JimBrew,

In the case of irish moss (or Whirlfloc tablets), you add it during the last 15-20 minutes of the boil. In the case of gelatin or isinglass you add it when you transfer to a secondary fermenter (usually after a week or so when most of the fermentation is complete). In any case, most finings come with good instructions.

I have been having good luck w/ Whirlfloc tablets. Little easier than measuring out Irish moss. Plus been doing more and more 90minute boils and secondary ferments to clear up excess haze.

I don't think you don't ever have to add finings, but with a lager its nice to get it very clear. I have been told to add isinglas finings after the crappy foam stuff sinks back to the bottom, however I have also been told to add them four days in: the implication being in both cases that the beer should be about 3/4 fermented by then. The only problem is I have had the foam come up and sink after just 48 hours and then had the beer continue fermenting for another 10 or so days, so its hard to know exactly what stage it is at what point.

I have never used a hydrometer myself, because most recipes can give an indication of the alcohol content, and as far as I know its okay to leave the brew in the fermenter for a few extra days just to make sure its all done. Someone else may know better here, does adding finings alter the gravity? If it does, then you might want to check your beers progress before adding them. It might be the only way to work out when to add them exactly.

I was actually wondering myself, would it be best to add isinglas a day or two before changing the brew to a second fermenter, to minimise the amount of sediment/haze transfered over, or is it best to add it as your changing fermenters?

I was actually wondering myself, would it be best to add isinglas a day or two before changing the brew to a second fermenter, to minimise the amount of sediment/haze transfered over, or is it best to add it as your changing fermenters?

I believe it is best to add the isinglass during the transfer or rather immediately following it. Contray to what might seem reasonable one actually wants the beer stirred up and the yeast etc. in suspention so the isinglass can remove it. So it is probably best to transfer the beer, slosh the beer a bit (trying not to splash too much which would introduce oxygen) and then add the isinglass.

- Scott

I'm making a very strong ale to an unusual recipe (its an extract recipe but does not use a can of extract, rather 2kg of dry light malt extract instead) and the one lot of isinglas after racking hasn't really cleared it up much. Should I rack it again and add more finings? Or will this do something bad? I'm quite in the dark about this, thanx for the advice before though, I did actually need to slosh it a bit while racking to get the honey fermenting.

I probably wouldn't add more isinglass.

Haze can be produced by yeast as well as proteins.

The various filling agents remove the haze formers based upon their respective charges.

Isinglass and gelatin remove particles of the same charge.

You might try adding polyclar or silica gel and see if that will improve things.

Alternatively, and I believe this is the route I'd take, you could just let the beer sit undisturbed in a cool place (the colder the better) and let it naturally clear up.

It may never totally clear up but the clarity should improve at least a little.

- Scott

jimbrew, if you are going to lager your beer i would say that the cool lager temps. and time will probably clear your beer pretty good. you could add gelatin when you rack to the lager vessel but i don't think it's necessary.
gary

I use whirfloc, which is an irish moss based product. It works great, i had some a microbrewery gave me then i ordered about 1800 of them. So if anybody wants some let me know, I can sell them pretty cheap since i bought 6 pounds of them. I also have 5 pounds of irish moss.
I also have found that a couple weeks in the cold clears them great. I usuall toss me beer in a primary for 2 to however many weeks, Keg it, Force carb it & toss in fridge for a couple weeks. Less sediment that way too.

But whirfloc,irish moss, & forgeting to put anything in is all i have tried.

Stihler wrote:I believe it is best to add the isinglass during the transfer or rather immediately following it. Contray to what might seem reasonable one actually wants the beer stirred up and the yeast etc. in suspention so the isinglass can remove it. So it is probably best to transfer the beer, slosh the beer a bit (trying not to splash too much which would introduce oxygen) and then add the isinglass.

- Scott

OK Scott, I get the gist of what you're saying there. BUT...

I've got a beer in primary, and for many reasons, I'd like to knock out as much yeast as possible before transferring to secondary. I have two yeast strains in the beer. One is quite flocculent, and seems to have mostly settled out. The other is quite content to remain in the beer, and hasn't done any noticeable settling.
Though I don't have a dedicated beer fridge, I intend to ice down the beer to get it as cold as possible, and add gelatine for fining. Hopefully, this'll be an effective one-two punch, and knock out most of the yeast. So here's my questions:
1. I've got a 1oz. package of Knox brand gelatine. How do I prepare the gelatine for use as fining?
2. Since I am putting this in primary, should I stir the whole thing up, trub and all? Should I try not to disturb the trub, but stir everything else up real good? Should I not stir at all?

Let me know what ya'll think! And thanks!

Cheers
Dave

I guess in your case I would probably not stir things up any more than necessary and just add the gelatin to your primary.

It has been a long time since I've used gelatin and I'm afraid I don't entirely recall the directions.

You might check with a homebrew shop (or Brian) and see what the directions are for the gelatin they sell.

I believe you add the gelatin to hot water, stir, let stand for a while, and then add to your beer. I am uncertain about the amount of gelatin to use though.

I'm sorry I am not more help in this regard.

Good luck!

- Scott

I went looking in Homebrew Digest (http://www.hbd.org) to see if I could come up with more information regarding the use of Knox gelatin as a beer clarifier.

Below are the most notable or at least useful that I came across.

From HOMEBREW Digest #3741 Fri 21 September 2001:
When mixed with water it [Knox gelatin] should be heated to ~160F (stirring constantly) so that the gelatin is fully melted into the water... When done correctly, the spoon that you are stirring it with should let the mixture roll off of it just like, well, water... Not syrupy in any way. (If you overheat it, toss it out an try again).

From HOMEBREW Digest #5412 Tue 09 September 2008:
I found through some searching a while back (which means I don't remember where now...) that a good ratio is a whole packet of unflavored Knox gelatin for a 10-11 gallon batch (1 firkin). The key is to dissolve the gelatin in cold water, letting it rehydrate fully for 10 minutes before heating.

I also came across a few suggestions to use 1-2 packets of Knox and a suggestion to use one teaspoon which for all I know may be equivalent to a packet.

So it sounds like you should dissolve the Knox in a cool water and then heat to about 160 F.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Scott

Thanks a lot Scott!

I've already fined the brew, but I did it a bit differently.
I dissolved 1 package of the gelatin in a few tablespoons of hot water. Then, I added a cup of hot water, and made sure the gelatin was completely dissolved and mixed. After that, I added a cup of tap water, and added the mixture to my carboy, then stirred everything with a sanitized stirrer. My carboy is iced down in my ice chest. It's been 24 hours, and I can't really see any difference in clarity. The already settled yeast that I stirred up settled back out within a few hours. However, the original haziness is still quite present. I'll see how it looks tomorrow, and if it's no better, I might try a different approach.
How long does it take for you guys to notice a difference in clarity with gelatin fining? Curlyfat? Am I just being impatient here? Maybe the 'effect' just hasnt happened yet.....

Anyway, thanks for everything guys.

Cheers
Dave

I've seen noticeable results in only 24 hours or so but not always.

You definitely you should see results within about three days.

If not then either you did not use enough gelatin or the haze causing particles are not yeast and/or other negatively charged particles.

If the latter is the case then you may need to add silica gel or polyclar both of which are negatively charged at wort pH and thus would attract postively charged particles.

One thing to remember is to wait until the gelatin has definitely settled out otherwise it will be attracted to the silica or polyclar and effectively remove each other from the solution.

Of course, alternatively time and cold temperatures likely will also cause the haze to eventually clear up without any further additions.

- Scott

Update:

It's been three days...time to rack to secondary.

I pulled the cover off my carboy and I gotta say, I'm pretty amazed with the results! This beer's been in primary for almost 3 weeks, and remained murky the entire time. After 3 days of being iced down, with gelatin finings, the beer's cleared up wonderfully! There's still a bit of haze, but it's not caused by suspended yeast. I always get a slightly hazy beer, so this is quite normal.

I tasted the beer before fining it, and again tonight. The end result is a much cleaner tasting beer. Big props to gelatin finings! If I ever find myself with murky, yeasty beer again, you can be sure I'll use gelatin to clean it up!

Thanks a ton for all your help and support Scott!

Cheers
Dave

I've only brewed about 5 batches. But seems like the trub in my beers carries off flavors. How much is clarifying beer about appearance and how much is about flavor?