All about clarification…

[Sballe]

Hoping to create a thread here, where everybody can share experiences and discuss clarification methods and use of fining agents.

Both red and white wines, ciders, cysers, country-wines, beer, meads and whatever it is…

To be honest - I have not had much luck using fining-agents, and time seems to be my go-to method. Although - sometimes - it seems impossible to get that crystal clear product ! And sometimes 6 months clearing in secondary is just toooo long

PECTIN HAZE: if this is the cause of your cloudy brew - you’re out of luck. No fining agents will fix this. Pectin enzyme in the primary should have been added; and since it does not work well when alcohol is present it is hard to fix later. But try a double dose and maybe you’re lucky.

Other than pectin, cloudiness is caused by a mix of proteins and yeast in suspension and particles from whatever was added. Some are positively charged and other negatively. Using fining agents with opposite charge can drag the particles out of suspension.

Bentonite, gelatine, Chitosan and Kieselsol seems to be among the favorites… although I am not sure when it is better to use which? Also some are known to work better with wine than beer, or good with apples but not red fruits. And so on… it’s a bit of a jungle

So - hoping we could share some thoughts and experiences here - on how to get that crystal clear product!

Happy brewing

 

[Wagon_6]

I’ve settled on Clarity Ferm, Cold Crash (yeast dump), Gelatin, and Clear Beer Floating Dip Tubes.

 

[JohnSand]

Time always worked well for me, lately not so much. I'm trying to think what I'm doing differently, not much. About ready to start with finings, Irish moss first.

 

[seatazzz]

Depending on the style I'm going for, and if the beer is for a competition or home consumption, I usually start with a whirlfloc tab 15 minutes to end of boil; then during kegging I go the gelatin route (when I remember). If I'm brewing a wheat or a hazy, I skip the whirlfloc and the finings. Used to use irish moss, but it tends to clog up my plate chiller a bit. If a beer isn't going to a competition I really don't care if it's bright and clear, as long as it tastes good.

 

[kevin58]

Maybe focus on beer in this thread and take the wine, mead etc to their respective forums.

For beer, time is your best friend.

 

[Sballe]

Maybe focus on beer in this thread and take the wine, mead etc to their respective forums.

For beer, time is your best friend.

Oh I really thought this was “general brewing” ?

 

[hotbeer]

Sometimes you have to look at the Parent that this sub-forum is a child of.

And it's even in the description of this forum

General Homebrew Discussion​

Topics not pertaining to any of the forums in the section but still dealing with home brewing beer.

The other things are further down the page. To me it seems it'll become annoying to keep track of whom is talking about what. And some clarifications methods might not be anything one should do for beer.

 

[kevin58]

Oh I really thought this was “general brewing” ?

General homebrewing with "topics... dealing with homebrewing beer". One option you have is to edit your original post to eliminate the other fermentables. As @hotbeer points out it could become difficult to keep track of who is talking about what and some methods for one may not apply to beer.