clear beer???
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BendBrewer
Well-Known Member
Time is best.
ThePearsonFam
Well-Known Member
I've used gelatin with fairly good results. No experience with any of the poly finings. I've had the best results with time at cold temps.
ThePearsonFam
Well-Known Member
yup, gelatin is gelatin... you can go to the LHBS store if you want to support them, or the grocery store if it's more convenient. just get 'unflavored' gelatin.
BendBrewer
Well-Known Member
I know a lot of folks do it but I just haven't brought myself to put horse toe nails in my beer. Maybe it's just me.
I thought gelatin came from cows? Regardless, I don't use it either! Some of my friends are vegetarians, and most people assume that beer doesn't have animal products in it (or plastic from polyclar) so I don't use any finings like that at all.
BendBrewer
Well-Known Member
I dated a girl for a long time that was a vegetarian but she loved jello. Until I told her what they made it out of that is. She hates me now.
Yeah cows, horses, pigs. It's all in there.
bernerbrau
Well-Known Member
Irish moss 45 minutes into the boil, then when the beer is finished, stick the bottles in the fridge and leave them there. A few weeks to a few months should be all you need.
RugerRedhawk
Well-Known Member
How much gelatin? I've never heard of this. I've used irish moss in my brews.
quadbikerjosh
Well-Known Member
drkaeppel
Well-Known Member
I have heard that at least some gelatin brands have switched from using animal products to algae based ones. Agar, I think...
DCPiet
Active Member
wait isn't irish moss made from irish people? not very veg-friendly, IMHO...
For the gelatin, I just used it a few days ago with a brown ale that I sent into a secondary for the sole purpose of adding gelatin. It' made an INCREDIBLE difference.
One packet of the Knox unflavored gelatin cost me about $1.50 from Raleys, and it has I think 6 packets in it? Anyway one packet has a few tablespoons of powder. Since I used it for a 2.5 gallon batch I poured half and I heated it up.
The directions I found on HBT were quite simple. In a nutshell:
1) Stir gelatin into 3/4 cup of cool fresh water. It won't dissolve all the way.
2) Heat up over stove and continue stirring to fully dissolve. Allow temp to get higher, but don't allow it to boil (total time for step 2 was about 5 minutes only).
3) Take off burner and allow to cool to about 80F.
4) Pour into secondary or keg and rack beer on top.
5) Let sit 5 days and bottle, if you didn't keg it.
One packet of the Knox unflavored gelatin cost me about $1.50 from Raleys, and it has I think 6 packets in it? Anyway one packet has a few tablespoons of powder. Since I used it for a 2.5 gallon batch I poured half and I heated it up.
The directions I found on HBT were quite simple. In a nutshell:
1) Stir gelatin into 3/4 cup of cool fresh water. It won't dissolve all the way.
2) Heat up over stove and continue stirring to fully dissolve. Allow temp to get higher, but don't allow it to boil (total time for step 2 was about 5 minutes only).
3) Take off burner and allow to cool to about 80F.
4) Pour into secondary or keg and rack beer on top.
5) Let sit 5 days and bottle, if you didn't keg it.
Anyone have a reference handy that compares the clarity powers of gelatin vs warflock vs Irish moss?
BillyBock
Well-Known Member
I've used Irish Moss last 15min of boil and then Isinglass the last 3 days before kegging or bottling with good results. If your not into horse toe-nails, then how about extract from dried swim bladders of fish! :cross:
strat_thru_marshall
Well-Known Member
They're different. The carrageenan in irish moss or whirlfloc will help precipitate proteins in the boil and then binds with them and helps them drop out in the kettle. Gelatin will bind with yeast, proteins and polyphenols still in suspension after fermentation is complete, and help drop them out.
A combination of whirlfloc in the kettle and gelatin after fermentation can result in beer that looks filtered, as long as all the other parts of your process are sound.
Strat, thanks for that clarification!
McGreen
Well-Known Member
some people say irish moss, but time is the only one that seems to be consistent. 3-4 week primary at least. 5-6 weeks in the bottles at least. From the day you start, you shouldn't open a brew for 10 weeks or so. for stouts, I have heard 9 months to a year makes it best. time. patience. those 2 words mean love to your beer.
I vouch for time as well. I would think that if you add anything else to your brew it's going to affect it in some way and I'm not brave enough to try gelatin. I do a secondary in a carboy. At first it seems a little cloudy to me. I usually let it sit there for a couple of weeks out of the light or cover it. I pretty much go with the 1(primary)-2(racked)-3(bottled). I just bottled an IPA on Saturday. It had settled pretty well. I use a flashlight and run down the side of the carboy to judge the level of the settle. I can actually see the level line to where it has cleared. Keep in mind it may not look "perfectly clear (sorry Richard)" but realize that you're looking through a lot of liquid. It may not be totally clear to the very bottom but I think that's normal for settling. If I waited another several days the clearing may actually go all the way to the bottom, not sure...Anyway, I bottled. I started with my racking cane about 5" from the bottom of the carboy and then move it down one more time, continue to bottle and then last step tip the carboy and finish it off. I use these last couple bottles for my carbonation tests. Getting to the point...I held a couple bottles up to the sun yesterday and they looked clear as water with very little sediment on the bottom, even the bottom beer looked clear. I'm fairly new to this but so far so good...Just thought I'd pass along what I've found to this point.
I agree that you can achieve great clarity by just letting stuff settle out in your primary, but 10 weeks?!? A year for a stout?!? I just tasted a 1.080 OG stout my friend and I brewed together just a tad over two months ago and it was fantastic. I don't know what sort of miracles you guys are thinking happen in the fermenter between weeks 2 and 6, but there's no rule that says the longer you leave beer in the fermenter the better it tastes. Eventually, it's just done. It's fermented, it's cleared up and it tastes great.
McGreen
Well-Known Member
I didn't say 6 weeks, I said 3 at least. Nothing wrong with 6, actually for cosmetics it will clear it up. 10 weeks is mostly bottle conditioning. I've never done keg.
As far as stouts go, I have tasted many of my friend's beers, who have been brewing exclusively stouts, and they all say 6 months to a year minimum in the bottle makes it what it is. they are also wine makers, so maybe they are bias.
To each, his or her own though, right? Time is magic, and if somebody wants to wait longer for clarity and taste, what is it amongst us?
I have had SERIOUS problems when I have been impatient. From dumping batches to giving away bottles, if I would have been patient it would have been WAY better. It is just a test of patience. So my quick rule is 10 weeks. Some say 8. Some 7 (total of course). But anything shy of 7 weeks has always tasted crappy to me with my brews. Maybe I did something wrong earlier, but with all of the advice of waiting, 10 weeks sounds good to me.
I agree with McGreen on patience. I'm ALWAYS anxious but I'm SLOWLY learning that patience does pay off with regard to home brew (patience may vary with brewer). Relax, have a beer (ok it's store bought but it will work for now) and when you do pop the top on your long awaited, conditioned brew you'll realize it was worth the wait....
ArcaneXor
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Another option is Biofine Clear (not to be confused by regular Biofine), which is vegan and does a pretty good job. I also picked up some Clarity Ferm recently (which is produced from a mold), but haven't head a chance to play with it yet. Being an enzyme, it's more specific than finings, so the results may vary depending on the source of your clarity problems.
Add "let the fermenter sit for an extra couple of weeks" and then you can shorten that whole thing to "proper fermentation and conditioning times"
I too am guilty of not letting beer clear on its own though.
WazzuBrew
Member
I am not a patient person. And if you are one of those people that can wait 2 months to try your brew then you are a better man than me. Some styles of beer certainly take longer to mature but I generally pick beers in the 1.050 range and will be drinking clear delicious brew in 2-3 weeks. I attribute it mainly to Biofine Clear from Midwest. I rack my beer from primary on top of 2 table spoons of it and I have clear beer in a few days. If i have room in my freezer ill cold crash but it isn't necessary. I made a 1.065 IPA and mashed with a pound of oats. The beer was amazing in 2 weeks and by far the clearest beer I have ever brewed despite having added the oats. Cheers!!!
