What is the story about: beyond the surface brightness
Imagine that perfect beer not only has a spectacular flavor, but also dazzles because of its crystalline clarity. But what happens when that brilliance becomes a small problem? Here we tell you how ingredients and some tricks can make the difference between an opaque beer and one that dazzles.
The leading role of yeasts: more than simple inhabitants
The yeasts, those tiny stars of our process, with just a few microns of size, can be both heroes and villains in your beer. When fermenting, most of them are grouped and fall in the background in a kind of farewell party, but sometimes some remain in the bottle, causing that murky aspect that so many want to avoid.
Choosing a yeast strain that has a tendency to group and drain can accelerate that clarification process. In addition, making the beer go through a good cooling phase helps them be deposited more easily, a trick that many professional breweries use to obtain that journal brightness.
And if you want to remove those rebel yeasts, there are all kinds of clarifying agents – such as the police or gelatin – that facilitate its elimination. In addition, professional filtering can become an essential ally to achieve an impeccable appearance.
Proteins, tannins and the battle against persistent mists
We enter the area where the greatest cleaning dramas are played: proteins and phenolic compounds, also known as tannins. Both, extracted from malted barley and hops, have a double role: they provide body and aroma, but they can also be responsible for that fog that falls into your beer in the cold nights.
The main conflict occurs when these molecules interact in a process called ‘Chill Haze’ – a fog that appears when you cooled beer, the result of a weak union between a low molecular weight polyphenol and a protein. The situation worsens if beer oxidizes, promoting the formation of a more permanent mist that does not dissipate with temperature.
Keys to choose ingredients that leave the clearest and brightest beer
The solution begins in the glass of ingredients. Some malts contain less protein, therefore, reducing their presence in your recipe can make a difference in final clarity. In the catalogs of the main malt producers, you can compare the protein content and prefer those that are lower.
Another intelligent strategy is to opt for malt without peel or reduced peel, as the tannins bulge in the external fibers of the grain. In addition, limiting the use of very protein ingredients, such as wheat or oatmeal, helps maintain translucent beer, without losing that body sensation that we all want.
In the case of hops, which contribute an interesting 20-30% of phenolic in the final product, it should not be overload with excessively aromatic varieties that can complicate clarity. The choice of hops must focus more on strengthening the aroma and flavor, instead of looking for a maximum of bitterness, especially if you worry about appearance.
An important recommendation for brewers who pursue a crystalline beer: avoid overloading hops and, if you want to go to the limit, understand the maximum solubility of ISO-ALPHA acids, which is around 110 Ibus. Beyond that figure, the taste may not improve, but the phenols do increase, making it more difficult to maintain that desired clarity.
In short, what your ingredients choose has a direct impact on how your beer will look and how long it can be kept transparent. Next week, we will delve into clarifying techniques and agents that will complement these strategies and help you perfect your beer art.
Ready to convert each painting into a work of visual art? Perfect clarity is not a miracle, it is the result of intelligent decisions and a little patience in the process.
