How do they get commercial beer so clear?

I just cracked open this two hearted and damn is it clear...and unfiltered! Do they use additives in the boil? Cold crash obviously. But wow I hope my bottle conditioned beers can get this clear some day.

Honestly that's not even that clear.

Whirlflock in the boil, a good vigorous boil, plenty of time in primary, cold crash before racking to bottling bucket. The final touch is putting the bottles in the fridge for 1-2 weeks after you have carbonation.

Allowing plenty of time for yeasties to clean up and settle out.

Several methods; Usually just one per brewhouse but sometimes a few.

Proper mashing +

Centrifuge
Filter
Finings
Time

Bobby_M said:

Honestly that's not even that clear.

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Well, I drink these things like they are going out of style and this one seemed extremely clear. My iPhone doesnt really do it justice. I was just surprised, that's all...well, and feeling bummed that i forgot the Irishmoss in my IPA on friday that i planned on putting in a bjcp comp

maybe i'm a ******* but how does mashing techniques effect clarity?

oldschool said:

maybe i'm a ******* but how does mashing techniques effect clarity?

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Managing the protein in the malt. First, you have to know the protein content to address it. The choose the appropriate rest to break them down to avoid haze.

makes sense

oldschool said:

makes sense

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Most modern malts don't require this but, some do still benifit the practice when clarity is a concern.

That, and if you don't mash to get complete conversion, you'll have a starch haze in your finished beer.

I rarely do a protein rest (I make mostly IPAs, APAs, steam beer, etc without wheat) and my beers are clear. But if one is needed, it's important to do one.

This concise article offers some really good explanations.

http://www.winning-homebrew.com/clarity.html

Of note, water chemistry can play a role in clarity. My tap water is very high in calcium, and most of my beers clear nicely. I recently brewed a pale ale where I diluted the tap water with 70% distilled water without adding much calcium, and the resulting haze was very apparent.

How do commercial breweries get so clear?

One of these...

http://www.tma1992.ru/images/beer/filtration/filtrox-1.jpg

Yuri_Rage said:

This concise article offers some really good explanations.

http://www.winning-homebrew.com/clarity.html

Of note, water chemistry can play a role in clarity. My tap water is very high in calcium, and most of my beers clear nicely. I recently brewed a pale ale where I diluted the tap water with 70% distilled water without adding much calcium, and the resulting haze was very apparent.

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+1 on the calcium.

All of my beers drop brilliantly clear. I even had a recent strong Belgian sorta beer that use 2 pounds of wheat and even that was totally clear. It *was* a step mash, though and had a protein rest. But none of my other recent beers have had a protein rest and they've all been super clear.

For the record, my calcium's usually somewhere around 100ppm, I use 1.5 tsp Irish Moss, and a RIMS system. No other finings or filtration. I used to live in Portland, with low calcium, and did a lot of beers where I didn't add much calcium and my beers were hazy. My technique hasn't changed that much here in Croatia, but my beers have a lot more calcium and they clear up nicely.

oldschool said:

feeling bummed that i forgot the Irishmoss in my IPA on friday that i planned on putting in a bjcp comp

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You should still enter the beer... appearance is only 3 points and haziness is ok in an IPA:

BJCP IPA said:

Appearance: Color ranges from medium gold to medium reddish copper; some versions can have an orange-ish tint. Should be clear, although unfiltered dry-hopped versions may be a bit hazy. Good head stand with white to off-white color should persist.

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nealf said:

You should still enter the beer... appearance is only 3 points and haziness is ok in an IPA:

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Agreed. I've seen a few IPAs that were not crystal clear and still tasted great!

If they mention clarity in the feedback, it's nothing you haven't noticed already so no big whoop. If they mention DMS, though. Now you have something important to work on!

If the question is "how do commercial brewers get clear beer" the answer is not "long primary".

Yuri_Rage said:

This concise article offers some really good explanations.

http://www.winning-homebrew.com/clarity.html

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Slightly OT, but this passage grabbed my attention:

We as consumers have been conditioned to look for crystal clear beer, and to think there is a fault if the beer is hazy.

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I regularly meet new people here in/around Bellingham who seem to be conditioned just the opposite: they equate crystal clear beer with the highly polished products brewed by BMC and are suspicious of the quality. If it's a hazy ale, however, they equate the haze with good quality craftbrew. I tread the waters of this discussion regularly when trying to convince people that the GABF winning lagers produced by Chuckanut Brewery are every bit as worthy of drinking as the popular and excellent ales produced by their next door neighbor, Boundary Bay Brewing...