- That SIBA recognises that historic beer styles and modern beer drinkers do not ALL require clarity in beer.
- That SIBA removes clarity as a requirement for beer competitions.
- That SIBA proactively markets to and educates the trade and consumers on the potential benefits of hazy beer including :
- Improved flavour
- Improved aroma
- Improved mouthfeel
- Vegan acceptance(where isinglass is not used)
- Reduced settling time
- Reduced wastage/ullage
- Increased demand from consumers for more natural products.
We can certainly start by getting an industry body such as SIBA to recognise the above.
I look forward to tales of heated debate and murders from the SIBA AGM today!
8 comments:
Certainly be an interesting debate. I'd love to listen to it.
Completely agree mate. Look at such iconic beer ranges as double IPA's and how hazy they are. They have considerably more flavour than an overtly crystalised brown beer which is considerably more favoured in this country. This is something I can't grasp.
People accept appallingly bad bitters and anything clear yet if it's hazy and you can't shine a torch through it then it's deemed as not being ready. It's complete crap.
Look at Jaipur for instance. A fine display of brewing prowess yet completely the opposite of a clear beer. However Jaipur has a considerable more hop level than most of these clear beers and is also generally speaking much more flavoursome than the generic clear beers which this country loves.
Yet when people judge it they judge it on how they perceive its image as well as the smell or the taste. I don't understand how this can work. I've had too much bad beer be okd for service yet they tell us beer is not supposed to be hazy. However the best beers I've ever consumed tend to be incredibly hazy!!
Maybe we should start the unfined hazy beer society?
I'm personally sick of boring beers which are fabulously clear!
So would I Tandleman!
Thomas, thanks for the comment!
Can't say I've ever fretted about a pint of beer being hazy or not. It either tastes good or it tastes shit.
That's all that matters in the long run.
Higgsy
Indeed, but one of the conditions for winning an award in SIBA competitions in clarity of the liquid, which frankly is a bit outdated.
I'm pretty ambivalent about all of this. Just a couple of observations:
1. I really don't thnk "lot's" of brewers are making beer with a natural haze. It's just a small handful (but with some pretty impressive players in that number, I admit).
2. Unfined beer is nothing new - Dave Porter's eponymous Porter Brewing Co and now his Outstanding Brewery do not fine their beer - and it's not hazy either. Unfined beer does not necessarily mean hazy beer.
3. At the end of the day it's basically a geek thing and despite the usual amount of verbiage on the subject being spewed out by the blogosphere it won't catch on with the beer drinking public at large. Trust me on this one.
4. And for the benefit of Thomas - I don't know where you're drinking your Jaipur but it certainly ain't "completely the opposite of a clear beer".
Think john has a few good points, as much as we would like to improve public knowledge as to why beer can be both hazy and clear in circumstances, i don't think they care too much and those that do usually think its a bad sign for one reason or another.
Thanks for wrriting this
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