I’m just back from San Diego, where I attended the Master Brewers Association of the America’s (MBAA) / American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) national conference last week. A fascinating week of brewers coming together to share knowledge and compare notes on how to advance the cause of interesting, quality beers across the U.S. and beyond.
Each year, the conference picks a subject of particular interest to brewers, and does a ‘deep dive’ into this subject to see if truths can be uncovered that help brewers brew their beer better, maintain and improve the quality of their beers and/or brew new interesting beers. This year, the subject for a deep dive was ‘Clarification and Cloudification of Beer’ – in other words, how do brewers make bright beer bright and how do brewers make cloudy beer consistently cloudy. This is the theme of todays beers. In addition, we’ll also have a quick chat about another interesting topic that came up in the conference – namely how cannabis is being investigated by brewers as the new brewing ingredient that can be used by brewers in the next decade and beyond.
This subject of bright and cloudy beer is particularly relevant as we come into the time of year for Oktoberfest (which starts in September). For today’s tasting we will be doing a side-by-side tasting of Maisel’s Original Hefeweiss (a cloudy wheat beer) and Maisel’s Kristal (a bright, or not cloudy, wheat beer). Our second beer is Maisel’s Dunkel – another cloudy wheat beer whose clarity is a little harder to determine because it is a dark wheat beer.
Cloudiness in Beer –
Cloudiness in beer is a sometimes misunderstood phenomenon. If a beer is cloudy, does this mean that the beer is ‘bad’? Is a cloudy beer a sign that that beer is a beer of particular quality. What is going on with a beer that is meant to be cloudy, but appears to be bright? What is happening when a beer is so cloudy that it appears murky or milky – is this a sign of quality? ... a sign that a lot of expensive ingredients have been used in brewing that beer? ... a sign of additional flavour in that beer? ... a sign that the beer has a problem? It is sometimes said that ‘we drink with our eyes’, and numerous studies have shown that the appearance of a beer influences the perceived taste of that beer – so how a beer presents is most definitely an important issue. Just as important is understanding what to expect from a bright or cloudy beer, and how to understand what cloudiness in beer means.
The growth in golden lagers such as pilsner was triggered in part by the development of glassware for serving beer a few hundred years ago. When beer was served in steins (stone drinking vessels), it was difficult for the server to see the liquid that they were drinking. Glassware meant that the colour and appearance of the beer became more important – and bit by bit this started to influence the beers chosen by customers.
It is true to say that a bright golden liquid has its own appeal. Many beer drinkers agreed with this sentiment, and bright golden lagers became more and more popular over time. Traditional beers – some of which were naturally cloudy – became more ‘speciality’ or ‘niche’ as time went on, became a less central feature of the beer drinkers regular choice, and little by little, many beer drinkers came to expect their beer to be bright – this became the standard.
Beers can be cloudy for different reasons. One simple rule is that if a beer is meant to be bright then it should be bright. If it is not, then it usually means one of two things – something has gone wrong in the brewery, or something has gone wrong between the brewery and the beer being served to the beer drinker.
Maybe it is best to outline the key ways that a beer can end up cloudy. Beer can be cloudy because of infection – a bacterial haze can develop in a beer. Beer can be cloudy because natural yeast remains in suspension in the beer. Beer can be cloudy because proteins and/or polyphenols are in suspension in the beer and cause the beer to appear cloudy. Beer can be cloudy because chilling the beer causes proteins and polyphenols in the beer to join together to form either a permanent or chill haze. We’ll look at each of these in turn in the context of beer that we can buy today, historical styles of beer and new styles of beer that have developed in the last few years.
Coming back to our beer that is meant to be bright that is cloudy – if this is a result of a bacterial haze then the most likely cause is that the beer has been served through dirty draught lines, but also could be a result of a problem at the brewery (for example, the keg in which the beer has been filled might not have been perfectly cleaned before filling). A bacterial haze is a sign of an infection in the beer. Bacteria in the beer has reacted with the beer and caused it to spoil. By the time a bacterial haze is visible in the beer, infection flavours can be present in the beer – vinegar (acetic acid), sour milk (lactic acid), buttery or butterscotch flavours, baby vomit (butyric acid), sweet corn (dimethyl sulphide - DMS), green apple or emulsion paint (acetaldehyde). These flavours can develop in beer as a result of bacteria reacting with different substances in beer. Some of these flavours can be desirable flavours in certain styles of beer if they are present in the right quantity and in the right balance. When these flavours are present in certain beer styles in the right balance in the right environment, they can be quite appealing. It is not unusual for low levels of diacetyl (butter / butterscotch) to be present in Scotch Ales and Czech Pilsners, and if it is not overpowering, it can add a tasty dimension to the beer. Likewise. vinegar or lactic flavours can be present in certain beer styles (for example, lambics and milk stouts respectively), and, again if present at the right levels and with the right balance of flavours, they can be appealing (think vinegar on your chips, which many people like, versus red wine turned to vinegar, which most people would not appreciate). When a bacterial infection has spoiled a beer, the flavours that result are most often found to be unpleasant by beer drinkers – they can be bilous, and offensive – and so a bacterial haze in a beer (particularly a beer that is meant to be bright) is a definite sign that the beer has a problem.
Other sources of haze or cloudiness in beer are ambiguous – and the understanding as to whether other types of haze are a problem depends on the context. Some beers are meant to be bright all of the time – and if they are cloudy, this is a sign of a problem, though it may not necessarily mean that the flavour of the beer has changed. Some beers are meant to be cloudy, but they may not maintain this cloudiness – in fact maintaining stable cloudiness in a beer that is meant to be cloudy is a particular challenge for some brewers. Some beers are meant to be cloudy, and this cloudiness is a sign of the particular quality that should be expected from the beer – this cloudiness either resulting from the ingredients used in brewing the beer and/or the process used in brewing the beer.
A chill haze is an example of a haze that can be viewed as a problem by brewers of some beers. However, a chill haze in a beer does not cause the flavour of that beer to change. Chill haze results when proteins and polyphenols in beers (two substances that can come from malts, other grains and/or hops used in beer) combine when the beer is chilled. Brewers that want their beer to remain bright will often chill the beer down to low temperatures before filtering the beer. By so doing, they cause this chill haze to develop, and they then filter this haze out. Some breweries – particularly brewers of mainstream beers – can use process aids such as silica hydrogel or PVPP (polyvinylpolypyrrolidone) to remove proteins and/or polyphenols from the beer prior to filtration so that this chill haze does not develop in the beer. So chill haze (and what it can later develop into – permanent haze) does not affect the flavour of the beer, and is only a problem when the brewer sets a standard for their beer to be bright all of the time. It is an appearance problem, not related to flavour, and so if there is chill haze in a beer that is meant to be cloudy, then this is not an issue. It doesn’t change the flavour of the beer, and in fact it is something that is likely to be part of the haze or cloudiness in a cloudy beer.
In recent times, newly developed styles of beer have brought the issue of haze and cloudiness front and centre. In recent times, the New England IPA has brought haziness to a new level. These beers are often almost milkshake-like in appearance – so cloudy that it is virtually impossible to see through the liquid. The cloudiness comes as a result of using large quantities of hops, and sometimes as a result of the use of certain grains (such as oats or wheat) in the grain bill for the beer. These large quantities of hops and the types of grains used bring the exact constituents into the beer to cause these large quantities of haze to develop. New England IPA’s can be full of peachy, fruity flavours, and are sometimes brewed to have a much lower level of bitterness than one might normally associate with an American IPA. This style has become such a feature of the U.S. beer scene that the BJCP has issued an interim update to its beer style guidelines – providing a specification for New England IPA ahead of the next full update of their style guidelines. Similarly, the Brewers Association in the U.S. has made New England IPA and Hazy IPA new categories for their beer style guidelines. Already, the Brewers Association has more than four hundred entrants for these categories for the next Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Competition. A New England or Haze IPA that is not cloudy is not true to style – if it is not cloudy then it does not reflect what people should expect from the style. The cloudiness in these styles should come from protein and polyphenols – it is similar to the haze in a Belgian witbier, and should not come from yeast in suspension, as is the case in a German Hefeweiss.
The above provides us with a natural segue into some historic styles that one might expect to be cloudy. The style German Hefeweiss is so named because the beer has yeast present in the final beer. The word ‘hefe’ in German means yeast, and a German Hefeweiss has yeast present in the bottle or keg which can form a cloudy haze in the beer. Yeast has a particular quality that relates to haziness in beer. When yeast is doing a job – working on converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide and other flavour compounds – it is in suspension in the beer. When it is in suspension, it appears cloudy. Many yeasts, when they are finished their job, flocculate. This means that they join together with other yeast cells to form ‘flocs’, and these (heavier) flocs tend to settle down to the bottom of the container (brewery tank, bottle or keg) in which the beer is stored. The yeasts used in brewing German Hefeweiss are beers that don’t exhibit this quality that much – they are ‘non-flocculant’ yeasts that do not tend to join with their sister yeast cells to form flocs. This means that they tend to remain in suspension even after the beer has been packaged, and they are responsible for the cloudy appearance in a German Hefeweiss. Even when a non-flocculant yeast is used in a German Hefeweiss, given enough time and particularly if the beer is stored at cold temperatures, this yeast can still settle out. For this reason, sometimes a beer server serving a German Hefeweiss will roll the bottle before opening it to rouse the yeast so that the beer appears cloudy. Similarly, some beer servers will swirl the last little bit of liquid in a German Hefeweiss bottle to rouse the yeast in this liquid, and then pour this very cloudy liquid into the beer already poured to re-suspend this yeast in the liquid to give the beer a cloudy opinion.
So, in summary, if a beer should always be bright, then cloudiness is a sign of a problem. This may be a significant problem (resulting in significant flavour issues) such as a bacterial haze, or it may be an appearance problem (such as chill haze or permanent haze). Some beer styles – such as New England IPA – have cloudiness as such a fundamental quality of the beer that if there is no cloudiness present, this would suggest that the brewer has misinterpreted the style. However, achieving consistent haze in these beers can be a particular challenge for brewers. Finally, some beers – such as German Hefeweiss – are meant to be haze, but ensuring that the beer presents haze in the beer drinkers glass may require a little help from the person serving the beer.
Comparison Tasting –
Maisel’s Kristal –
Beer Style - German Kristal Weissbier
Alcohol by Volume - 5.1% alcohol by volume
Brewed by - Maisel’s Brewery
Brewed in - Bayreuth, Germany
Maisel’s Kristal presents with a bright gold straw colour, and is particularly bright in its appearance – bright sunshine gold and particularly clear in appearance. The foam pours with a rich, dense white foam that holds on the top of the beer as the beer is drunk.
Initial impressions of Maisel’s Kristal are that it is a crisp, refreshing beer. However, the depth of character of this beer really develops as the beer opens and as one takes subsequent sips through the glass. Initial white pepper spice comes through on the nose, and clove is present that is more subdued. Honey sweetness is present on the initial aroma that follows through on the flavour. Sweetness combines with banana (yellow banana that comes through as banana ice cream) and develops into peach. The finish comes through as wheat cracker – crisp and refreshing.
Maisel’s Kristal is an amazingly complex beer packaged in a crisp wheat beer. The beer has superb depth of complexity, but at the same time is a delectably delicious beer to enjoy for the pure refreshment that it delivers. Like any excellent, complex beer, this beer is layered with new flavours discovered on each sip, but these flavours are balanced so if you are not in the mood to dissect it, they blend to provide a superbly balanced taste experience.
Maisel’s Hefeweiss –
Beer Style - German Hefeweiss
Alcohol by Volume - 5.2% alcohol by volume
Brewed by - Maisel’s Brewery
Brewed in - Bayreuth, Germany
The most obvious difference between Maisel’s Hefeweiss and Maisel’s Kristal is the appearance. Maisel’s Original (Hefeweiss) presents more orange in colour and is distinctly cloudy in appearance – particularly if the bottle is rolled to rouse the yeast.
Spice character that comes through on the nose combines clove, white pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. Initial impressions of honey are present on the nose, but this develops into a complexity of fruit character – distinct ripe banana, caramelised orange and fruit cake fruit flavours that combine with the spice to give the impression of fruit cake (even Christmas cake). There is a slight heat kick in the finish that develops from the spice character in the beer.
The yeast in the beer comes through as doughy, bready flavour. In flavour terms, the breadiness of the Hefeweiss is a distinct difference from the Kristal – in Kristal, the grain flavour is more wheat cracker. While there are distinct comparisons between the two beers, the balance of flavours is different. One has to wonder whether the cloudiness of the hefeweiss gives an impression of more depth of character, but this could be psychological (it looks ‘thicker’ so it tastes ‘thicker’). Both beers are amazingly complex.
Just announced this week is that Maisel’s Hefeweiss is the winner of the World’s Best Style for Hefeweiss in the World Beer Awards this year.
Maisel’s Dunkel –
Beer Style - German Dunkel Weissbier
Alcohol by Volume - 5.2% alcohol by volume
Brewed by - Maisel’s Brewery
Brewed in - Bayreuth, Germany
The appearance of Maisel’s Dunkel is more of a challenge to interpret than that of the first two. Distinctly brown in appearance, if the beer is poured carefully, it can appear quite bright. However, it is a hefeweiss, and if the beer is roused before pouring, or particularly if the lees (last liquid of the bottle) is roused and poured into a separate glass, the cloudy appearance of the beer is evident.
Cocoa that develops into plain chocolate is distinct in the malt character of this beer. This chocolate malty character combines with subtle spice in this beer. The spice character in this beer is more subdued – softened by the chocolate malt character – and comes through as creamy nutmeg that plays and tingles on the tongue rather than being present as heat in the finish of the beer. Banana fruit is present in the beer, but it is secondary to the malt character in the beer. Other fruit flavours develop from the interaction of darkness and fermentation fruit character in the beer – black cherry and blackcurrant are present in the background.
The overall character of this beer is a little bit of an enigma. If one was to taste this beer blindfolded, it has the refreshing wheat cracker, bread dough character that one can associate with a wheat beer, that blends with the chocolate and cocoa malt character and depth of fruit and spice flavour in the background. Tasting it having looked at the colour of the beer, the chocolate and cocoa comes through more in the mind, and the spice and fruit character is very much secondary to this. One has to wonder if this is the appearance of the beer playing mind games with the perception of flavour.
A superbly delicious beer, and often a beer style that can be overlooked because of the popularity of hefeweiss as a style. If one is looking for something a little darker that might not have the depth of roasty, charcoal character that one might associate with a stout, Maisel’s Dunkelweiss gives incredible depth of dark malt character combined with a delicious complexity of flavours. Definitely one to try!!
