What is in your opinion the best fining to use?

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Finlandbrews

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I would like to start using fining to clarify my beers and I would want to know what best fining in your opinion there is? I'm thinking between biofine, whirlfloc or Irish Moss... Please recommend me the online homebrew shop I could buy it from too ? Thanks!
 
Whirlfloc contains irish moss. I use whirlfloc b/c I have a ton that I was given but had used irish moss as well. It does cause quite a break in the kettle, though gelatin will result in clearer packaged beer.
 
I use Whirfloc in the BK, 15 minutes before the end of the boil and I use gelatin to fine the fermented beer just before packaging. I get pretty good results. If someone told me I could only use one, I'd stick with the gel.
 
I use Irish moss but if you are going to use gelatin just buy the Knox brand from the supermarket instead of the marked up one from a online homebrew shop and you won't have to pay shipping
 
I use whirlfloc for its convenience, as I don't have much capacity to cold crash in my side by side kegerator/ferm chamber. I leave my beers in primary for a month or so, and I often get crystal clear beer. It could be better sometimes, but it works for me.
 
I've done it a few different ways and settled on one. I prep the gelatin by adding one packet to a pint of distilled water, stir it in, and microwave it for 15 seconds at a time till it hits 150 and is completely dissolved. I then rack cold crashed beer into a keg and add the gelatin. I seal it up and put it on gas. Two days later, I pitch the first pint and then have super clear beer.

You can add to your fermentor when you crash instead of the keg but I stopped because I started harvesting yeast and didn't want to have gelatin in the harvest.
 
How do you guys use Knox Gelatin?, i see all kinds of methods. I used it once and it didn't work.

I rack to keg, purge, and cold crash for 24 hours. Pressurize and pour off 1/2 pint or so.
2/3 cup cold, neutral water in a Pyrex or glass bowl. Add 1/2 pack store brand unflavored gelatin and stir. 10 minutes later microwave on high in 10 second increments until the water turns clear, usually 40 seconds total, maybe 50.
Immediately release keg pressure, pop the top, pour the gelatin water in, put the top back on, give it a swirl or two, purge again, put on 30 psi for 2 days then drop to serving pressure.
Beer will be clear by the time it's carbed, except the first 1/2 pint or so.
 
I've had remarkably good luck crashing in the keg with whirlfloc in the boil.
 
1/2 C cold water, 1/2 tsp gelatin, microwave while stirring every 15 second until it reaches 155F, then dump into very cold beer 32-40F, stir gently. Wait 1 to 3 days.
 
I had good results by sprinkling gelatine-powder on top of the beer before cold crashing it.
 
I use whirl floc and cold crash and the results are only so so, I crash it for 3 days usually.
 
Gelatin by a freaking mile. Needs time to work though and the first pint your pour off tends to be pretty murky.
 
"Best fining" is not a possible question to answer, because different finings work in different ways and aren't comparable. Most finings work by ionic charges, and different hazes are charged differently and require different finings.

As has already been said, Whirfloc is more or less the same thing as Irish Moss, used the same way. I find Whirfloc to be slightly more effective, so I use that in every beer.

When I want super clear beer, I use something in the fermenter or in the cask as well. For lager (or hybrid) beers, I use gelatin, which takes out yeast like a charm, but also seems to do a good job on chill haze assuming the beer is already cold. If it's warm when you fine, most finings will not help your chill haze as all the haze causing particles are still in solution, has to be cold enough to bring them out of solution. For my cask ales, I prefer Isinglass, that works as well as gelatin, but is harder to use, isn't nearly as stable, but has the benefit of resettling if disturbed, which gelatin does not do, which is essential for when I need to move the cask to serving area.

Unfortunately, gelatin and Isinglass aren't suitable for vegetarians, let alone vegans. So if they're among your target drinkers, you'll want to avoid both. I have a number of vegetarian/vegan friends, and they simply have to avoid certain beers.

There are plenty of other finings you can use. Biofine is an option, as is Clarity Ferm/Brewer's Clarex, or PVPP. Each works differently, some tackling the same stuff, some tackling different stuff.
 
I use highly flocculent yeasts & cold-crash. No finings. IDK if it's the clearest beer ever (and some here, like Gavin's stuff, does seem to be pretty damn clear) but one can read through most of my beers, the ones with SRM low enough to do so, anyway.

:)
 
1/2 C cold water, 1/2 tsp gelatin, microwave while stirring every 15 second until it reaches 155F, then dump into very cold beer 32-40F, stir gently. Wait 1 to 3 days.
This and Irish Moss the last 10 min. of the boil. I find that cold crashing a few days before adding the gelatin works best for me too.
 
I use highly flocculent yeasts & cold-crash. No finings. IDK if it's the clearest beer ever (and some here, like Gavin's stuff, does seem to be pretty damn clear) but one can read through most of my beers, the ones with SRM low enough to do so, anyway.

:)

If you're willing to leave something to sit cold long enough and have proper process, you usually don't need finings. They just make it happen faster. My beers are usually crystal clear until they get cold. My boil strength via my gas stove isn't as strong as I would like, and I get more chill haze than I would like a a result. Whirfloc gets it good enough for most beers, but when I'm doing something that should be filtered clarity (Kolsch for example), then fining with gelatin at the end of lagering makes the thing absolutely crystal clear.
 
If you're willing to leave something to sit cold long enough and have proper process, you usually don't need finings. They just make it happen faster. My beers are usually crystal clear until they get cold. My boil strength via my gas stove isn't as strong as I would like, and I get more chill haze than I would like a a result. Whirfloc gets it good enough for most beers, but when I'm doing something that should be filtered clarity (Kolsch for example), then fining with gelatin at the end of lagering makes the thing absolutely crystal clear.

OK! By the way, what do you mean that the strength of your boil influence the clarity of your beer? Why?
 
I only cold-crash for 3-4 days.

:)

I have to say, I am an extract brewer, never gone totally all-grain yet. But, my Centennial Blonde, which was extract & a partial mash, was my absolute clearest beer yet, although my Irish red & my Klondike Gold were about as clear, if not as.
 
OK! By the way, what do you mean that the strength of your boil influence the clarity of your beer? Why?

One of the functions of boiling is binding together proteins (hot break), which then drop out during chilling and fermentation. If the boil isn't strong enough to get a good hot break, more of that protein stays in the beer and can contribute to chill haze.

That's the simple answer. Clarity and haze is an incredibly complex issue (although very well studied).
 
I just use half a Whirlfloc for every batch. Gets the job done, but I also can't really cold crash. One freaky part is transferring to fermenter, letting it finish cooling to ferment temps before pitching yeast, because the separation after Whirlfloc and settling is weird looking.
 
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