The Definitive Knock-down, Drag-out Cloudy Beer Debate Thread

Good read @bulletrain76!

This is what I consider 'good haze'
"The only way around this is to remove the proteins and tannins that form the colloidal complex, a process called stabilization. Dry hopped beers can be especially problematic with regards to chill haze, due to the amount of tannins contributed by the hops. Beers with significant portions of wheat in the mash will also have more chill haze due to the higher percentage of protein in wheat compared to barley."

And this would be 'bad haze'
"Other less common sources of haze include bacterial contamination, starch carryover from the brewhouse, calcium oxalate (beer stone), and process contamination from cleaning or sanitizing agents."

 

My philosophy on the matter is "keep the good stuff in"

From my experience I find that, more often than not, a cloudy beer will be more flavourful than a clear beer. Of course I'm generalizing (and it comes down to personal tastes in the end) but I do find it to be mostly true (for many styles).

For example, my all-time favourite IPA (Red Racer IPA) is unfiltered and I find it to be bursting with flavour when compared to filtered example of an IPA. Maybe it's just me...

 

Whatever he is saying he is wrong. The ale yeasts used in many of these beers sinks. If you choose to mix it into your beer than you can, but that will only make some haze. Most haze in beer is from malt/proteins.

 

I just read it- he describes yeast presence effecting the flavor, and calls it unfinished. I am inclined to agree with that assessment if that's what he tasted.

It's high time we as a community started to call out bad beer as bad, and stop with all of the fan-boy behavior already.

 

And I've said it before: my assessments of beers seem to always mirror what the Bros think -- whether ale, lager, stout or weizen. I think it has to do with working hands-on with beer and beer styles -- really wading in to learn about something you're passionate about, not just chasing trends.

Then again, if you really do like something because it sits well with you, there's nothing really wrong with that -- but don't try to tell us it's "best of show" if it's really just an "almost ran."

 

As long as it doesn't look like it has chunks of fat or chicken bits floating around in it..bottoms up!

 

That's all true, but in this case it's a bit different in that it seems like the brewer can't put out consistent beer. In this case, it actually serves the community to point that out (especially if you are specific with your complaint)- as opposed to 'discredit(ing) all further ratings'.

 

Totally agree. That said, Vicinity is a pretty great beer. No fanboy talking.

 

I do hope to try it some day, and I'm sure most of the time it's as great as the bulk of the reviews say it is.

I just think Jason was pretty specific with his criticism. Sometimes people will just give a low score and say something like "meh", and that's definitely not much help to anyone- but that just wasn't the case here, which is what I was getting at.

 

Interesting post, and informative as always.

The part I quoted is particularly interesting to me, and has been mentioned by others throughout this thread. Two questions since you're a professional brewer.....

1) Do you feel the Alchemist's suggestion to drink Heady Topper "from the can" is a gimmick then? And do you feel this is a case in which the brewer is simply being lazy?

2) If so, do you think it matters in this case? Perhaps the brewer doesn't care, because it sells incredibly well and is the highest rated beer on this web site.

Ok, that was three questions.

 

A Festbier I brewed a few weeks back. One week ago it was a Kellerbier, but now it has lagered a bit longer and cleared. I like both versions for different reasons.

 

I guess the bro's don't like hazy either! lol

 

Page 4, last post, fine tunes any questions.

 

Nice looking beer. Makes me thirsty. In fact the whole picture reminds me of a Gasthaus in Vorarlburg, Austria where I once got to spend a nice quiet week meeting and socializing (including lots of eating and drinking :-)) with some Austrian friends.

 

My favorite local haze bomb - Crank IPA

 

Question for the brewers out there: how do you keep you Hefeweizens/Kellerbiere/Wits cloudy once they are in the keg and ready to serve? Shaking the keg? In the bottle versions, you can easily swirl the yeast with a bit of beer left in the bottle and then dump in. Is something similar done with kegs?

 

If it tastes good I truly don't care if its turbid, cloudy or has floaters.

 

Kellerbier is served most commonly from the wooden keg. In these cases, they simply roll out the keg (shaking it up) and then bang in the tap and serve it cloudy. Weizen is generally seen from the bottle, but there are keg versions.

 

I believe Allagash recommends storing the keg upside down before tapping. Probably doesn't help much once it's been tapped for a bit, though.