How important is clear beer to you?

[The_Bishop]

unfiltered dryhopped versions may be a bit hazy.

a bit hazy

To me, "a bit hazy" <> "someone poured milk into my beer".

 

[unionrdr]

Just as an example, here's a shot of an IPA I did a while back. It's a " lil hazy" from the dry hop oils...

 

[seabrew8]

Well i'm going against the grain a little here. Clear beer is one of my MOST important objectives.

 

[schematix]

It's an IPA. Some degree of haze is appropriate for the style.

21A - American IPA

Appearance: Color ranges from medium gold to light reddish-amber. Should be clear, although unfiltered dryhopped versions may be a bit hazy.​

Would you say a cloudy wheat beer is "not acceptable in a commercial beer?" It's to style.



That's a Double IPA, which is also allowed/supposed to be cloudy, according to the style guidelines. The examples posted are not examples of flaws - they are examples of beers brewed to style.

Now, if you show me a commercial example of a cloudy Czech Pale Lager ("Brilliant to very clear," according to the style guidelines), then you'd have a point.

I wasn't knocking it for being hazy (which it was only moderate hazy). I was knocking it for all of the floating chunks in it. Haze is absolutely acceptable, if not required, in certain styles.

 

[joshesmusica]

But that would make it hazy again. What's the point in filtering out the dry hops that give it that aroma if you're just going to re-add them again afterwards, reinstating the hazy appearance?



You can't have a big dry hop and huge aroma in a crystal-clear beer. Hops add haze. It's as simple as that.

I guess I wasn't clear enough:

If it's going to strip away 5% of the aroma then simply add 5% more hops before adding the gelatin. So instead of adding 60 grams of dry hops, simply add 65 grams. Then add the gelatin. Pretty simple, not much more cost at all.

 

[kombat]

I guess I wasn't clear enough:

If it's going to strip away 5% of the aroma then simply add 5% more hops before adding the gelatin. So instead of adding 60 grams of dry hops, simply add 65 grams. Then add the gelatin. Pretty simple, not much more cost at all.

It doesn't work like that.

It's not like 5 grams of gelatin will remove 60 grams of hops, so if you just add 65 grams of hops, you'll have 5 grams left after the gelatin does its thing.

Gelatin/Isinglass/whatever attaches to whatever it finds in suspension, and pulls it to the bottom. Gelatin will get you clear beer, by removing things that would otherwise remain in suspension. In order to get big hop aroma, you need to have tiny hop particles in suspension.

The two objectives are mutually opposed. You cannot have both. Clear beer, or big hop aroma.

 

[joshesmusica]

It doesn't work like that.



It's not like 5 grams of gelatin will remove 60 grams of hops, so if you just add 65 grams of hops, you'll have 5 grams left after the gelatin does its thing.



Gelatin/Isinglass/whatever attaches to whatever it finds in suspension, and pulls it to the bottom. Gelatin will get you clear beer, by removing things that would otherwise remain in suspension. In order to get big hop aroma, you need to have tiny hop particles in suspension.



The two objectives are mutually opposed. You cannot have both. Clear beer, or big hop aroma.

Says you and nobody else. How in the world am I possibly able to make wonderfully aromatic hop forward beers after using gelatin on them? How are there tons of brewers on here who can do the same? Damn I must be really skilled! I always knew I needed to start up my own brewery.

Must be a really fun black and white world you live in.

 

[Yooper]

oh, for crying out loud- STOP the snide personal remarks and remember the golden rule.

You can disagree without being a jerk.

 

[BigMack]

This thread seems to have devolved into nothing more than that.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

Gelatin is great for clearing up a beer when you do not have the time or patience to wait for it to clear itself. Other than waiting, letting a beer clear itself up naturally, is not at all that hard to do.

 

[jekeane]

Clarity is important for competitions so I strive to match style guidelines when I need too. If I know a beer is never going to competition I won't bother with gelatin.

 

[applescrap]

I think it's interesting to note that the style guidelines allow for a less clear beer when it's naturally appropriate. Which is my whole point the nature of the beer should dictate the way it will and/or should look and taste. If you add a sh..ton of dry hops excetera it's going to have a little haze I'm sure. Trying to change its true nature is not something that I personally want to do. That being said I don't want to dump half the trub in it either, that naturally shouldn't be in there.

 

[greyghost]

Clarity is important for competitions so I strive to match style guidelines when I need too. If I know a beer is never going to competition I won't bother with gelatin.

Appearance only counts for 3 points. Head, color and clarity. That's why I don't care about it

 

[applescrap]

Ok so im frigging excited ok so here we go a beerexperiment. this good pumpkin beer ive been raving about since November that i haven't brewed since cause of new stove and flakey electrician and main panel with full ground bus bar and no main shut off like operation game umm.. yeah so it cleared up right! Well its cold here in denver tonight like super cold and i pull a pumpkin cause dammit I'm going to to be finally be brewing Electric and the beer is cloudy yet I showed you pictures of crystal clear beer days ago so I don't know what it all means one day it's clear next cloudy. And the elfs watching your a...s so be cool

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[applescrap]

Okay so the next one is clear and Rocky Mountain ice cold in my outdoor kegerator. But more importantly I'm enjoying my used B&W speakers

 

[applescrap]

Okay so the next one is clear and Rocky Mountain ice cold in my outdoor kegerator. But more importantly I'm enjoying my used B&W speakers

Pic sorry the speakers really are nice

View attachment 1450420036620.jpg

 

[kombat]

Says you and nobody else. How in the world am I possibly able to make wonderfully aromatic hop forward beers after using gelatin on them? How are there tons of brewers on here who can do the same? Damn I must be really skilled! I always knew I needed to start up my own brewery.

Must be a really fun black and white world you live in.

*shrug* Suit yourself, do whatever you want, I'm just sharing what I've learned from my own experience. Dry hops add aroma, but add haze to the beer. Gelatin strips those hop particles out. You want the aroma without the hops - good luck with that.

 

[jekeane]

Appearance only counts for 3 points. Head, color and clarity. That's why I don't care about it

That's a huge 3 points when you consistently make 36-39 beers and when you are in the mini-bos or bos rounds. Assuming two beers are close to equal in all flavor components then a deciding factor will always be appearance. If a beer is out of style for its category.

It's also not really only 3 points because you can also lose "appearance" points when it comes to the overall score.

Just two weeks ago I was kept out a bos because I had a kolsch that needed more time to clear up. It had only been kegged 2 weeks when it was due. The judges respectively gave me 1/3 and 2/3 both commented on clarity in the overall so assume I possibly lost at least .5 points from each judge. That is 2 total points I lost in my recorded average score. It made my averaged score a 36.5 for that competition the top 4 beers were in the 37-39 range. If clarity wasn't an issue in my beer I would have at a minimum made it to the bos. I actually judged that bos and can say had I made it I quite possibly would have medaled.

This is a very long post to say when clarity is required by style I do think it is very important to try to get it for competition beers.

Also as I mentioned before if it isn't for a competition it doesn't matter to me and I take no extra steps other than whirfloc.

 

[unionrdr]

Well, as for me, I just made it a habit to get them as clear as possible. Flavor & appearance are a something I want to get as good as I can each time. That is, I can taste some difference with a lil trub in suspension. But that's me. Haze, not so much so. But those can be ok, as in hop haze.

 

[razyrsharpe]

i like to see clarity in my beer. i guess it's just one more technical aspect of brewing i want to master. also, clear beer is just pretty to look at. of course styles like wheat beers etc. don't need it, but when i can and when it is appropriate i try.

 

[tjmac5071]

If I make a blonde ale or something lighter that is intended to serve to non craft beer drinkers then I make it clear with gelatin. If I make my pale ale or an IPA that is for me then I don't care at all and no gelatin.

 

[brewbama]

I like to drink a clean, clear beer. It's so easy to add finings that it's a no- brainier.

 

[applescrap]

Thread bump?

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[A2HB]

Lemmings Go!, murky beer is cool, Prince is dead, what kind of a world do I live in nowadays?

 

[Northbank]

It was never important to me ... until I got a really clear IPA and then I was absolutely delighted and realized I did care ...

 

[MaryB]

Depends on the beer... if it is an IPA some haze is acceptable but not that murky east coast thing! Since I brew for my own tastes I can care less if someone else doesn't like it hazy! My APA's have cleared well on their own so far so nothing needed to help them. Same fora few other less hoppy styles I have tried.

 

[The_Bishop]

Please don't disparage all of us east coasters with that murky flour-in-the-boil crap. Most of us don't do that.

 

[unionrdr]

I like'em clear. Looks more professional/skillful. And there's something about those purty colors...

 

[hio3791]

I like making clear beers.

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[Morrey]

If I make a Munich Helles and it is cloudy, I have not done a good job. If I make a Hefe and it comes out cloudy, good job! Depends on the style to me.