You love beer. Based on rigorous research in pubs, taprooms and at home, you understand that beer ranges in clarity from crystal clear to veritably soup-like. As an avid beer fan it’s important to understand how beer arrives at its final state. Which steps in brewing a beer determine its clarity? In this case, we’re talking about finings, substances added to beer at varying stages of the brewing process to ensure the intended state of clarity. Knowing more about finings helps to inform what styles of beer you drink, to better identify whether a beer is meant to be cloudy or clear. In this guide Matthew Curtis helps you develop a more considered and enjoyable drinking experience through a greater understanding of finings.
Among today’s beer drinkers it’s widely accepted that beer now comes in a range of opacities. From sparklingly clear to relentlessly turbid, there’s a level of haze to suit almost everyone’s taste.
Much of the beer we drink in the modern era is naturally cloudy, or hazy in appearance. This has been widely accepted for some time in some traditional styles, such as German Hefeweizen and Belgian Witbier but is now also associated with contemporary styles such as New England IPA. The opacity of these hop-heavy recipes is typically due to the abundant use of protein-rich grains like wheat and oats, which create a softer mouthfeel but the beer is hazier because of this. But this is also because many of these beers are “unfined” — meaning the process of “fining” or clearing the beer of sediment is skipped, due to the haze actually being desirable.
For some beer lovers, however, only a perfectly clear beer will do. For them, clarity is a mark of quality; proof to the beholder of said beer that the utmost care has been taken in its production. This is especially true in certain beer styles such as lager, and (although it should perhaps go without saying) real ale conditioned in, and served from a cask.
“From sparklingly clear to relentlessly turbid, there’s a level of haze to suit almost everyone’s taste”
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