Disambiguating various fining techniques?

[pilafdm]

Hello, all.

Fining agents such as isinglass, gelatin, PolyClar, etc., are going over my head a bit. The hardest part is trying to keep them straight.

Is there a definitive table disambiguating the details of each options?

For those and other fining agents, I'd like to know:

(Hopefully that screengrab turns out OK... Basically, for each item, I want to know: whats it solves, when do you do it, how long it takes, how it's done, whether it's difficult, and whether it's risky.)

One reason I ask is because I recently brought my specialty grains to like 190º while brewing (whoops!), and ruined what seems to be an otherwise really tasty batch with this GNARLY burnt taste and what must be a bunch of undesirable tannins... It's currently still in primary, and I'm hoping one of the fining solutions can help.

I have looked for this in earnest and found nothing - well, nothing convenient, at least. Apologies if it already exists!

Thank yoo!

Cheers,
P.

 

[veritas524]

Fining solutions are for clarity and will have no impact on taste. Isinglass I believe is added during the boil and gelatin is used after cold crashing. If you run a search on the forums it will turn up a plethora of information or you could go to howtobrew.com and there is an entire section dedicated to your question. You'll know if you're tasting tannins if it seems like you're sucking on a teabag and it will make your mouth pucker.

 

[iaefebs]

Disambiguating? I do not think it means what you think it means.

 

[Atonk]

Disambiguating? I do not think it means what you think it means.

Ha - Inigo Montoya! Always loved that one

 

[pilafdm]

Actually, iaefebs, veritas' reply is a good example of what I mean, and of why I chose the word I did: while, more formally, "disambiguate" is reserved for situations wherein we'd need to identify the precise sense of a single polysemous term, in this case a more casual act of "removing ambiguity" is all I mean, and, as made obvious, still applies.

Or:

1. I know what I'm doing when it comes to language.
2. I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to beer.

It's statement number two that brings me to a forum about beer.
If you wish to address statement number one without contributing at all to remedying the sad truth of statement number two, I love discussing the painful details of our goofy language and invite you to pursue it with me offline.

Now, if you just REALLY had to refer to a bad 1980's fantasy involving a certain dead wrestler, well... fine.



Anyway.

I'm continuing to find things like this:

Fining agents, such as isinglass (fish bladders), Polyclar (plastic dust), and gelatin, are added to the fermentor to help speed the flocculation process and promote the settling of haze forming proteins and tannins. While much of the emphasis on using finings is to combat aesthetic chill haze, the real benefit of dropping those compounds is to improve the taste and stability of the beer.

(Source: howtobrew.com)

As I said, I have done some looking around, but I'm not happy with what I'm finding. I'm still having trouble finding something that succinctly makes distinctions between all the agents in the list, especially in terms of when to use what and why. They're ... well, kind of ambiguous.

Hence...

 

[pilafdm]

Fining solutions are for clarity and will have no impact on taste.

I went back to howtobrew.com like you said.

Here's why I find this confusing:

While much of the emphasis on using finings is to combat aesthetic chill haze, the real benefit of dropping those compounds is to improve the taste and stability of the beer.

(howtobrew.com)

I'm not trying to be inflammatory, but, being new and all, it's tough when everyone but me is an expert--but, like most experts on anything, they don't seem to agree.

 

[iaefebs]

Now, if you just REALLY had to refer to a bad 1980's fantasy involving a certain dead wrestler, well... fine.

I thought Princess Bride was a great movie. And I love that line. I still don't think Disambiquating is a word I would use when comparing fining agents with completely different names.

 

[veritas524]

I went back to howtobrew.com like you said.

Here's why I find this confusing:

(howtobrew.com)

I'm not trying to be inflammatory, but, being new and all, it's tough when everyone but me is an expert--but, like most experts on anything, they don't seem to agree.

I'm not an expert, but I do know that when I use finings it makes the beer clear but it tastes the same as if it was still hazy... I'm not brewing for a world class palate though so maybe I'm the one that's messed up

 

[brushvalleybrewer]

The Brewing Network did an episode of Brew Strong dedicated to Finings.

 

[ArcaneXor]

To the OP: Appendix C of How To Brew is all about beer clarity and contains a table very much like the one you are looking for.

Fining solutions are for clarity and will have no impact on taste. Isinglass I believe is added during the boil and gelatin is used after cold crashing.

Both of these are incorrect. They will have an impact on taste, because yeast hazes and polyphenols have a flavor. But they won't fix something like astringency from having steeped the grains at too high a temperature. Isinglass is added to the fermentor - it works similarly to gelatin. Only kettle finings are added to the boil - usually that's Irish Moss or a derivative thereof.

 

[pilafdm]

Sweet. This is really useful. Thanks very much, brushvalley + Arcane.
Somehow I missed Appendix C.

@Arcane:
Do you have any suggestions for repair? I noticed that taste before fermentation even began. Any chance that by the time the beer's been in bottles for a few weeks that terrible taste will fade a bit?

Thanks again.

 

[brushvalleybrewer]

If it’s still in primary, I would just relax and let it age a while. You’ve got a lot precursors for things that the yeast, temperature, gravity, and time will take out if you give them a chance.