Fish vs Beef Gelatin

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

radial67

Active Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2011
Messages
43
Reaction score
0
Location
Australia
Has anyone tried Fish Gelatin for fining beer in the keg vs Beef Gelatin in the keg???

Is there any flavour carryover and is one better than the other? I have found that there is a slight flavour carry over in beef gelatin.

Any advice is appreciated.
 
So far my experiments with fish gelatin have not led to any success. I can't use beef as I have not been able to source a kosher version. I am considering trying to modify the technique and treat fish gelatin more like an isinglass clarifier and disperse it in cold acidified liquid.
 
I'm not sure that any beer with gelatin would be helpful in a Kosher diet. Stricter interpretations would mean the beer cannot be consumed with dairy and is probably not Glatt.

For both of you, look into Biofine Clear. This is non-isinglass fining that works very well and is Reinheitsgebot, Kosher and Vegan compliant. This is due to the fact that it doesn't blend with the beer (i.e. it can be filtered out) and isn't an animal product.
 
I'm not sure that any beer with gelatin would be helpful in a Kosher diet. Stricter interpretations would mean the beer cannot be consumed with dairy and is probably not Glatt.

For both of you, look into Biofine Clear. This is non-isinglass fining that works very well and is Reinheitsgebot, Kosher and Vegan compliant. This is due to the fact that it doesn't blend with the beer (i.e. it can be filtered out) and isn't an animal product.



Good to know someone else is familiar with some elements of Kosher. Gelatin is a tricky issue but within the Orthodox world, there are mainstream organizations that will permit its consumption with the caveat that the cattle that it is prepared from was slaughtered according to kosher law. The opinions maintain that it is not considered a meat product as it has been reduced to a chemical derivative. This is the reasoning behind the certification of the product Kolatin, which I managed to snag a couple of packets of. The reason Kolatin went out of business is due to the expensive nature of their operation. I'd prefer to find another good clarifier before dipping into this stock of now impossible to find product.

I have seen biofine clear, and in many people's documented experience it doesn't work as well as gelatin. Agar Agar would be the next option, clarity ferm is also available but expensive.
 
I dont have any insight into the nature of kosher. But I personally cant speak very highly of Clarity Ferm (Brewers Clarex). IMHO, it may be better suited for reducing gluten than for enhancing clarity. Plus I didnt like the flavor impact in my trials. Nothing scientific other that splitting a 10G batch into 2 carboys and using Clarex in one and not the other. YMMV but I've chosen to scratch Clarex off my list of tricks.
 
I wasn't aware of different forms of gelatin. I mean, it makes sense, but I always see it simply marketed as "gelatin". I've used Knox many times with great success (I'd assume it's beef based but I'm probably wrong). I've never heard of/tried fish gelatin (unless Knox is fish gelatin lol). I have, however, used isinglass many times. Isinglass and gelatin both work very similarly in terms of function but have their strengths and weaknesses in terms of actual usage, and each have different applications to me.
 
I have seen biofine clear, and in many people's documented experience it doesn't work as well as gelatin. Agar Agar would be the next option, clarity ferm is also available but expensive.

My Biofine experience is that it clears a beer in about 4 days, at a dose of 1 ml per 2 liters.

Agar Agar is a very good substitute for gelatin, too. Clarity ferm is an enzyme, isn't it? I don't think it works the same as a fining.
 
My Biofine experience is that it clears a beer in about 4 days, at a dose of 1 ml per 2 liters.

Agar Agar is a very good substitute for gelatin, too. Clarity ferm is an enzyme, isn't it? I don't think it works the same as a fining.

If you consider a fining something that doesn't carry to the finished beer but strips out haze, then yes, it is. But yes, it enzymatically breaks down protein haze, rather than using electric charge to bind and precipitate haze. But all finings work differently, so it's splitting hairs whether you could consider it a "fining" or not.

I've never used Biofine Clear (although the isinglass I use is labeled as Kerry Biofine, they're very different), but I have friends who swear by it. They add it when racking to the keg I believe.
 
Agar Agar is a very good substitute for gelatin, too. Clarity ferm is an enzyme, isn't it? I don't think it works the same as a fining.

Do you have a good source and method for using Agar Agar, I think its about time I tried a serious substitute.
 
I tried agar agar once, you could see it floating around in suspense for a couple of days, and after cold crashing it, it sank to the bottom. The carboy looked very clear and I got really excited about this, I filtered it out with a sanitized biab bag when I transfered to the bottling bucket, it remained as beer colored jelly in the bottom of the bag.
But when I opened a bottle some weeks later it was impossible to see a difference compared to my earlier beers made without fining.
I asked here and I think someone responded with something scientifical that made sense to me, agar agar isn't positively charged and therefore doesn't work well, I believe?
 
I asked here and I think someone responded with something scientifical that made sense to me, agar agar isn't positively charged and therefore doesn't work well, I believe?

This sent me researching. It appears that my knowledge of Agar Agar is dated.

Agar Agar is now more highly refined as a thickener. There are two components to Agar Agar and the portion that's best for thickening doesn't carry a charge. The portion that does (and would be useful in brewing) is lumped in with various products sold as carageenan.

Less refined or raw versions of Agar Agar carry a charge that is useful, but most forms that are sold at retail are the more refined versions since thickening is the main use.

So, I have to retract my answer about agar agar always being effective since that no longer seems to be the case.
 
Back
Top