Is Clarity really that important?

The reason I ask is because I read a whole lot about clear beer and the techniques used to attain it. I can understand if the beer is being entered in to a contest. But other than that, is it purely for aesthetic purposes?

I was thinking of adding gelatin to my IPA and cold crashing for a couple days. But after thinking about it, I really don't know if it's worth the hassle.

Sweetwater IPA is one of my favorite beers, and it is unfiltered. It is quite cloudy in the glass, and it even sometimes leaves some residue at the bottom of my glass. And this is a beer I would pick over almost anything out there.

Just wondering...
Cheers.

No, I don't think so. I used to stress out about getting clear beers, but now I don't care. Taste is whats important. Some of the best beers are a little hazy so why worry about it too much.

Interesting question. On the BJCP score sheet, Appearance is 3 points, normally clarity would be 1. If it’s cloudy you’ll get knocked, but chill haze is generally noted, but not counted off.

If it’s a lager you could lose in overall impression, but an ale should be OK. If the beer is brilliant, I’d say that’s a point for an ale, 2-3 for a lager (out of 50).

Pretty beer is impressive, but I think that may come from our expectations from commercial beer which is usually filtered or at the least, whirlpooled.

Given that you "eat with your eyes", I think clarity is worth striving for, even if it's nothing more than visual. As far as competitions, it's a factor, but not a huge one as indicated above. But to me there's something that makes a nice clear beer substantially more appealing. Actually achieving crystal clear beer without filtering is another story. Sometimes I can get pretty close, but it's a challenge. But gelatin will work very well for it. I had it get a Kolsch to near filtered clarity.

I prefer clear beer, absolutely. That being said, if I end up with a batch that's great in everything else, I can deal with some chill haze or cloudiness.

To me it doesn't really matter as long as it tastes good. However, when I want to show my beer to someone, I much prefer it to be crystal clear (as long as style appropriate, of course). Because of that, and because it's so darn easy, I use gelatin to clear all my beers. The come out looking like filtered commercial beer and everyone is happy.

Yes, its important. I prefer clear beer.

Not to me,as long as it taste good.

I love cloudy beer.

Anyone ever notice your beer is too clear? I did an Oberon clone which is an american wheat. When I first put it on tap it was cloudy yellow/orange color like one would expect. Now that it has been in the Keggerator for a few weeks it is really really clear which I don't think fits the style that well. Bells doesn't even make it clear. The longer my beers are in the Kegerator the clearer they get. I have an IPA in there now that has a sack of hops just floating around in it. Super clear now.

I'm fine with chill haze. If I'm in the mood for something clear I'll let it warm up a bit. Most of my beers can still be enjoyed in the 60s.

I'm fine with cloudy. Clear beer is preferred, but I would never ever ever filter to get there.

Qhrumphf said:

Given that you "eat with your eyes", I think clarity is worth striving for, even if it's nothing more than visual. As far as competitions, it's a factor, but not a huge one as indicated above. But to me there's something that makes a nice clear beer substantially more appealing. Actually achieving crystal clear beer without filtering is another story. Sometimes I can get pretty close, but it's a challenge. But gelatin will work very well for it. I had it get a Kolsch to near filtered clarity.

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See, this is where I am.

Clarity is VERY important to me, and I want my beers crystal clear.

Just like when I go into a restaurant, I don't want a big old heap of food slapped onto a plate- I appreciate a dish that looks appetizing. It might taste the same, but I like something that actually looks appealing.

When I drink a beer, I love looking at it. I enjoy the aroma out of the glass, and I love watching the bubbles come up from the bottom of the glass. It's very important to me. I don't even use ceramic mugs for that reason- I like to watch!

But just because it's important to me doesn't mean it has to be important to others!

Sweetwater IPA actually pour clear, if you pour it like a homebrew and decant it off of the sediment. There may be a slight hops haze, but I've never noticed that. Yeast sediment in a bottle conditioned beer is fine- but it should never make the beer murky or cloudy.

I really prefer clear in most styles except things like hefe or saison but I've had no problem mostly getting clear. In one case where chilling did not clear my final product, gelatin worked great. I use whirfloc in every batch and a good hard boil plus fast chilling is invaluable.

I didn't used to care at all, now lately I do. A beer that is nice and clear is very pleasing, and is another thing I am proud of when I share it. I think it matters more to me these days because I see it as another sign that I'm getting better at brewing, and upping my game.

Yooper said:

See, this is where I am.

Clarity is VERY important to me, and I want my beers crystal clear.

Just like when I go into a restaurant, I don't want a big old heap of food slapped onto a plate- I appreciate a dish that looks appetizing. It might taste the same, but I like something that actually looks appealing.

When I drink a beer, I love looking at it. I enjoy the aroma out of the glass, and I love watching the bubbles come up from the bottom of the glass. It's very important to me. I don't even use ceramic mugs for that reason- I like to watch!

But just because it's important to me doesn't mean it has to be important to others!

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My thoughts exactly. My car doesn't drive any better when it's clean; but I want it clean. My shoes do not protect my feet any better when they're polished; but I want them polished.

Is it that difficult to get beer clear? I have not made a lot of batches yet but mine have all come out crystal clear (other than the porter) and I have not done any drastic steps to clear them. I have only cold crashed once and have never filtered. I do throw a whirfloc in my boil at 15 minutes but how hard is that?

EDIT: am I just lucky with my water profile, maybe?

Yooper said:

See, this is where I am.

Clarity is VERY important to me, and I want my beers crystal clear.

Just like when I go into a restaurant, I don't want a big old heap of food slapped onto a plate- I appreciate a dish that looks appetizing. It might taste the same, but I like something that actually looks appealing.

When I drink a beer, I love looking at it. I enjoy the aroma out of the glass, and I love watching the bubbles come up from the bottom of the glass. It's very important to me. I don't even use ceramic mugs for that reason- I like to watch!

But just because it's important to me doesn't mean it has to be important to others!

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True and I agree except for certain styles its ok to have a *degree* of cloudiness or not 100% clear but this is subtle. Hefeweizen for example should not be clear. Saisons can be somewhat opaque, etc. But a very cloudy pale ale or IPA is just not appealing. Not to mention a cloudy lager!

My PM beers have been getting clearer since I got my grain mill for a less floury crush. Getting a hard boil the first couple minutes seems to help. Chilling the hot wort down to 75F or so asap is a must as well. Topping off with fridged cold water to get it to 65F or so is important to my process as well. This way,the bottles of beer are crystal clear going into the fridge. And chill haze is minimal because of these early steps.
Having said all that,clear beer is obviously more appealing aesthetically. But I have noticed that some beers taste a little bit better without the yeast,etc clouding the beer. Perhaps from absorbing too many fermentation by products from some fault(s) in the process? This seems the most likely to me.
So I do everything I can to get them as clear as possible. Even using super moss has helped,but still gets good head.

I wouldn't have thought so, but I screwed up what was supposed to be a red DIPA and ended up with something dark and murky and it definitely affected my impression of the beer. Tasting it out of an opaque cup the flavor was what it should have been, but in a clear glass it always tasted off to me. I was disappointed overall with the beer even though the flavor was pretty good.

It's as important as you want it to be.

Clarity generally doesn't affect flavor unless its super yeasty.

I generally try to avoid chill haze. Beyond that, I don't care too much.

It's a personal thing. It's probably the final thing I'd worry about though.

Clarity is very important when introducing newcomers to homebrewed beer. Cloudy beer puts people off for sure. I'm like Yooper though, I want my beers to sparkle. In general though, as long as it's not a lot of yeast giving your beer an off flavor, it's not something to worry about, necessarily, but it could be something to strive for.

daksin said:

Clarity is very important when introducing newcomers to homebrewed beer. Cloudy beer puts people off for sure.

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Very true. People come to expect a sparkling bright commercial beer, so a hazy homebrew may definitely seem less appealing, even if there isn't a difference in taste.

Clear beer is more visually appealing to my eyes, but like OP many of my favorite beers are pretty cloudy.

I guess I just don't agree that: clear beer is necessarily more visually appealing than cloudy beer. I know it is just a personal opinion and there really is no right or wrong answer. But if you put a cloudy, even murky, Heady Topper side by side with a super clear, bright larger, I'll reach for the cloudy beer every time.

If clarity is really that important for you, just give it some time at 32-34 degrees. Your beer will clear up nicely!

-Mike

I think that it is a left over from the big threes marketing campaign, beer should be sparkling clear, light yellow, fizzy, and ice cold.

Hey! guys and gals.
I dredged this old thread up to add that there is a pysiological side to this discussion also.
If I want to be able to drink any of my homebrew, it has to be brilliant, otherwise, I have a moderate regurgative reaction on sight. It has nothing to do with BMC etc. It's the hazy murkiness that does it to me. I can't even taste my brews until I feel they are ready to keg or bottle.
I'm not a new brewer either. I first brewed in the middle '70's. Needless to say, my buds drank all my product back then.
Now, with all the fantastic availibility to the universe of ingedients and products and processing aids, homebrewer's can choose their styles and brew to style and to their own pysiological handicaps. Today, everybody wins!!
Cheers, Y'All.

I don't mind a little haze, as long as there aren't chunks floating around.
I guess I've been pretty lucky, or my techniques are pretty good, though I don't really do anything special to avoid cloudy beer.
I generally bring the fermenter upstairs the day I bottle, and leave it on the counter for an hour or 2 before getting on with it. I siphon off into the bottling bucket, keeping the bottom of the cane just above the trub. Once that it done, there's no more big issues.

I couldn't care less providing the cloudiness is not causing off flavours. I don't substitute quality for looks.

Every single one of the beers I hate drinking are crystal clear. Some of the best ones are hazy.

I'm the same with food. I don't give a damn when I go into a restaurant and the food doesn't look pretty. I do give a damn however, if it's cold, tastes bad or there's not enough of it. I guess I'm not very artistic.

daksin said:

Clarity is very important when introducing newcomers to homebrewed beer. Cloudy beer puts people off for sure.

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Could not agree more. At the company Christmas party I brought a pack of homebrew stouts. Fortunately somebody else had done that in prior years and most employees has the yeast/sediment speech already.

In my limited experience (extracts only so far), I have used gelatin in a clearing attempt due to not being able to cold crash. It not only cleared the beer quicker but seems to have also reduced the sediment in the bottle after conditioning. Not saying it's the be all end all solution, but I'm impressed.

Why go for clarity? To take pride in your final product, go the extra mile. Does this mean that non-clear beers are inherently bad? Not at all. But it is viewed as a desirable attribute, and I feel that it's important to truly put your heart and soul into whatever project you're working on; be it beer, furniture restoration, or any other DIY task.
Edit: I really should start looking at dates before quoting things...

I just found this thread and wanted to add that what a beer needs to look like is a complete social construction. It's based on a collective decision rooted in the history of British and German beers, not in any objective reality about it being "better." If you are doing the competition game or have friends you share beer with that get off on clarity, then cool. Otherwise it's only as important as your decide it is.

hell yeah, clear it up. You can take a beer that looks like baby ****, throw some gelatin in it and cold crash it and have a sparkling clear beer in day. no joke, i just did it.