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

I once bottled a case of country home medium pulp orange juice.

After pouring a few free samples, I sold it out of a truck in New Hampshire for 9 dollars a bomber.

 

I think I bought 4 of them.

 

Like anything with beer. It depends. If we're going to stick with just IPA's. I welcome some haze, but I want to at least be able to see through the haze in the glass and have a white reflection if I shine a flashlight on it. Some floaties of the protein, or hop particularate are to be expected if it's not filtered, and that's what the brewery intends of it. It depends on what the brewery is intending, or how much they are rushing something to packaging.
I'll yet again cite the difference between Bells Two Hearted appearance now, versus its appearance even a decade ago. Truly an unfiltered beer with all sorts of sediment at the bottom of the bottle, and now it looks like they centrifuge it because it pours clear and there's no yeast residuals left in the bottle.
Anymore. I really just do not want that green yeasty appearance when I shine a flashlight directly on the glass because that tells me the brewery is rushing it to production.
Deschutes seems to think that ya'll should stay calm.
http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/blog/2015-04-12/stay-calm-float-sediment-craft-beer

 

Taking a completely blind stab in the dark in a completely unlit room painted with light-absorbent paint while blindfolded, having my eyes gouged out, and having the sockets painted black (did I mention this is a relatively uninformed guess yet?), I would posit that's because the flavor profile in hefes, wits, et al is primarily ester-based, whereas in something like an IPA, the hops are intended to be the featured flavors.

I could very easily be wrong.

 

The only times I've been turned off by cloudiness were when having English old ales that were opened later than they should have been.

 

Beer haze can be caused by a number of factors. It can be from the particular yeast strain. Another potential cause is the ‘coagulation’ of proteins and polyphenols. You can read more about this latter aspect in the post I made earlier today discussing Otter Creek Backseat Berner: http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...are-you-drinking-now-921.286092/#post-3592932

Cheer!

 

I tend to rate the appearance of many of these East Coast beers a bit lower (4 or 4.5) because of the muddled look. Some look like pulpy grapefruit juice and it's not particularly sexy to me. But ultimately, if they taste good, who gives a shit how they look. Only beer judges.

 

Cloudiness/murkiness doesnt bother me, but chunks floating around in my beer is not something I find desirable. that said, if I can get a full flavored hopped up IPA thats crystal clear like Enjoy by or the new Ruination, I find myself far more amazed with the beer.

 

Kellerbier is drunk young and exhibits a slight sulfury character that comes from the yeast; It is also heavily hopped (they say for anti-bacterial reasons, since it is fermented -- and served -- from unbunged vessels) and the yeast tends to balance these characteristics out...while also allowing the young beer to transform in the (wooden) keg over the course of the serving period, much the way UK cask ale does. In fact many people compare Kellerbier to cask ale, even going so far as to call it "real lager."

As for Hefeweizen, I suspect it is preferred cloudy to cut some of the sharpness of the wheat. If you (or the other poster) compares Kristall- to Hefeweizen, you'll no doubt notice in the former a sharp, crisp wheat character...which can be very prickly, especially when combined with the added CO2 and phenols.

Wit...dunno really. I suspect some of the reasons are the same as for Hefeweizen.

 

ooooof that Bros rating.

 

Lemme guess which bro rated it. Jason "no-milkshakes" Alstrom?

 

Since my tastes almost always run parallel to the Bros...

 

I don't mind the small protein / hop floaties in IPAs one bit. In fact a lot of beers I drank that used to be unfiltered and have a cloudy appearance were outstanding. Then they get "cleaned up" they pour perfectly clear but they go from outstanding to good in taste. I don't think you should sacrifice taste for appearance. This is being pushed by the quality brewers association(Not their name but this new group does exist) that it is better to make a beer that looks and tastes exactly the same every time. Rather than have an outstanding beer most of the time with an occasional hiccup. Like previously mentioned the only time I don't like sediment in my beer is when it is from an older bottle that is past its prime.

 

I believe the pro-haze fanaticism originated with this haze-bomb...

 

Down with independent thought! Get in line with what others think! Wait, what?

 

some cloudy/opaque beers look good... some don't.

 

am i cool now because this is what my last batch of homebrew looked like (cross post from WBAYDN #920)


In this batch:

-Used flaked wheat in the grain bill
-I mash in on the high side temperature-wise
-I did not vorlauf (run the beer until clear when transferring from mash tun to kettle); i usually do this step
-Dry hopped with 1.5oz of galaxy

i did a similar thing with simcoe about a year ago with the same results. the flaked wheat adds body and head retention without impacting flavor.

so, i'm obviously a fan of this "style." not sure if this is how the NE ipa's achieve this color and mouthfeel.