Why are some beers very clear, some are very turbid, and some are green?

Why are some beers very clear, some are very turbid, and some are green?

Beer is one of the most consumed drinks in the world, and many people like to drink beer. Especially cold beer, at night market stalls and food stalls, it can be said to be one of the standard items of "unbeatable". However, many people find that some beer looks very clear, and some beer looks very turbid. Even some beer is green, why is it so?

To find out why, we must first understand the brewing process of beer. 

The vast majority of beer is made with barley malt (wheat malt) and water as the basic raw materials; with the addition of professional yeast and hops, it is brewed through some series of fermentation. The brewed beer contains a lot of macromolecular proteins, active yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, esters, hops, etc., so the body is very turbid, the color is yellow, and it is completely opaque (pictured below)

Beer that is just made is called draft beer,which is rich in nutrition, foamy and delicate, with strong wheat aroma, fresh and pure taste and unique flavor. It is very delicious.Although there are many advantages, the disadvantages are also obvious, that is, the shelf life is short, and it can only be maintained for about 3-7 days even in low temperature conditions. Therefore, large-scale commodities cannot be formed, so further processing is required to enter the market.

Freshly brewed beer is filtered and pasteurized in a series of processes designed to filter and kill the living bacteria inside, turning it into a clear, ripe beer .This extends the shelf life of the beer, which can usually be up to six months, and the vast majority of beer on the market is processed.Although the shelf life is extended, the disadvantage is that the nutrition of the beer decreases and the taste becomes worse.

Very clear beers are finished beers that have been a secondary filtration process. The beer is yellow, bright and clear, good looking, and has a long shelf life, but the nutrition is poor and the taste decreases. The very turbid beer is often unprocessed (or simply processed) draft beer. It is rich in nutrients and tastes good, but the beer is turbid,  less attractive, and has a short shelf life.

So why are some beer yellow and some green?

In fact, this is related to the raw materials. Among the four basic raw materials for brewing beer, water, yeast, and hops have no effect on the color. Only malt will directly affect the color of beer. In general, roasted malt is light yellow, so brewed beer is often yellow. According to the degree of baking, it is divided into light yellow and brown yellow.

The vast majority of beer in the market is yellow beer, and there are a small amount of dark beer, red beer, and green beer.  Stout beer is made from a mixture of burnt malt and is usually a very dark colour, usually reddish brown or dark brown. Red beer is brewed with 100% brown malt, while Green beer is made by adding spirulina extract to beer sake, so it looks green.

To put it simply, turbid beer is freshly brewed draft beer, which contains a lot of nutrients, so it is turbid. The clear beer is the finished beer that has been filtered and inactivated.

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