Biofine vs Isinglass vs Gelatin

Experienced Homebrewers

We need your input. Please conciensiously post your comparitive observations. Please dont post short uninformative statements, and please for John Barleycorns sake dont talk out yer butt. Please have used 2 of these, and contrast them, and/or vs (none used) if possible.

Speaking for myself. I use bentonite exclusively in wine making because all my research says it has the best cost/benifit/negetive/positive ratio of all the fining agents...other than TIME. Could or should I use this in my secondary.

For two years now I have not fined my beer, at all, and would now like to get more of the yeast out before kegging, and/or/to the bottle. Without filtering.

Thanks for all your input.

We have a need for a subcatagory for an old subject... FININGS UNDER - Home Brew Forums > Home Brewing Beer >

I have used gelatin exclusively for beer. I only use it on beers that I really want to clear up or with yeast strains that don't flocculate well. As gelatin has worked so well and is cheap I haven't felt the need to try anything else. Will be interested to hear what others have to say about the other agents.

For wine the kits I buy use both bentonite and isinglass.

GT

Possibly relevant: there are two types of Biofine, Biofine Clear and Biofine P019. They're different products with different properties.

Possibly irrelevant: I generally don't use any of the above because I sometimes take my beer to parties and it's a pain in the butt figuring if anyone's a vegetarian and how strict they are--isinglass, gelatin, and Biofine P019 are all non-vegetarian, though I think Biofine Clear is vegan. As an omnivore myself I might have the Biofines mixed up.

Biofine Clear is the vegan friendly version...

"Biofine is a purified form of collagen isolated from the swim bladders of tropical fish. The isinglass molecule is a triple helix of amino acids, with an overall net positive charge at beer pH. It forms large aggregates with the negatively charged yeast cells thereby increasing their rate of sedimentation.

Biofine Clear has been specially formulated for the rapid sedimentation of yeast and other haze forming particles in beer. It is based on colloidal silicon dioxide and as such complies with all legislation and allergen labelling issues."

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So whats going on here. Almost 150 of you guys have looked at this poll & topic, and only 3 of you have every used any of these?

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ChristianAlpha-RuBrew said:

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So whats going on here. Almost 150 of you guys have looked at this poll & topic, and only 3 of you have every used any of these?

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I've only used the gelatin so I can't vote on the subject since I know nothing of the other products. Also, gelatin works great. Curious about how others view the other compounds....

I have only used one of them but with good results so I will vote for it.

For beer, it's gelatin. Works a charm.

I've used isinglass in wine. In my opinion, beer doesn't usually need finings. It's easy to get a clear beer without them. Since some of my friends are vegans or vegetarians, I don't like adding things that would be unexpected. Animal products in beer would fall into the "unexpected" category, I'd think.

I try to remember to use Whirfloc in the kettle, to help coagulate proteins from the break material. Sometimes I remember, sometimes I forget. I don't know if I see a huge difference in clarity in beers that have it vs. beers that simply just had more time in the keg. Time usually fixes almost all clarity issues.

I have used gelatin and nothing. Thats two right? . I generally just use gelatin when I am making a light colored beer and I want it clean looking rather quickly. Like Yoop says most of the time its not necessary.

At first I wanted my beer to be clear because I thought it had to be or it was a failure. Now cloudy beer doesn't bother me in the least, I don't even notice it or think about it anymore. But like the others said, once properly aged it winds up pretty clear anyway.

I have just recently heard of "biofine" but have not seen it available. Can home-brewers purchase this?

The two times I used gelatin it worked well.

I've been hearing Probrewers talk about replacing izi & gel with Biofine which is why I brought it up. It can be found in one form at midwestsupplies

I have used irish moss, super moss, whirlflock, bentonite (once long ago), & clarity ferm. Currently use whirlfloc in most beers and just tried out clarity ferm in my last batch. Will test out biofine clear soon.

YooperGrandma said:

I've used isinglass in wine. In my opinion, beer doesn't usually need finings. It's easy to get a clear beer without them. Since some of my friends are vegans or vegetarians, I don't like adding things that would be unexpected. Animal products in beer would fall into the "unexpected" category, I'd think.

I try to remember to use Whirfloc in the kettle, to help coagulate proteins from the break material. Sometimes I remember, sometimes I forget. I don't know if I see a huge difference in clarity in beers that have it vs. beers that simply just had more time in the keg. Time usually fixes almost all clarity issues.

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I recommend don't drink so much during your brew day and you should remember the whirfloc

Beezer94 said:

I have just recently heard of "biofine" but have not seen it available. Can home-brewers purchase this?

The two times I used gelatin it worked well.

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Biofine Clear - Midwest and Brewmasters Warehouse are the only homebrew locations I know of that carry it.

I am placing an order of Biofine Clear with BMW this week and will let you know how it works. Which is really the main question I have. When and how to use it. I usually stick the entire fermenter in the keezer once fermentation stops and let everything settle out. I believe I could just add the biofine to the keg prior to filling and that is supposed to work but I might try using a secondary with biofine and then transferring the clear beer to the keg. Hard to say.

I use gelatin exclusively and really find it works. Cold crashing is an extra step to brewing and can be a pain in the a** but it makes for a better final product. I find it very satisfying when I can give someone a great tasting and great looking beer.

I'm very please with my gelatin and cold crashing. The two together make for a perfectly clear brew...

I've used Isinglass. It's a PITA to use. But when you get it right, DAY-um. And it'll work more than once. Can't say that about gelatin. If I'm going to transport a keg that I've "cask-conditioned" and I can keep the keg's temperature to <55F, I'll use Isinglass.

But gelatin is a hell of a lot easier to use, way easier to acquire and is far less expensive. If I want to clarify in the settling tank before packaging, I use gelatin.

Never tried Biofine. I'll have to look into it.

Patience works, too.

Cheers,

Bob

Bob said:

I've used Isinglass. And it'll work more than once.
Bob

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??? I'm intrigued. What do you mean by it'll work more than once?

Thanks, Alan

If the cask gets roused in cellar, Isinglass has a finite number - two? three? - of "resets", in that it'll settle the lees again.

Bob

I didn't participate in the poll since I just used Biofine Clear for the first time. Used it for a Kolsch and it didn't clear as nicely as gelatin did for me in the past. I used 1/4 tbs per gallon and the beer had been chilled to 30F before transferring onto the Biofine where it then sat for 7 days. 1/4 tbs per gallon is scaled down from what I know a professional brewer uses with good results. I will up the dosage next time. Trying to get a hold of a Liter of it but Brewers Supply Group won't sell to us lowly homebrewers.
Nate

Waaaaht? no Sparkolloid users? This stuff seems to kick the yeasty-beasties in the arse and get them to bed on time. I dissolve ~2tsp in 3/4cup boiling water then pour into carboy (I use same amount for 5 or 7 gallon batches). Yeast drops in 2-3 days and looks great. I only use this on the more stubborn beers I run across every once in a while. Doesn't seem to affect color or aroma. Added to my last IPA at the same time I dropped 4oz of Amarillo for dry hopping - worked great, smelled great, tastes great [and less filling? oops wrong commercial, sorry]).

I have also used dry gelatin dissolved into 1/2cup of ~150F water, I find it to be more finicky and not nearly as effective for some reason... it does work but seems to produce less compact lees and also seems to take a few days longer. YMMV




- M

it's a touchy conecpt, but here's what I know about it. Irish moss at the boil is great, it can take care of alot of haze making proteins, yet it does very little to get the less floculant yeast out of suspension. in contrast, bentonite will do well in getting proteins and yeast out of suspension at very late stages. some say 1 week before bottling and bentonite will work magic. personally I agree. I would like to clear up that gelatin and isinglass are extremly similar in the function (although not in composition). so gelatin would be the better choice in terms of price. last note, superkleer may be somewhat more pricey, but it contains a blend of clarifiers, including chitosan (derived from shellfish, similar to isinglass in function) and kieselsol. together they clarify a beer in 24 to 48 hours.

i hope it helped

PS: many people recommend using clairifiers in combination because it can coagulate a bigger range of proteins. be careful not to mix the wrong two, they may just nigate each other.
i would be interested in hearing the difference between what makes a haze in wine vs what makes a haze in beer and whether they are similar or not in terms of clarifying. bentonite and isinglass are from wine making yet gelatine and irish moss are from brewing. whats the difference?

I've been using BioFine Clear for the past few months and have been really happy with the results. I haven't tried any of the others as a few of my friends are vegan, so I don't have much to compare it to though.

I've been scouring the internet trying to find a source of larger quantities of biofine clear. All I can find is 2oz bottles for about $5, which isn't too bad, until you add shipping which makes it over $15. Does anyone have a source for this in bulk?

Got Trub? said:

I have used gelatin exclusively for beer. I only use it on beers that I really want to clear up or with yeast strains that don't flocculate well. As gelatin has worked so well and is cheap I haven't felt the need to try anything else. Will be interested to hear what others have to say about the other agents.

For wine the kits I buy use both bentonite and isinglass.

GT

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+1 on the above. I make mostly dark beers therefore don't generally use anything. But when I make my blondes for the summer, I use gelatin.

barryfine said:

I've been using BioFine Clear for the past few months and have been really happy with the results. I haven't tried any of the others as a few of my friends are vegan, so I don't have much to compare it to though.

I've been scouring the internet trying to find a source of larger quantities of biofine clear. All I can find is 2oz bottles for about $5, which isn't too bad, until you add shipping which makes it over $15. Does anyone have a source for this in bulk?

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http://barleyhaven.com/biofiner-clear-1-ltr.html

do you ONLY use gelatin? Or do you use kieselsol together with it?
that what my HomeBrew shop recommends

Gelatin and cold crash for me will clear anything. It's very cheap and I almost always do it as part of my packaging.

Bioine Clear 100% for me, right at kegging. Crystal clear beers.

I keep saying i am gonna try biofine but i cold crash and use geletin and have RIDICULOUSLY clear beer in 3 days or less. Cant complain about that. I also use whirfloc in the kettle when i remember, but that doesnt happen all the time.

@lauritsen, I have never heard of kieselsol, have never used it and really see no need. Geletin, by itself, as long as the keg or carboy is cold when you add it, is all you need.

I wonder which, if any, pulls more flavor and aroma from the beer. In my experience of having used both gelatin and now biofine clear, I find that I don't notice much of a flavor loss from biofine as I did with Gelatin.