Bock photo

I was drinking a glass of the Bock I made back in October. It is one of the clearest beers I've ever made. I've been working on clarity, and it turns out there are a few things that really help that I hadn't been doing until recently.

1. Use Irish Moss. I've used it every now and then in the past, but it really does help.
2. Lagering, of course, is a big help, even for ales.
3. Transfer several times. From primary, I transfer to a keg and leave it at fermentation temp for a few weeks. Without moving the keg, transfer to a conditioning keg. This is the same as a bright tank. Put this keg in the fridge until a tap is empty. Without moving the keg, transfer to a serving keg.
4. When tranferring, run the beer into a bucket until it runs clear. The first pull will suck up some trub, which goes into the bucket.  Connect to the transfer keg when that first bit of trub is gone and the beer is clear. Watch as it gets near the end, and stop immediately when the murky beer appears as more trub will be sucked up at the end.

Here is a picture of the Bock in front of a copy of the Northwest Brewer's News.