# Finings / Clearing Agents



## discoloop (1/2/07)

Hi all

I'm just looking for some opinions on the use of finings in home brew. Is there any benefit? 

I'm curious because I've been getting stuck into my second home brew lately, which suggested using finings in the instructions. It was a Brigalow Munich lager kit that I made in late november. I used the finings and all seemed fine. I've had a few bottles of this batch before and it's been alright, but in the last week the bottles seem to have developed this weird algae stuff that swims around in it. 

I'm wondering if this could be finings that haven't settled out properly. Other possibility I can think of is that it's due to light getting in through the green bottles. But I've left them in a darkish spot in a closed box, so don't think this would be the problem. 

So what's the go with clearing agents? Is there any real benefit to using them? Could that be what's caused the weird algae in my beer?


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## microbe (1/2/07)

I used finings for my first few batches but I don't bother anymore. Generally only the first and last bottles are the only really cloudy ones and if I pour carefully enough don't get any in the glass.


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## Slurpdog (2/2/07)

Don't use them anymore and didn't really see any benefit when I did.


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## Wortgames (2/2/07)

Finings just help certain particles (eg yeast) settle out to leave you with a clear beer. You'll learn more about brewing from not using them, but if you like your beer to be clear then they can be a helpful tool.

However, finings won't be causing 'this weird algae stuff that swims around in it'. Finings will settle out in a fairly short time, taking other stuff with it. It should get left behind in the fermenter anyway.

If you bottled before the finings had settled out it _may_ account for the sediment looking and behaving a bit differently, so if the 'weird stuff' is only seen after disturbing the bottle then it's possible I suppose - but my money is tipping an infection I'm afraid.


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## discoloop (2/2/07)

Yeah, the algae stuff is a bit strange. There was a good two days or so between the adding finings and bottling so if the finings clear quite quickly it probably wasn't that that caused the algae.

The 'algae' sits at the bottom of the beer until the bottle is disturbed, then distributes itself throughout. The particles that float about are large, white and kind of globbed together. They don't affect the flavour. (Although I've only sipped it from the top. I wouldn't drink a whole beer with this stuff in it!)

Perhaps it is an infection! Bugger!


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## Wortgames (2/2/07)

An infection will _usually_ be seen around the top of the beer, although I don't know if it would be true to say they all will. If the flavour is unaffected and the gunk is globbing together at the bottom of the bottle then you may have just bottled it a bit soon, or you may have sucked up a bit of sediment when bottling.

What sort of finings did you use? I haven't really used them myself other than some Polyclar recently, but maybe someone else can offer some better advice based on what you used.

FWIW, fining is traditionally done with the temperature 'on the rise', so after fermentation the beer is cooled to help precipitate some of the particles, then allowed to warm up while the finings do their work, before being cooled again and racked off of the sediment.


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## jdsaint (9/2/07)

You have to remember his only new so it may well just be sediment in the bottles as stated its white at the bottom when the bottles disturbed it rises to me its sediment if its infected then every brew i have ever made has been infected have you tried racking or secondary fermenting its known as?

try searching: Racking
Secondary fermentation
Bulk primming
sanitation

try all these read up on them give that a go and it should lower sediment greatly


on the downside if it is a infection its caused by likely sanitation its the biggest factor in brewing if its not clean, neither is the beer good luck brother!


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## xtrabyte (9/2/07)

Wortgames said:


> An infection will _usually_ be seen around the top of the beer, although I don't know if it would be true to say they all will. If the flavour is unaffected and the gunk is globbing together at the bottom of the bottle then you may have just bottled it a bit soon, or you may have sucked up a bit of sediment when bottling.
> 
> What sort of finings did you use? I haven't really used them myself other than some Polyclar recently, but maybe someone else can offer some better advice based on what you used.
> 
> FWIW, fining is traditionally done with the temperature 'on the rise', so after fermentation the beer is cooled to help precipitate some of the particles, then allowed to warm up while the finings do their work, before being cooled again and racked off of the sediment.


I chilled my beer in the secondary down to 1C and added Polyclar. I left it at 1C for 4 days I did not let it warm up until I racked, bulk primed and bottled it. When I racked it, it still had a chill haze. Now it is at ambient it is starting to clear from the top of the bottles. Have I got rid of the chill haze or should I have allowed it to warm up after adding the Polyclar?


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## Ross (9/2/07)

Xtrabyte said:


> I chilled my beer in the secondary down to 1C and added Polyclar. I left it at 1C for 4 days I did not let it warm up until I racked, bulk primed and bottled it. When I racked it, it still had a chill haze. Now it is at ambient it is starting to clear from the top of the bottles. Have I got rid of the chill haze or should I have allowed it to warm up after adding the Polyclar?



No, polyclar should be added with the beer as cold as possible - 1c is great.
If your bottles are clearing from the top, then it's yeast, not chill haze, chill haze doesn't settle...


cheers Ross


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## xtrabyte (9/2/07)

Ross said:


> No, polyclar should be added with the beer as cold as possible - 1c is great.
> If your bottles are clearing from the top, then it's yeast, not chill haze, chill haze doesn't settle...
> cheers Ross


I thought yeast would all settle out at 1C? I suppose the test will be to wait for the beer to clear and then put it in the fridge and see if the chill haze is gone.


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## discoloop (13/2/07)

Hi Xtrabyte

I'd be really interested to hear how well your beer clears in a couple of weeks. If you get round to it, it'd be great if you could report back. 

Perhaps it can help me identify whether the strange sediment in my beer is just extra finings!


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## Wortgames (13/2/07)

Most of the traditional finings (gelatine, isinglass etc) can apparently stay in suspension for quite a long time if they haven't clumped together with particles, so the idea was to chill the brew to encourage the clumps to form, then allow it to warm so the clumps would precipitate out of the decreasing gravity of the brew.

From what I can find though Polyclar seems to behave a bit differently to most other finings, maybe the larger and more consistent particle size means it will always precipitate out regardless?


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## xtrabyte (13/2/07)

I will report back in a few weeks. At the moment it is still cloudy possibly due to the bottle fermentation. Something strange happened when I chilled it down and tried to clarify it, as it is more cloudy than any beer I have made to date. Maybe I have caused the chill haze to become permanent, I don't know :blink:


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## Finite (13/2/07)

I use "beerclear" at the moment. Its a brewcraft product I think. 80c a pack and its very easy to use and works a treat. I add it 3 days before bottling and im done. Clear beer everytime.



Eventually I by a bulk fining agent. Probably polyclar or gelitine.


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## xtrabyte (1/3/07)

discoloop said:


> Hi Xtrabyte
> 
> I'd be really interested to hear how well your beer clears in a couple of weeks. If you get round to it, it'd be great if you could report back.
> 
> Perhaps it can help me identify whether the strange sediment in my beer is just extra finings!


Hi discoloop. My beer has cleared with a very sligh chill haze when cool, so the polyclar does work. The sediment on the bottom is typical of any of my other beers, not a white sediment. After doing a number of AG beers now I found using Irish moss a great help in making clear beer. I did not use this in my first few AG beers and found them to have a definite chill haze and the beer takes longer to clear. How did you get on?


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