I couldn’t find the thread but here is a Helles I brewed recently with no whirl flock or and other type of kettle or fermenter finings. There is a small amount of chill haze. It lagered for about 10 days bulk then bottled and conditioned for another 10 days at about 60F … it’s clear enough for the likes of me!
Looks fantastic! Nice head on that. Strain?
What’s the grist make up for your helles?
Was this a purposeful brew to see how clear you could make it without finings or were you just out or something?
I believe it was just WY2124 – it was a smackpack I woke up that was over a year old and I forgot to write it down but most likely that is what it was.
No, I often don’t use finings. There was a thread that I was involved with recently where someone “forgot the Irish Moss” and I had mentioned I didn’t use IM usually. But I couldn’t find the thread. So I just got all excited and posted it. 
This isn’t meant as an argument against IM just saying that you don’t necessarily HAVE to use it (or anything) to get clear beer. Of course, you do need to get you pH right!
In this case just pilsner with a touch of Munich. I did do a double decoction since it was a small (5L) batch.
BTW, not only was this not fined with kettle or post-fermentation finings and only lagered it was also bottled right off the fermenter (after about 10 days of lagering). So no “secondary” either. No Bright Tank and no keg.
Of course it was brewed on 4/16/21 so it has been a minute.
In this case just pilsner with a touch of Munich. I did do a double decoction since it was a small (5L) batch.
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I was surprised at the amber color of the beer, all the helles I’ve seen are much lighter. I’ve never done decoction, does that process result in a darker colored beer?
Ahh – I see. It’s a deep gold not an amber at all. I was trying to get some good lighting but it was one of those overcast days and it probably looks darker than it is.
I definitely feel like decoction affects color. Some disagree.
Also, it’s not completely “haze free” so that may be what you are seeing. It’s not crystal clear for sure, so that also adds to the color. But it is pretty clear and I think another couple of weeks in the bottle cold it should drop bright
Clear enough for me. Cheers!
Beer looks great and sure tastes good which is the most important thing. Honestly if the beer is really good and not crystal clear I really don’t care. With that said the beer looks good!
Definitely not criticizing your beer, just curious.
My limited experience would agree, I brew an amber ale, tried the same ale both ways single step infusion, and decoction; the decoction always seems to bring out a more, for lack of a better term brilliant color.