Cloudy Pilsener?

Visited a brewpub in another city on Friday night and tried their Bohemian Pilsner. It was brought to me and was pretty cloudy. I asked whether a brewer was available to chat and so their head brewer came over and we had a very nice conversation.

I asked him about the cloudiness and he said "It's cloudy because we don't filter." I let it go at that. The other beers I tried were very good (a porter in particular was delicious). Another of their pilseners I tried was clear.

The BJCP style guidelines call for 2B to be "brilliant to very clear." How serious a flaw would cloudiness be for this beer in competition? Would it have any chance of medaling in a serious competition?

There are really a lot of causes of cloudiness. I'd say it's a big flaw in a Pilsner. I would be shocked if it did well at a competition.

There are plenty of people who don't filter their beers that make clear beers. There was probably a problem either in their brewhouse or it may have been mishandled as some point before it got to you.

I talked to someone who frequents that establishment regularly and apparently knows the head brewer. The person I talked to got the same story from the head brewer and moreover claims to have been told that the cloudiness is "intentional." My guess is that they just aren't set up to allow proper lagering time and use a less flocculent yeast that simply doesn't have enough time to drop out.

I don't think I've been to a brewpub that naturally carbonated their beer. Without seeing the beer, I'd say it's more likely a protein issue, or bacterial infection.

Maybe they were going for something more like a kellerbier?

rockfish42 said:

Maybe they were going for something more like a kellerbier?

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I don't think they were "going for" that style but it might be a good marketing angle!