Clarity and pineapple question

Ingredients
1

I recently made a beer using papaya and pineapple. The base beer was a Belgian blonde ale, which I have brewed before. After a recent trip to Hawaii, I decided to make an island inspired beer. So after one week in primary, I racked the beer onto 5 papayas and 2 1/2 lbs of pineapple, and let it set on the fruit for 2 weeks.
I bottled and after one week, I tried one. I put it in the fridge for a couple hours, and poured it into my favorite glass. It was crystal clear. I always get a chill haze that usually goes away after being in the fridge for a couple weeks. But no haze at all on this one. I put a sixer in the fridge and left it over night, and again, no haze.  Now, the beer is a bit sour from the acidity in the pineapple, so I guess my question is this: Does the acidity from the fruit help to clarify the beer?
This is all grain, using yeast from my library, and a recipe I have brewed before, minus the fruit. I am very happy with the end result, but just curious as to why it is so clear so quickly.

2

Papayas are famous for having loads of digestive enzymes in them.  Just guessing - I’d say the papayas are the most likely culprit for the clarity.

I’ve made spike (fermented pineapple juice).  It was cloudy.

3

I’m with punatic on the papayas - they are used as a meat tenderizer because of they break down proteins.  Chill haze is caused by proteins.  This could very well be the reason it is so clear.  It would be interesting to add some meat tenderizer to a cloudy beer and see if it clears.

4

I might have to do some experimentation with both… But I think I’m more comfortable adding papaya to beer over tenderizer. 8)

5

If proteolytic enzyme activity is responsible, then pineapple would have a similar effect to papaya. Pineapple contains bromelain, which is a protease similar to papain from papayas, and is also used as a meat tenderizer.

6

Well there you go - maybe it’s not the papaya then :slight_smile:

7

It probably is a culmination of things.  Between the papaya, pineapple and citric acid you have enough tenderizing agents in the beer to make a steak melt.  8^)

Paul