Cloudy beer seems cool?

[edsa1984]

So I was at another homebrew club meeting the other night and as per usual it was held in a local craft ale house. I've now been to a few of these places that have sprung up everywhere and i can't help noticing that all, I mean, all the beers are not clear. Not one. Now I know Vermont yeast is trendy and all that, but to top it off I heard a microbrewer who attends our meetings actually say when tasting a beer offered "ooh Nice haze". Am I going mad, or is it nice to have at least some clear beer to drink?

 

[cswis86]

I love clear beer. I'm willing to accept haze in some styles of beer like witbiers or some IPAs but a cloudy pilsner would be unacceptable.

 

[GrogNerd]

I like clear beer

I don't mind a hazy beer, but there's a limit

then there's MURKY, which I won't drink. if it looks like a yeast starter or a glass of orange juice mixed with milk, no thank you

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Most unfiltered beers aren't going to be absolutely crystal clear, so it's all a question of degrees of clarity/haziness.
Sure a nice, bright Pils is a thing of beauty, but am I going to turn up my nose at a fine pale ale because it isn't crystal bright? Hell no!
Hefeweizen without haze is just wrong (yes, I'm looking at you, Kristallweizen - get your flavorless wannabe-weissbier self up outta here before I throw you out!)
Clarity does not make a beer good, nor does haze make a beer bad. It's a visual/aesthetic component only, and is only bad insofar as it bothers you (or again, more accurately, what DEGREE of it bothers you).

 

[SlitheryDee]

I like clear beers better for sure. It may not technically change the flavor, but it changes my perception of it. At no point could I imagine myself admiring the haze in a beer anyway. In certain forms of beer, haze is apparently an unavoidable consequence of the process used to make them. I understand that, but I also lament it.

 

[edsa1984]

Sure I'm with most of you so far. I accept haziness to a degree depending on style, etc but I'm saying it seems to be an "in thing" to be cloudy. Is it that they want to serve the beer early to really accentuate the hops?

 

[Sailingeric]

Clear beer fan here. I don't mind some haze but dont want to drink swamp water. My clearest beer I made was a heff that I wanted cloudy but it still mighty tasty clear.

 

[bruhaha]

Yeah I saw a poll (regarding flaws or qualities in beers) the other day that showed "cloudy" was the least concern among flaws by home brewers. Taste was first as expected but cloudy didn't even make a dimple in the numbers. Someone said that this trait makes me feel it is genuinely hand crafted and not pumped through a commercial pipeline.

But if I made a Helles and it looked like a NEIPA, I would consider that a major flaw. But like Sailingeric above, even a Hefe will drop clear given ample time.

 

[schatzke]

I drink with my eyes as well as my tastes buds and nose. I want the beers I brew to look as good as they taste. Its not that difficult to brew crystal clear beer IMO so I see it as a lack of effort on the brewers part when a beer looks like it should still be in a fermentor. But this is homebrewing! Each brewer gets to make their own decisions about how they brew, ferment, and package. I would never turn down another brewers offering, even if it doesn't look exactly they way I would brew it.

 

[henchman24]

To me, it is all style dependent. Two of my favorite styles to brew are NEIPAs and Czech Pilsners... complete opposite ends of the spectrum.

 

[plazola86]

Im curious to hear what some people think looks gross. Does this look gross to the "not clear. stay clear" crowd? Serious question too, I really want to know.

 

[cswis86]

Im curious to hear what some people think looks gross. Does this look gross to the "not clear. stay clear" crowd? Serious question too, I really want to know.

I'm sure it tastes good but to me it looks like carbonated Hi-C.... However I'd probably drink it.

 

[VagueSkunk]

Looks delicious to me. All beers should aspire to such levels of beauty.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Im curious to hear what some people think looks gross. Does this look gross to the "not clear. stay clear" crowd? Serious question too, I really want to know.

It doesn't look gross at all. When I imagine drinking it the only flavor my mind can come up with is orange juice though. If I could have the same beer, with the same flavor, except clear, I'd definitely enjoy it more.

 

[Sbe2]

Im curious to hear what some people think looks gross. Does this look gross to the "not clear. stay clear" crowd? Serious question too, I really want to know.

Love the haze, but I love NEIPAs.

If you told me that was a pilsner, my eyebrows might become raised.

So, it is all style dependent for me. If a pilsner is glass clear, my impression is that, that person knows what they were brewing and knew how to brew it proper. If a IPA has some haze, I am not worried.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Yeah, I would agree it's a style thing. I don't think haze is any more "in" than in the past, per se, but NEIPAs are "in", and they are hazy.
It's like if Hefeweizens were the "in" thing, it wouldn't be necessarily that haze is "in", but rather a particular style that happens to be hazy.

 

[BigStew84]

I agree it's all about the taste of the beer...I always made clear beer myself but have also noticed this trend...Equilibrium brewery just opened near me and they have nothing but hazy beers and they are really good...hazy is def trending right now tho

 

[swampbrewcrew]

Hazy is lazy depending on the style. It is simply the brewery dropping a step in the process to maximize profits. I'm not really happy seeing this lack of care going mainstream.

 

[slym2none]

 

[swampbrewcrew]

Yeah, I would agree it's a style thing. I don't think haze is any more "in" than in the past, per se, but NEIPAs are "in", and they are hazy.

It's like if Hefeweizens were the "in" thing, it wouldn't be necessarily that haze is "in", but rather a particular style that happens to be hazy.

No reason NEIPAs should be hazy, we don't tolerate it in any other IPA. I've see a few so bad you could feel hop remnants while drinking.

 

[day_trippr]

Hazy is lazy depending on the style. It is simply the brewery dropping a step in the process to maximize profits. I'm not really happy seeing this lack of care going mainstream.

Um...what?

I do a couple of Alchemist clones that are hella hop-hazy.
Stripping that haze would pretty much make the result a pedestrian DIPA...

Cheers!

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Hazy is lazy depending on the style. It is simply the brewery dropping a step in the process to maximize profits. I'm not really happy seeing this lack of care going mainstream.

Completely not true at all.
You may not like haze, but in the case of NEIPAs, for instance, if you read the threads about them, people are going to great lengths for their characteristic haze. It doesn't happen through carelesssness.
But even if it did, it's still just an aesthetic - nobody can claim that clear beer tastes better (well, they CAN claim it just like The National Enquirer claims that Bat Boy is real and that Satan was seen in the smoke cloud of a factory fire, but that doesn't make it true).

 

[cswis86]

Completely not true at all.
You may not like haze, but in the case of NEIPAs, for instance, if you read the threads about them, people are going to great lengths for their characteristic haze. It doesn't happen through carelesssness.
But even if it did, it's still just an aesthetic - nobody can claim that clear beer tastes better (well, they CAN claim it just like The National Enquirer claims that Bat Boy is real and that Satan was seen in the smoke cloud of a factory fire, but that doesn't make it true).

He did say "Depending on the style". There are other beers besides NEIPA.

 

[MaryB]

Haze doesn't bother me as long as I can't see floaties in the beer...

 

[RM-MN]

I like my beers to taste good. If a nice clear beer tastes bad, why would I want it if the hazy one tastes better. Serve the beers in ceramic mugs, pour them with a nice head and enjoy.

 

[theowlman16]

Just drink it, no selfie needed.

 

[jbunton]

Filtering and kettle finings strip Flavour. I'm all about making and buying all natural!

 

[SlitheryDee]

Brulosophy did an experiment on this and their findings were that experienced tasters could not reliably distinguish between a beer fined with gelatin and an unfined beer...

http://brulosophy.com/2015/01/05/the-gelatin-effect-exbeeriment-results/

 

[plazola86]

Haze is not just a "marketing scheme" or a brewery being lazy. The oats and the wheat add to the body of the beer and gives something for the hop oils to hang on to and stay in suspension. This gives the beer the smooth, velvety body everybody mentions. Just look at a clear beer vs a hazy one, you could SEE the difference in the body before you even taste/feel it. This adds to the idea of the beer being "juicy" its not that hard to figure out.

 

[plazola86]

Brulosophy did an experiment on this and their findings were that experienced tasters could not reliably distinguish between a beer fined with gelatin and an unfined beer...

http://brulosophy.com/2015/01/05/the-gelatin-effect-exbeeriment-results/

This was for a pale ale that had 9 oz of hops for a 10 gallon batch. That equals out to 4.5 oz for 5 gallons. My dry hop alone is more than that in my NE IPA's.

 

[SlitheryDee]

This was for a pale ale that had 9 oz of hops for a 10 gallon batch. That equals out to 4.5 oz for 5 gallons. My dry hop alone is more than that in my NE IPA's.

I wish I could get a good example of a NEIPA around here. Then I could really judge whether the haze is worth it or not. Suppose I'll just have to brew one lol.

 

[plazola86]

I wish I could get a good example of a NEIPA around here. Then I could really judge whether the haze is worth it or not. Suppose I'll just have to brew one lol.

Where are you located at? I'm from California so I pre judged these beers too as more and more started coming out. I always thought nothing would beat a west coast IPA. When I finally tried one I didn't have anything bad to say and now give them the same amount of credit as a west coast IPA. I'm a beer lover not a beer hater.

 

[Dcpcooks]

A brewery should have the technical skills needed to produce clear beers to style. They should also be able to know when to stick to style and when to break the rules.

I'm cool with a cloudy beer when it's supposed to be cloudy. I'd also say if they can't make a clear crisp kolsch then you will probably find other flaws in that breweries beers.

 

[myelo]

I agree it's all about the taste of the beer...I always made clear beer myself but have also noticed this trend...Equilibrium brewery just opened near me and they have nothing but hazy beers and they are really good...hazy is def trending right now tho

I also agree it's all about the taste. But that goes both ways. If a delicious tasting beer is hazy I'm good with it. But if it's crappy tasting and hazy, I'm not going to like it just because it's hazy. And I think that might be what the OP is getting at -- beers being made to be intentionally hazy to jump on the haze bandwagon. Or people praising a beer JUST because it's hazy.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I also agree it's all about the taste. But that goes both ways. If a delicious tasting beer is hazy I'm good with it. But if it's crappy tasting and hazy, I'm not going to like it just because it's hazy. And I think that might be what the OP is getting at -- beers being made to be intentionally hazy to jump on the haze bandwagon. Or people praising a beer JUST because it's hazy.

Yeah, what get me is the idea of looking at a beer and thinking "Nice haze". I just can't imagine it. I guess once you start associating a flavor you like with a particular "quality" of haze in a beer, anything's possible though.

 

[plazola86]

I also agree it's all about the taste. But that goes both ways. If a delicious tasting beer is hazy I'm good with it. But if it's crappy tasting and hazy, I'm not going to like it just because it's hazy. And I think that might be what the OP is getting at -- beers being made to be intentionally hazy to jump on the haze bandwagon. Or people praising a beer JUST because it's hazy.

I totally agree with this.

 

[bobeer]

as long as it fits to style I don't really care. If the beer has a slight haze that doesn't bother me either. If the beer is supposed to be clear then it should be as clear as the brewer can get it.

I think the NE IPA craze is a bit weird. It's just a beer with a ton of hops in it. Everyone freaks out and acts like it's the best thing ever. While it does taste good, IMO, it looks like crap and isn't that hard to reproduce.

 

[VagueSkunk]

I wish I could get a good example of a NEIPA around here. Then I could really judge whether the haze is worth it or not. Suppose I'll just have to brew one lol.

The only somewhat readily available beer close to this style that has any distribution that I've found is Firestone-Walker's "Fortem". I dont know if it is available where you are but it's worth a look. I buy up all the 4-packs whenever I see them since it's a limited release.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Cool like Michael Jackson? Or cool like refrigerator?

 

[edsa1984]

Ok so the next question is; why are they serving these beers hazy? Is it because they think it's 'in'? Is it because they want to serve as 'fresh' as possible? To give you guys a point, I had a Bock there that was very nice indeed, but you couldn't even slightly see through it