It has been my experience that a darker beer, like a Porter or Schwarzbier, seems to clarify on it’s own, much faster than a light Pils or a light Pale Ale.
Is this your experience? Does the roasted grain have anything that would cause the beer to clear faster?
Just kegged a nice Schwartzbier, and it is nearly clear without adding any gelatin. And I always use gelatin!
Nope, not my experience. I haven’t seen any correlation.
Not in my experience, but I do find that lack of clarity is often more noticeable in lighter colored beers.
I have had very similar experiences. I had initially thought it was that the darker beers covered up any haze, but it’s definitely crystal clear more quickly on porters/stouts/etc. I wonder if it’s some aspect of pH that might be affecting it? Or related to how it all interacts with my particular water (pretty mineralized SoCal water)…
This.
I can’t really tell how clear (or not) my Stouts and Porters are, and probably because of that, I don’t really care how clear they are. Maybe I should pay more attention? But when I pour them into a pint glass, they just look black or dark brown to me.
I’ve definitely noticed that chill haze is less of an issue with darker beers, but other than that - no.
I guess it is chill haze that I am mostly talking about. The beer is at 32 F, kegged it two days ago, and it is nearly crystal clear. Schwarzbier. Any light SRM beer that I do will normally require a fining agent (gelatin) to clarify. But none will be needed in this beer.
This beer was cold-crashed at 32 for 6 days before going in the keg. Maybe that helped.
Regardless of the beer type, dark Porter, or light Pils, I am obsessed with clarity. It is a sickness.
Should have mentioned that we use floating pick-up tubes in our kegs. This does have an impact on clarity! We can always tell when the keg is nearing the bottom, as the beer starts getting hazy. And I am not a fan of hazy beer!
I use a floating dip tube, Brewtan B, whirlflock, yeast that has a clarity characteristic, cold storage, and time. I carbonate while lager/conditioning and by the time it’s carbonated it’s usually clear. Generally a cpl weeks minimum but I’ve let them sit longer in the cold. First pour is hazy. Second and subsequent are clear.
I have used gelatin in the past and will again if i run into a stubborn beer. But generally, i get crystal clear beer without it.
I use BTB, Whirlfloc, and pH adjustment (as necessary in mash and/or boil using salts and acid malt or salts and acid) during boil, a floating dip tube in the primary only and rely on a cold lagering for clarification on dispense from the serving keg. The only time I don’t have fairly clear beer is if I serve from the keg a bit too early (like under a week to ten days after racking from primary). Usually after the first pint drawn from the lagering/serving keg, my beers are clear and good to go. But, even when they aren’t crystal clear, I don’t sweat it anymore.