Why is clear beer "better" than cloudy beer?

Hi all,

So as I've read lots of threads I've realized that people prefer clear beer over beer that is cloudy. Why is this? Does the clarity of the beer affect the taste? Is this just an aesthetic issue?

I've never really thought about clarity in my beers because I either drink from the bottle or from stoneware (my wife is a potter).

Now I know some styles, like Hefeweizen, are suppose to be cloudy, but why are most beers suppose to be clear?

Thanks!

It's aesthetics. Just as I like my food to be visually appealing, I like my beers to be visually appealing. I love great food and I feel like food is more enjoyable when it's prepared and served appropriately. Eating a clump of spaghetti out of pot is ok, but sitting at the table with a glass of red wine and serving pasta from a nice serving platter just makes it "better" and more enjoyable, even if the food tastes the same.

Last night, I was drinking a crystal clear IPA. I poured it and sat next to the fire and looked at the bubbles coming out through the beer, and smelled the aroma. I looked at the lacing as I finished the glass. It's the whole experience- I mean, I can drink a cloudy beer (but not murky, I won't). But I enjoy the whole experience of drinking a well made and great tasting beer.

Then, I pour another!

Yooper said:

It's aesthetics. Just as I like my food to be visually appealing, I like my beers to be visually appealing. I love great food and I feel like food is more enjoyable when it's prepared and served appropriately. Eating a clump of spaghetti out of pot is ok, but sitting at the table with a glass of red wine and serving pasta from a nice serving platter just makes it "better" and more enjoyable, even if the food tastes the same.

Last night, I was drinking a crystal clear IPA. I poured it and sat next to the fire and looked at the bubbles coming out through the beer, and smelled the aroma. I looked at the lacing as I finished the glass. It's the whole experience- I mean, I can drink a cloudy beer (but not murky, I won't). But I enjoy the whole experience of drinking a well made and great tasting beer.

Then, I pour another!

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+1^^ Well stated! Case dismissed!

Not only does appearance affect the overall appeal like yooper said, but also affects the perceived flavor. Much of what we taste, or think we taste, is in our head, which is why the processed foods all contain dyes. For example, we expect a cherry to be red, so any time a candy company makes a cherry flavored candy, they add red coloring to it. Otherwise, most of us wouldn't even know it was cherry just by tasting it.
The same applies to beer, though a lot of what we think a beer should look like has been dictated by the large beer companies. The degree of filtration has become a popular marketing ploy, much like the number of transistors in radios back in the day. So it isn't really that crystal clear beers are better than slightly hazy beers, it's just that we think they are.
Now, stepping down from the soapbox, if I'm brewing a lighter colored beer, I usually try to keep it relatively clear, but I don't obsess over it. If you make a cloudy beer, the upside is that since most people seem to think it won't be as good, you'll have more of it for yourself.

I think you should check the BJCP guide for styles. There are some styles that should be brilliantly clear (such as a pilsner) where there are some where cloudiness is okay and even expected (weizen). The BJCP style guide gives clear descriptions on what beers should be clear and which are okay to have some cloudiness.

For me, I prefer to have a clear beer for the same reasons that Yooper explained perfectly (now I want a beer at 10:30am, Yoop, thanks) above.

What Yooper said is spot on!

I also enjoy the challenge of making the best beer possible, which to me includes appearance. I don't get nearly as much satisfaction from drinking or giving out a hazy, god forbid murky, brew as I do a crystal clear one.

All a matter of personal preference though.

Functional is one thing. Good looking is another. An old, rusted, falling apart car with a maintained and rebuilt engine is functional. A new shiny, fancy car is functional and sexy. I like my beer to be sexy. Wait...

Another thing I thought about. I wouldn't drink a beer out of the bottle or a ceramic mug (as the OP said he does). Unless the beer was BMC and I was on the boat, I would use a glass. I do take glasses on the boat with my growler, though!

The aroma of a good IPA isn't available when you drink from the bottle. The ceramic mug is cool, and I bet it's pretty, but the glass is where I can see the lacing and the bubbles and the head.

I wouldn't turn down a beer that was served in a cool mug or stoneware, of course. It's just that part of the experience to me is the enjoyment of the visuals. When I sit down with a glass of Scotch, I don't drink it out of a plastic mug either.

Even the beers that are allowed to be cloudy (say, a weizen) is cloudy perhaps, but not murky. The haze is due to the wheat proteins or the suspended yeast, and the haze should be slight. You shouldn't ever have a murky looking beer.

While Crystal clear beer is nice, I think that some here take it too seriously.

I think quick chilling is the only really important key.

I was concerned when I mashed 2 lbs of oats in a pale ale once, fermenting beer was GREY!!!!!

turned out crystal clear. No finings or filtering.

cheezydemon3 said:

i think that some here take it too seriously.

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blasphemy!

Thanks for the replies. I can see now how visuals are just as important as taste. I love my ceramic mugs, tulips, and goblets and I'm not sure I can give those up. But I may get some glass so I can check on clarity and enjoy the bubbles and lacing from time to time.

It's also interesting that as of right now no one prefers cloudy beer yet. 10 people don't have a preference, but it seems that they would choose clear beer over cloudy beer. Is it that clear beer is seen as "good" beer? Does anyone find cloudy beer to be more aesthetically pleasing than clear beer?

Generally, I find that a brewer that can achieve adequate clarity on a style requiring such, will also have the skills/knowledge to make it an overall great beer in other respects as well. It's not just for looks; it's an indication.

Is it always indicative of a great beer? Of course not. The first whiff and sip will confirm or deny that assumption.

It also depends on the type of beer. Some are not supposed to be crystal clear.
A slight haze doesn't bother me but I wouldn't want my pale ales looking like milk!

DRonco said:

blasphemy!

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Oh god. There goes another one....

We eat with our eyes. Seeing a crystal clear beer before taking a sip influences our perception of the beer. I just hit one of our local breweries yesterday and had their new Belgian Cellar beer (what they call their Trappist style). It was cloudy to the point where it looked more like apple cider than beer, completely opaque. It tasted good, but I can't help but think if it had been clear I would have perceived it as being better. I brewed what was supposed to be a red IIPA but I went way too heavy handed on the roasted malts and ended up with what could best be described as a "murky lake water" IIPA. It tasted good, but that so clouded my impression of it that it's one of my least favorite of my own beers. I've modified the recipe for the next go around and I should end up with a much better visual representation of what I was going for and I figure that will improve my personal outlook on it.

I made a 100+ ibu IPA, that I drank really young. (yeast still in suspension, I think) It was cloudy, but it was also one of the best beers I've ever had to drink. I didnt care that it was cloudy, It was only my second time brewing, and could not believe it tasted soo damn good!

A while back I noticed homebrews that were in the refrigerator three days or more had better head. Tiny bubbles and better head retention. I thought it was the carbonation, but when I started cold crashing it all got better.

My new theory is that the particles in suspension provide nucleation sites for carbon dioxide, allowing the beer to go flat more quickly.

Better head makes better beer. The bubbles push the aroma and the flavor.

Here is a neat subject that I like to talk about. My FAVORITE beer glass is a doubble walled tumbler made of glass. Sure it will keep my beer cold for longer than a pint but the REAL cool thing that it does, is allow me to test for clarity without the glass condensation/fogging up. I can VERY accurately test the clarity and SRM at the same time.

When I am not drinking from one of those I have a double walled stainless steel tankard then into some standard barware stuff.

IMO if the beer isn't clear I normally can taste yeast bite which IMO is unpleasant. (Yes there are exceptions to that.)

Is it important to me? kinda. Is it going to make me loose mind? No more than reading CD3 threads.

Zamial said:

Here is a neat subject that I like to talk about. My FAVORITE beer glass is a doubble walled tumbler made of glass. Sure it will keep my beer cold for longer than a pint but the REAL cool thing that it does, is allow me to test for clarity without the glass condensation/fogging up. I can VERY accurately test the clarity and SRM at the same time.

When I am not drinking from one of those I have a double walled stainless steel tankard then into some standard barware stuff.

IMO if the beer isn't clear I normally can taste yeast bite which IMO is unpleasant. (Yes there are exceptions to that.)

Is it important to me? kinda. Is it going to make me loose mind? No more than reading CD3 threads.

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I too like to drink from a clear glass, a pint, a pilsner, hell a mason jar. I know I like to see THE beer. I like a clear IPA and a cloudy Hefe, who doesn't. When a brew is cloudy/muddy from yeast suspension, hell yea it will effect taste. I cant wait for my corney kegged Pale ale to hit somewhere about halfway because thats right around the spot when the yeast starts to clear out and the beer takes on a cleaner taste profile where I can pick out the hops and malt character that I'm trying to perfect.

It's the same thing as with cooking, where plating is important. If something doesn't look appetizing, your first impression isn't going to be as strong, and that can be hard to shake. As others have said, we eat with our eyes.

When I was on vacation last month, I went to a small brewpub and tried a few of their beers. The flavor was passable, but far from great. But they looked like murky pond water, which I noticed immediately before even taking a sip. Needless to say, I wasn't particularly impressed.

If given the choice, wouldn't you rather drink clear water instead of murky water even if they tasted pretty much the same? I know what my answer is. Same with beer. If it looks appealing, the overall experience of drinking it is better. When I pour a beer in the glass, the first thing I do is take a deep breath in of the aroma, then I hold it up to the light to look at the color and clarity. Appearance can make a huge difference. Also, when I give a friend a homebrew I want them to feel as if they're drinking something that could've been professionally brewed. And once again appearance comes in to play. But with all that being said, if it doesn't bother you then that's your choice.

Zamial said:

Here is a neat subject that I like to talk about. My FAVORITE beer glass is a doubble walled tumbler made of glass. Sure it will keep my beer cold for longer than a pint but the REAL cool thing that it does, is allow me to test for clarity without the glass condensation/fogging up. I can VERY accurately test the clarity and SRM at the same time.

When I am not drinking from one of those I have a double walled stainless steel tankard then into some standard barware stuff.

IMO if the beer isn't clear I normally can taste yeast bite which IMO is unpleasant. (Yes there are exceptions to that.)

Is it important to me? kinda. Is it going to make me loose mind? No more than reading CD3 threads.

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Interesting. Bodum glasses? I love their double walled stuff, but never really thought of using them for beer.

Because "The Man" says it should be clear.

Seriously....I prefer clear. I think, especially with our home brews, most things that would make it cloudy could also effect flavor. I keg a lot of my beers, and there is a noticeable difference in the first few glasses compared to the rest of the keg. I will go so far as to keg carbonate, pull the first few pints till it's clear, then bottle from there (except for porters/stouts). Plus I like the idea non-brewing friends being able to pour the whole bottle into the glass and not have the classic " oh...I forgot, I gota leave half the beer in the bottle with your beer" attitude that some people can get.

I have never had one of my brews come out clear. I have always experienced chill haze. I brewed a wheat last year that I preferred to drink warm, it was probably the only brew that I have made that came out clear, but only when it was warm. I also have never used any technique to get rid of the haze... Irish moss, protein rests, cold crash....
Answering the thread- I guess if you poured two beers and one of them was clear and the other was not, I would reach for the clear first. Although it is not important enough for me to employ any techniques or ingredients to cure the chill haze 'problem'. I still love the experience of seeing a beer poured in a crystal clear glass and drinking with my eyes, admiring the color and watching the bubbles swirl and dance towards the top of the glass, even though the brew is not transparent enough to read through.

To me it makes no difference whether it is clear or cloudy, the same ingredients are in it regardless so the taste is almost always the same.

Someone mentioned the "yeast bite" which I agree can be a very unpleasant taste and depends on style as well as type of yeast. I think this has more to do with it than anything else.

Depends on the style. If it's not supposed to be clear like saison, wit, or hefeweizen then I want it opaque, but not muddy.

Other than that, there is no reason why your beer shouldn't be clear. Proper handling and or storage practices will clear the beer. The malt character should be fine, and you can add back hop aroma. Volatiles tend to fall out while clearing.

After all, you see, smell, and taste a beer. I try for the trifecta when creating my brew because it is very satisfying to me. If you don't care what your beer looks like, no worries. Enjoy it. I enjoy making clear beer.

I have to disagree with most of the responses. I have found that my bottled ales that have been refrigerated for 3+ weeks definitely taste better than the same beer with only 1-10 days in the fridge. The long long chilled bottles naturally are also much clearer and have better head retention as well.

I'm the first vote for cloudy. But then, at age 11 my regular nightcap was trub from the local brewery, often with a raw egg*. My mother was trying to put weight on me.

Nowadays, I'll even swill the bottom of the bottom to get the yeast into my glass.

*So, I'm going through Order of the Arrow hazing. For breakfast I'm handed a tin cup and an egg .... and then a match. The trouble was, I had finished breakfast before they offered the match. Solution: they gave me another egg, made me fry it on a rock, then tossed it so I wouldn't have two eggs.

I'll have to try leaving my bottles in the fridge for several days. My problem is that my fridge is too small and I drink WAY too much so I don't have the space or time to make a week long or longer pipeline of cold beer so to say.

I guess I prefer clear beer now that I know what I'm looking for, but before brewing if you had handed me murky lake water or a sparkling pilsner I probably would have chosen the murky lake water because it would have been "darker" and that meant manlier.