Clarity - what gives?

As a new extract brewer, who incidentally just bought the awesome Oxford Companion to Beer, I'm wondering about this issue of clarity. Does it matter? None of my first few beers have had "clarity" and most of the beers I drink (craft beer) has clarity, according to the definition, either. If the flavour is there, who cares? Does anyone?

You can clear your beer in many ways. Cold crashing, secondary/time, filtering and additives etc. But, if the beer is for you and you don't care = no problem.

I don't really care all that much, not submitting to competitions or anything. I do coldcrash all my beers to get everything out of suspension and clear stuff up but more so I don't get crud pouring from my taps though.

With meads/wines I always clarify because I want as little sedement in the bottles

I care, mainly because in my opinion a beer is more appetizing when it isn't murky. A nice clean, clear appearance is definitely sought after for competitions too.

The bottom line: it's your beer. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

Beer is much like most any other consumable. How it is presented affects your perception of it. If your body is producing nice happy chemicals in anticipation of tasting the beer it will actually taste better for you. If for some reason clarity does not in any way make you think that a beer is well made and going to be delicious I suppose it doesn't really matter. I know it matters to me. I like to hold my beer up to the light and marvel at the clarity. I feel like it makes my beer present as more refined than cloudy but otherwise awesome brew.

It's all opinion though. If you dont care and are happy with the results.. to hell with everyone else. Its your beer!

theonetrueruss said:

Beer is much like most any other consumable. How it is presented affects your perception of it. If your body is producing nice happy chemicals in anticipation of tasting the beer it will actually taste better for you. If for some reason clarity does not in any way make you think that a beer is well made and going to be delicious I suppose it doesn't really matter. I know it matters to me. I like to hold my beer up to the light and marvel at the clarity. I feel like it makes my beer present as more refined than cloudy but otherwise awesome brew.

It's all opinion though. If you dont care and are happy with the results.. to hell with everyone else. Its your beer!

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My thoughts exactly. It won't change the flavor. If you don't mind it be cloudy, no need to make it clear.

I personally clear my beers. 1) I like to try to make the beer as it should be per the style and 2) it gets any remaining yeast and floaties out of the beer so it won't go through my tap. Some beers are made clear and some are kept cloudy depending on the style

Only time I've had an 'issue' with my brew not being "clear" was when I dry hopped about 5 gallons with 3oz of whole hops. I don't cold crash or use any other post boil agents to clear my brew, so it's a bit cloudy in the glass. Doesn't impact how great it tastes though.

If you're not using Irish Moss or Whirlfloc, do so. You could also try leaving the brew longer in primary (I don't rack unless I'm aging on a flavor element that makes a huge amount of sense to rack for). You can also try chilling bottles for more time before pouring and make sure you leave the sediment behind in the bottles. Those methods require no additional equipment to use, and can really help.

You could also try serving the brew a bit warmer. If it's at food fridge temps, chances are it's too cold. Try getting it to 40-45F and see how it looks. Many times chill haze will make the brew cloudy (hence the name). Simply letting it be a bit warmer eliminates (or at least reduces) that effect.

As I've already mentioned, having a cloudy/hazy brew, in my case, has not made it any less enjoyable.

Most commercial beers are filtered. You can buy a filter and do it yourself too. Or you can use gelatin. I personally don't care. If you think clarity really matters that much I'll ask this - do you not drink unfiltered wheat beers, or apple cider, or even a Margarita?? All those are not crystal clear. Your soup isn't crystal clear. My GATORADE and SNAPPLE's aren't crystal clear! I think it's a bit silly honestly.


Rev.

Rev2010 said:

Most commercial beers are filtered. You can buy a filter and do it yourself too. Or you can use gelatin. I personally don't care. If you think clarity really matters that much I'll ask this - do you not drink unfiltered wheat beers, or apple cider, or even a Margarita?? All those are not crystal clear. Your soup isn't crystal clear. My GATORADE and SNAPPLE's aren't crystal clear! I think it's a bit silly honestly.

Rev.

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No clarity isn't a big issue and like I said wont change the flavor. However I like trying to brew a beer per its style so I like to cold crash when the style of beer is clearer but I also keep a beer like a Belgian wit cloudy.

Drink it clear cloudy murky thin thick who gives a sh** it's beer and you made it.

You can greatly improve your clarity by chilling your wort more rapidly after your boil. Shoot for 15 minutes or less. And don't chill it to just barely your "pitching temp" - for ales, usually about 70F. Get it into the mid 50Fs to low 60Fs. You can still pitch there, and no you won't be wrecking your yeast, but if you're really worried, you can let the beer come up to room/fermentation temperature naturally over the next 12-24 hours before pitching.

Secondary at room/fermentation temperature really doesn't have a whole lot to do with how clear your beer is.