A hazy problem?

[StevieDS]

Does it really matter if a beer is a bit hazy, from a flavour and aroma perspective?
Just wondering why some people get excited about it, surely it's simply aesthetic?

 

[Rukula]

Blame it on the bloody lagers. Most of the best ales (judging by aroma and taste complexity and quality) are somewhat hazy. This is something that naturally happens to beer. Carbonating the beer in the bottles will produce sediments, making it almost impossible to pour the beer clear.

Lagers and Pilsners are now the norm, and after countless years of this being the thing, people has gotten used to clear beer. From experience, i feel like hazy beers has more of everything. Maybe this is because i find craft breweries far superior to the larger mass market companies, and that the craft breweries don't care about clear beer? don't know really.

I try to buy at least one beer i haven't tried, every time i go to fill up my beer cellar. when i pop open a beer, and pour it crystal clear into the glass, i get kinda sad. I expect something ok, but not anything exiting. Be it stout, brown ale, ipas and so on, they somehow managed to take its soul away..

Not saying that there are no good clear beers out there.. far from it.. But i think my top 20 list, contain only hazy beers.

I think i dont like them because most of them are from the big breweries, with their normal ingredients, while the craft breweries often go a bit nuts with their recipes, without really caring about what the entire world thinks of it. Handcrafted by brewers for brewers :

 

[keith1664]

Yes it matters.
Filtering beer to remove haze also removes flavour compounds.
Using lots of hops can introduce a haze.
Hazy beer tastes better!

 

[StevieDS]

Cool, I thought I was the only one who liked to see a little haze in a beer. Why do home brewers go to length to get their beers crystal clear? :wha:

 

[jonnymorris]

With respect to chill haze specifically;

I believe that removing the proteins that cause chill haze will also improve the shelf life of your beer... not that shelf life is a concern for any of mine.

 

[StevieDS]

With respect to chill haze specifically;

I believe that removing the proteins that cause chill haze will also improve the shelf life of your beer... not that shelf life is a concern for any of mine.

Nope, never found that to be much of a problem either :lol:

 

[IPA]

Just ask yourself why dark beers and dark lagers ( yes there are quite a few ) are not fined. The anwer is that it makes no difference to the taste. It's just that the alcopops generation expect their drinks to be crystal clear, fizzy as hell and have no taste. Just as the Adman says take away the taste and you will appeal to a wider customer base.

 

[Darcey]

I think CAMRA have a thing about it as well. Its seen as an imperfection in cask beers which is odd seeing as they require a MINIMUM yeast cell count to class it as real ale

 

[StevieDS]

I think CAMRA have a thing about it as well. Its seen as an imperfection in cask beers which is odd seeing as they require a MINIMUM yeast cell count to class it as real ale

Yeah that's stupid. Never understood why bjcp judges mark beers down for it either.

 

[Duxuk]

That does it. I've tried to clear my first AG by sticking it in the fridge. It hasn't made a whole heap of difference so I may as well crack one open. I forgot to buy and use any finings so it's cloudy so far. I'll let you know in about 15 minutes when I've supped the current incumbant, a partial mash using centennial, and uncorked the AG.

 

[Duxuk]

AG#1 is cloudy like a weissbeir. It tastes like a draught rather than bottled beer but has a hop charachteristic which I could not buy at any price. Eeeeeeeee, it's marvelous, this brewing lark.

 

[fbsf]

The only truly clear beers I have made were kits (i.e. those that didn't really have any late hopping). They were ok, but all of my AGs have some level of hazyness to them.

I just make sure that I tell people they are meant to be hazy as they are craft beers. Never seems to cause them any issue!

 

[Darcey]

If you hold a pint of cask beer up to natural light its not 'clear' there are several levels of 'bright'. If it doesnt have chunks of yeast in then its ok by my standards. Some people like that. Look at the 'craft' keg scene poping up. Several are natural beers with out finings and taste great. If you have the last 3rd of the keg its normally bright and just as tasty!

D