaze™ is a new haze stabilizer from Kerry Bioscience. Produced from all-natural materials, BioHaze™ acts by binding with protein molecules in beer to form polyphenol-protein complexes. These complexes create a stable haze that maximizes the visual appeal of juicy and hazy IPA, as well as other naturally cloudy styles.
The research team at the Rahr Technical Center conducted a trial on the effect of dry hopping in conjunction with the use of BioHaze™. In the trial, a base beer (a honey wheat ale which had undergone filtration) was split. Half was racked to a 5 gallon keg and dry-hopped with 90 grams of Wai-iti™hops (~1.2 lb/bbl).
The dry-hopped portion was then halved again into two 2.5 gallon kegs, with one dosed at 500 ppm BioHaze™ (low dose), and the other dosed at 1000 ppm BioHaze™ (high dose).
The control half of the beer was not dry-hopped, and was also split into two 2.5 gallon kegs and dosed with BioHaze™ at the same low-dose and high-dose rates.
The haze resulting from each dose was measured over time using a turbidimeter:
| Days | No Dry-Hop, Low Dose | No Dry-Hop, High Dose | Dry-Hop, Low Dose | Dry Hop, High Dose |
| >99.9 | >>99.9 | >>99.0 | >>99.9 | |
| 7 | 19.7 | 22 | >99.9 | >>99.9 |
| 14 | 5.9 | 22.1 | 67.4 | >99.9 |
| 22 | 5.8 | 15.5 | 63.1 | 78.7 |
| 29 | 5.5 | 20.5 | 43.9 | >99.9 |
* The turbidimeter is calibrated up to 99.9 NTU – some of the initial readings were far beyond this value. (see photo at the top for visual examples of >99 NTU)
The RTC’s Juan Medina concluded:
The key takeaway from this experiment is that the BioHaze™ performed best in conjunction with a dry hop addition. Based on this beer, it would seem that the higher dosing rate for BioHaze™ is most effective, but it is important to note that this may not be true with all beers and hopping rates. Brewers would be well-advised to experiment with different dosing rates based on their beers.