Ask most beer drinkers what the perfect pint should look like and you will get a clear answer – literally. A pint should be transparent, sparkling, crystal-clear, topped with a tight white head. The corporate mega-breweries have perpetuated this idea through advertising campaigns that encourage consumers to judge by appearance rather than taste. As with most urban myths, there is an element of truth in the foundation. If a beer is meant to be served clear, there is probably something wrong with it if it is cloudy.
The problem with clear beer is the means of achieving that clarity; filtration and fining remove not only the spent yeast but also essential hop resins that enhance the taste and cereal proteins that give the beer body. Some UK-based craft brewers are now brewing beer “with nowt taken out” and the flavours are phenomenal. Somerset brewers Wild and Moor with London-based Weird Beard and Kernel led this revolution that puts taste before looks and now some of our local craft brewers are also giving us the fullness of flavour that can only be achieved by dispensing with these practices.
