Finings

[chemacky]

Hey,

I picked up a packet of "Beer Clearer (Finings)" from big w for 98c since my last brew was ver cloudy. I thought i'd better ask here as i'd never heard anything of them. Do they clear the beer much? And is it safe to open the fermenter at 3/4 fermentation and put them in as the instructions say?

Thanks.

 

[lokpikn]

Hey,

I picked up a packet of "Beer Clearer (Finings)" from big w for 98c since my last brew was ver cloudy. I thought i'd better ask here as i'd never heard anything of them. Do they clear the beer much? And is it safe to open the fermenter at 3/4 fermentation and put them in as the instructions say?

Thanks.

I cant say i have used them much but there wont be any problems opening the fermenter as long as you dont splash the wort all over the place as the co2 in the fermenter will protect it from any oxygen just be gentle with in and if you need to stir it in or put any item in the wort for any reason make sure it is clean and then give it a good clean and then clean it again

 

[matti]

Put in cool boiled water and allow it to rehydrate some.
After about 15-20 minutes heat it up so the solution is clear.
Use long sterile paddle or spoon and allow to drip gently on top of beer a couple of days before bottling. Ensure you cober the entire area. If possible a genle stir without aeration.
It'

 

[Deja_vu]

Put in cool boiled water and allow it to rehydrate some.
After about 15-20 minutes heat it up so the solution is clear.
Use long sterile paddle or spoon and allow to drip gently on top of beer a couple of days before bottling. Ensure you cober the entire area. If possible a genle stir without aeration.
It'

My local HBS guy suggested adding a Teaspoon of sugar to the boiled water, I imagine this covers for any CO2 lost? Does that sound right?

 

[Kingy]

The first time i used finings i tipped the packet straight into the keg and then wondered why a week later i was getting little bits of swelled up jelly in the bottum of my glass never used them since then they dont taste very nice. Even if i did do it the wrong way.

 

[Luka]

What about the secondary ferment stage? I like to rack the primary off the yeast cake and do a secondary ferment, it helps clear up the finished product and a good chance to dry hop. I was considering adding finings at this stage, should I or shouldnt I?

 

[boingk]

Luka - if you're going to the effort of doing a secondary fermentation, then you won't need finings because they're essentailly a quick substitution for secondary fermentation.

Secondary being the process which restarts the yeasts conversion of sugars into alcohol and CO2 in order to get a more complete fermentation - and also clears the beer.

EDIT: I used them once and noticed not a lot of difference...

 

[JasonY]

As far as I am aware the 'finings' you get like that are just plain old gelatin which I think works great. Just buy a box of the gelatin next time and use about 1tbsp per 23L dissolved in hot (not boiling water) and gently stirred in a couple of days before bottling/kegging. If you keg it works well once the beer is in the keg.

You can only try it and see if it makes any difference. If you rack then you may not notice quite as much difference. If you have time then waiting will let most stuff drop out, but if I am in a hurry to drink a keg then I add some to the keg and its good to go in 24hrs