While tinkering with several recipes, Miller happened upon a filtration process that takes out a lot of the carbohydrates and, with them, the color (all of which improves the beer's so-called drinkability, the brewer says, which must make it the right choice with chips that boast good "snackability," as Frito-Lay executives are wont to say). The fact that Miller Clear fits neatly into all the talk about New Age beverages is purely coincidental, according to Miller executives. Dry Beer's Downfall

Did somebody say the characteristics of clear beer sound awfully similar to dry beer? Give that man a Miller. While sales of dry beer have indeed fallen in recent years, Miller officials say the oblique marketing message -- typified by Bud Dry's "Why Ask Why?" campaign -- was to blame, not the product itself. "Consumers never understood what 'dry' meant," Jerry Schmutte, Miller's director of new products, said yesterday at a news conference at Cliff Freeman in Manhattan.

Still, it seems likely that the notion of clear beer may cause a few synapses to misfire in the minds of beer drinkers. In fact, consumers in Miller-sponsored focus groups had different reactions to the beer when it was served to them in an amber-colored glass and then in a clear glass. "It's such a mind-blower," Mr. Freeman said.

To advertise the unique product, Miller executives said they had recruited Mr. Freeman's agency for its creative track record, which includes the enormously popular campaign for Little Caesars pizza. Like much of Mr. Freeman's work, the teaser campaign for Miller that will run for the next three weeks in test markets is a chuckler.

In the teaser spot, several quirky Miller brewmeisters squirm as they prepare to unveil Miller Clear to several equally quirky Miller executives. A quick cutaway to a panel of hooting and arm-twirling beer drinkers signals that people who have tried the beer like it. When a brown bag is lifted off the beer, each executive's panic-stricken face is shown full-frame.