To what degree do clarity and overcarbonation affect flavor?

Obviously, two separate topics, but I thought I'd save the forum some spamming and make it just one thread. For the purposes of this conversation, we're discussing basic all grain ales, nothing too crazy.

1.) Filtering. For the most part, I don't care much about how my beer looks, so I've never worried about a cloudy brew. That said, I do want my brew to taste as good as possible. I've never cold crashed or filtered: does a cloudy beer taste worse than a very clear one?

and

2.) At the moment, I'm still bottling. I tend to use the standard 5oz of corn sugar per 5 gallon batch. I find my carbonation is more than adequate at that level of priming; no bottle bombs or gushers but I'm sure I could get by with less. I get a very good head from pouring down the side of the glass: some folks here describe pouring down the center of the glass to get the same head, suggesting they're carbonating to lower volumes. Will doing so yield a significantly different flavor?

Thanks!


Ike

1. its in the eye of the beholder but in my experience a cloudy beer thats suppose to be cloudy is fine either way but probably wont clear, and a clearer beer does taste better to me meaning most of the lose partials have fallen and all thats left it the real taste of the beer and in most case its much better than its younger cloudier self and i mean much better, hope that helps

skydiver30960 said:

Obviously, two separate topics, but I thought I'd save the forum some spamming and make it just one thread. For the purposes of this conversation, we're discussing basic all grain ales, nothing too crazy.

1.) Filtering. For the most part, I don't care much about how my beer looks, so I've never worried about a cloudy brew. That said, I do want my brew to taste as good as possible. I've never cold crashed or filtered: does a cloudy beer taste worse than a very clear one?

and

2.) At the moment, I'm still bottling. I tend to use the standard 5oz of corn sugar per 5 gallon batch. I find my carbonation is more than adequate at that level of priming; no bottle bombs or gushers but I'm sure I could get by with less. I get a very good head from pouring down the side of the glass: some folks here describe pouring down the center of the glass to get the same head, suggesting they're carbonating to lower volumes. Will doing so yield a significantly different flavor?

Thanks!


Ike

Click to expand...

1. It depends on what's causing the haze. Chill haze doesn't affect flavor, although it affects the long term stability of the beer. Yeast haze does impact the flavor- sometimes positively (think hefeweizen), but mostly negatively. Hops haze may be present in very hoppy beer, but that affects flavor in a good way due to the high amount of hops oils in the beer. So, if you have a haze from something that negatively affects flavor, it's a "bad" haze and not just a cosmetic thing.

2. I like my American style beers well carbed, and the higher carb level enhances the hops aroma. Of course, I'm not talking gushers, just a nicely carbed beer, at 2.5-2.7 volumes of c02. Flavor changes are pretty minor unless you're talking about a very low carbed beer vs a very highly carbed and spritzy beer.

In my experience, going too high on the carbonation can negatively impact flavor. You get a kind of tart, metallic taste that I find rather terrible.

like most times....I agree with what what Yooper says

When I started fining with gelatin I was able to pick up on the individual hop flavor characteristics much easier, too much yeast was getting in the way of the flavors.

I have mentioned it before, but yeast have a taste that I easily pick up on. I make mostly lagers and struggle to get that crisp clean taste. I attribute this to yeast. Even when my beers that are "crystal" clear I can taste it. You simply cannot match a properly filtered beer unless you lager at 32 degrees for months and months. As far as carbonation I am always on the high side for the style or a bit higher as I feel like it aids in that crisp taste I want.

Over-carbonation can adversely affect flavor. I had a winter saison that I carbed to 2.7 and the flavor was muted even after raising the serving temperature to 60°F. I noticed that the flavors started to perk up after it had been sitting open for 40+ mins, so I tried serving a glass and letting it sit in my wine cellar (set at 52°F) for an hour before drinking. All of the sudden, it tasted great!

Thanks, everybody!

I've been brewing for a couple years now, made the move from extract to BIAB, started building water instead of using bottled, and am hoping to start kegging pretty soon. Throughout it all, I feel like my beer has a pervading taste that I'm trying to eliminate. Also, I've been disappointed in the amount of hop character that comes through. I think I will try to add some cleaning measures to see if a clearer brew makes a difference.

The same goes for carbonation: although responses here aren't clearly polarized, I know I'm more than adequately priming. I've definitely seen what happens when my ciders get over-carbed (when I'm too lazy to pasteurize and the yeast slowly carb the bottles in the fridge): a strong bite finds it's way into the mix that isn't there when less carbed (increased carbonic acid, I'd guess?) so I think I'll try some lighter priming in my beer to see if I can taste a difference.

As always the work will be in avoiding the temptation to change too many things at once. Ya gotta be able to tell what really made the difference!

I don't think clarity detrimentally affects the beers flavor, but carbonation level most assuredly does. Overcarbed beers are likely to be too aggressive and assertively tart. On the other hand, undercarbed beers will suffer in mouthfeel and aromatics. I've found that 2.2-2.4 volumes is enough for most styles. Occasionally I'll go higher but it's got to be for a good reason...Berliner Weisse, gose, hefeweizen, etc.