Beer Clarity

[Schwerkraftbrauer]

Is it really all that it's cracked up to be? There are clarifiers, there are all sorts of additives that you can add to help your beer clear as fast as possible, but is it needed? Granted some Styles don't have to be clear (Hefeweizen for one) but anymore shouldn't there be more focus on Aroma and flavor then, "can I read a newspaper through it?", as a first impression. Other forums I'm on, people obsess over how clear their beer is, appearance is important i won't deny, but what ever happened to the basics? Time is still my favorite clarifier. Anyone else feel the same way?

[Matt F]

Clarity important if having you beer judged to a style where clarity is important. Personally, I worry most about taste and smell. Most beers I brew to be clear benefit most from cold conditioning.

[Schwerkraftbrauer]

I agree with the Cold crashing/conditioning, forgot about those too, i know the whirlfloc and Irish moss don't add any off flavors, it's my inner thriftster, why buy those things if i can get by without them?

[jjpeanasky]

For the most part clarifying agents (either kettle or post-ferment) are just liquid time.

Personally, I don't care that much about clarity, but if a beer drops clear, it makes me smile a bit. Hell, I barely care about color, it's all flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel to me.

[daryl]

Unless is it a hazy beer, like a wheat beer, I add Irish Moss or Whirlfloc and then take what I get.

Cold crashing, if I do not do it in the secondary, is going to happen in the keezer. Over time I will see a 1/2 pint of precipitate I have to tap off before it clears. But once it does, it stays clear the remainder of the keg.

The styles I really like (porters, stouts, etc.) tend to be opaque anyway, so it really doesn't matter to me.

[Eric B]

A lot of times I don't care and just let it cold crash, but sometimes I do care about clarity and throw in some Biofinings to drop everything out.

[Matt F]

I do use whirlfloc when not making hazy beers. Lately though hazy IPA tends to be most of my brews. They keep disappearing!

[Steven P]

The old adage is " You eat with your eyes first".

I prefer most of my beers to be clear if the style calls for it. Yeast in suspension and other haze can affect mouthfeel in my opinion. It's more important for lagers than ales.

Clarityferm and Biofine both work great, but I'm not sold on the efficacy of kettle fining agents. Carageenan clarifiers like whirlfloc and Irish Moss just seem to help the ego when running off to the fermentor, rather than providing much effect on the beer clarity. Actually, I prefer to run some trub into the fermentor as it gives the yeast something to hold on to when the primary is done and flocculation starts.

That said, I still use Whirlfloc in the kettle for one reason. When I take a final gravity reading I think it makes for an easier read.