Has anyone tried Clarity Ferm (Brewers Clarex) from White Labs?

[gaviga]

Here's the email response. Hope this helps everyone out.

Hi Mike,

The pitch rate is 1 5ml vial per 5 gallons, regardless of starting
gravity. The enzyme is very specific and only targets the protease protein
and it will continue working until there is no more protease left, then
stop. Adding more enzyme will simply make it work faster, but there's
really no advantage to it working faster so I would recommend sticking to 1
vial.

John Carroll
White Labs, Inc.

Thanks Schwind! That's great news! I wonder why they have the note about worts of 12 P or lower then? That seems a little confusing at best.

I'll try it on an IPA (sans wheat this time) to see how it turns out. I will report back. Please note - I brew outside in Iowa so it may be a few weeks before I brew (it's March here and it still gets pretty friggin cold!)

 

[Schwind]

My aunt lives in Iowa so I know how cold it can get. Has the temp gotten above freezing yet?
I might get to brew one before you so I guess it'll be race.

Take care.
Mike

 

[gaviga]

Yes, we've had some warmer days but they have been during the week mostly and were freak occurrences. A common saying in Iowa is that if you don't like the weather in March, just wait a few minutes I expect to do a batch late March if all goes well. I had a nice hop harvest last year so I will be doing an all-homegrown hop IPA that I will hop "burst" the heck out of. I did one last Fall and it turned out really nice.

Where is Iowa does your aunt live?

 

[Schwind]

She lives in Sheldon up in the far northwest corner. If you've never heard if it I'm not surprised. It's a pretty small town.
I've wanted to grow my own hops but don't have the right yard or climate. It's a bit to warm and dry here in the summer. What types are you growing?

 

[Schwind]

Brewed up a 8 gallon batch with 3 gallons of the batch with clarity-ferm. I'll post back results in 6 weeks.

 

[pfooti]

I've gone through a 5-pack of the stuff. I can say that it has definitely reduced the haze in my beer. It doesn't seem to have any adverse effects. I don't filter my beer, although I occasionally cold-condition it. My brews with clarity ferm are definitely clearer than elsewise. On the other hand, it's not precisely cheap and I can always just cold-condition my bottles after they carbonate up.

 

[j_dub4t]

I am more concerned about the gluten-free aspects of this enzyme. I have 3 celiacs in my family and all of them would give the world to just get a good beer and a slice of pizza. Unfortunately I cant help them with the good pie, but if this stuff lets me make "normal" beer that they can tolerate, this would be AMAZING. I

just picked up a pack of this stuff today. Going to brew this Saturday. Will post back with results later. Does anyone have any idea how long it takes for this stuff to do its thing? Would it take longer than a 4 week primary/secondary timeline?

 

[smokinghole]

I've used it in four or five brews. It's real tough to say how long it takes on the gluten front. Most of the beers I used it in for chill haze still had chill haze when I put them in the fridge. So to me it was a bust really. I have one currently going right now that I put a vial in on day one of fermentation. I will hopefully bottle up a stout and transfer this tonight. I will see how clear it is but I don't have high hops. My most recent attempts with clarity ferm were a tripel and an IPA. The IPA is hazy as all hell partly due to hops but also chill haze. The tripel is less hazy but certainly still has significant chill haze. When I bottled the tripel it was crystal clear just for reference. So I don't know if a clear beer at cold temps means gluten action has also been accomplished or not. That would be a question for someone with gluten testing kits to answer.

 

[StMarcos]

For us non-celiacs, is the loss of gluten going to change the character of the beer, possibly in a negative way? Is not the gluten in any way responsible for the character of the finished beer?

 

[gaviga]

I am more concerned about the gluten-free aspects of this enzyme. I have 3 celiacs in my family and all of them would give the world to just get a good beer and a slice of pizza. Unfortunately I cant help them with the good pie, but if this stuff lets me make "normal" beer that they can tolerate, this would be AMAZING. I

just picked up a pack of this stuff today. Going to brew this Saturday. Will post back with results later. Does anyone have any idea how long it takes for this stuff to do its thing? Would it take longer than a 4 week primary/secondary timeline?

A few hints. Don't brew with wheat - this stuff seems to work best with barley and is somewhat limited with wheat. I noticed this in 2 of my brews and Charley Papasian reported the same in his trials.

Just follow the instructions and add it to the primary fermenter whrn you are pitching your yeast. It works there to break down glutens into fermentable sugars. Remember to make sure that whatever you use for racking/kegging/bottling is gluten-free to reduce the chance of random gluten getting in. I bought a new racking cane, tubing, and ez-siphon for this. I clean my bottles and kegs especially well if I am putting GR beer in them.

If you want to test what you brewed for gluten, get a kit from EZ-Gluten - I use them and it has saved me from some embarrassment from the wheat situation. Otherwise, if your friends are not super-gluten intolerant, this should not be an issue. Here is a link to the discussion on the AHA site with Charley chiming in: http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=5807.0. Again, from personal experience brewing with Clarity ferm, it seems to work. And the beer is pretty much unaffected, especially the flavor and body. My HB club could not tell the difference between it and "regular" beer, and I brewed an APA, and IPA, a Belgian Dubbel, a Mild, and a stout to test it. Unfortunately I used wheat in two of those, but they still tasted great, they just weren't what I was willing to classify as Gluten-reduced enough for my friend. And by the way, Charley uses EZ-Gluten, too, to test his beers. It is a pretty well-accepted test.

Good luck! Please post your results for others after you finish.

 

[gaviga]

She lives in Sheldon up in the far northwest corner. If you've never heard if it I'm not surprised. It's a pretty small town.
I've wanted to grow my own hops but don't have the right yard or climate. It's a bit to warm and dry here in the summer. What types are you growing?

Sorry about the delay in responding - pretty busy I grow Cascades, Fuggles, Hallertau, Centennial, Chinook, Magnum, Mt Hood, and Zeus (of CTZ, same as Columbus). I REALLY love the Zeus variety and it is a great producer. I highly recommend it to all you hop-heads out there who are looking to grow some hops. It produces more hops per square foot than anything else I have grown.

 

[j_dub4t]

I'm brewing up the NB phat tyre clone extract recipe, so no wheat to worry about. Thanks for the tips.

I will definitely post my results after I finish.

 

[swolfe]

I've read in a couple threads that Daura uses Clarity Ferm, but I haven't seen any actual source cited. Does anyone have one? I searched the forums with no luck.

A friend of mine with Celiac disease tried Daura & had no adverse reactions, so I'd like to give it a try.

 

[Schwind]

So I brewed an IPA for a gluten intolerant friend. The OG was 1.064 and I added the clarity ferm when I pitched the yeast. I didn't test it because these things are pricey. She drank it, said it was awesome but got a headache later in the evening. She said she felt fine the next day but the headache was bad the night before.
I'll try again with a lower gravity beer but the initial test is indeterminate. She said if she has any gluten at all she feels terrible the next day but that didn't happen. She went back to redbridge for the time being.

It did lighten the body a bit and my wife said it was a little one note compared to the gluten full version. The gluten full version was one of the best beers I've made to date. I'll post the recipe if anyone wants it.
Good luck to all who are trying to help a gluten intolerant friend or themselves out.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[jamesseth]

Just read through this thread, this is my first time hearing about clarity-ferm, and I am eager to try this! My wife is a celiac and has wanted to try some of the products of my obsession, but the gluten content has held her back. I know this is a relatively new product, but reading through this I still had a question on the timing of the gluten removing properties. How long are you guys waiting for it to work? Thanks!

 

[freshhoarse]

really fascinating. I will keep watching this product

+11

 

[gaviga]

You just add Clarity Ferm when you pitch your yeast. Think of it as an aid in fermentation in that it breaks down glutens into fermentable components. You just add it and do everything else as normal. One thing to note - I am not sure how well it works on wheat, so stick to barley for now. Charlie P commented on this in his Zymurgy article, and I got a positive for gluten result on the 2 beers I brewed with wheat. The barley malt beers came through with flying colors!

 

[j_dub4t]

The results are in!

I brewed NB's Phat Tyre Extract kit just as the instructions state and added clarity ferm at the same time that I added the yeast. I had to travel for work so unfortunately I left the beer on the trub for 4 weeks. I bottle conditioned the beer for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I do not have much experience with homebrewing yet so I do not know for sure if anything was atypical in the process b/c of the clarity ferm. I did not notice anything different however. The final beer tastes great and was very clear.

I gave my mom (who has celiac disease) the beer to try. She typically gets very sick 3 days after eating something that has wheat in it. She drank the beer last Friday and as of Monday there were no symptoms whatsoever. Amazing.

She told me that it had been 28 years since her last "real" beer. Its an amazing feeling to be able to give my mom something that she has had to do without for so long.

Thank you white labs!!!

 

[SankePankey]

unfortunately I left the beer on the trub for 4 weeks

You mean fortunately.... search for Autolysis and posts by Revvy and you'll come up with it (and also 'boogie-man') .

I'm about to try Clarex for the first time for my GF who has Hashimoto's syndrome (an autoimmune disease) which means, among other things, that she can have no gluten or yeast. Looks like I'll be using Clarex and a .5 micron filter.

 

[j_dub4t]

I was thinking that there could have been an advantage to it staying in primary for that long. Perhaps to give the enzyme enough time to work?

Next I would like to investigate how much time is required for the clarex to do its thing. Maybe do a split batch and bottle at different times? If bottle conditioned, I would think that the beer would have the mixing and turbulence from the yeast that would be present in primary fermentation. I have heard that this aids the enzyme. Does anyone have any thoughts on the effectiveness of enzymes once bottled?

 

[bh10]

The results are in!

I brewed NB's Phat Tyre Extract kit just as the instructions state and added clarity ferm at the same time that I added the yeast. I had to travel for work so unfortunately I left the beer on the trub for 4 weeks. I bottle conditioned the beer for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I do not have much experience with homebrewing yet so I do not know for sure if anything was atypical in the process b/c of the clarity ferm. I did not notice anything different however. The final beer tastes great and was very clear.

I gave my mom (who has celiac disease) the beer to try. She typically gets very sick 3 days after eating something that has wheat in it. She drank the beer last Friday and as of Monday there were no symptoms whatsoever. Amazing.

She told me that it had been 28 years since her last "real" beer. Its an amazing feeling to be able to give my mom something that she has had to do without for so long.

Thank you white labs!!!

Here's a recipe I did for my wife w/ Celiac, results were the same. :rockin:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cornstalk-ale-spotted-cow-inspired-gluten-reduced-245561/

 

[tasq]

We made up a simple amber for my buddy who has celiac. I'm happy to report that he is now able to consume my brews!

He is like a kid at Christmas being able to drink barley based beers again. I noticed no difference between the 5gal we added it to, and the one we didn't.

 

[cheier]

I'm going to bump this one up because I can. I have used this stuff (WLN4000 Clarity Ferm) for a few beers just recently to kill chill haze. Unfortunately I had to dump a few of those beers for unrelated reasons, however, I do have a fruit beer recipe (using Saskatoon berries) and a pilsner that I used it in that will be good to go. I'll pick up those EZ Gluten kits and test them out when they are finished.

Coincidentally, there is a gluten free homebrew challenge coming up and everyone who entered is using sorghum syrup... or at least we were given that, and the beer I brewed with it tastes like crap, so if I can get away with using Clarity Ferm to kill out most the gluten, I think awesomeness will ensue...

I'll post an update here when I have my results on the gluten.

 

[AmandaK]

I grabbed a five pack of this for testing. My mom is sensitive to wheat (and I think some of that got passed down to me), so I'm brewing up an oatmeal stout and a Belgian Blond and trying out the Clarity Ferm. I'll post back with the (not-so-techincal) results!

 

[AmandaK]

After trying the product on an oatmeal stout (with flaked oats) and a Belgian Blonde, I'll say I had mixed results. I do not doubt the effectiveness of this product in removing glutens from the finished beer.

The Belgian Blonde (an all-malt recipe) was exactly what I wanted. In fact, the keg was gone at the party in around 2-3 hours. People loved it.

The oatmeal stout was underwhelming. It seems the Clarex stripped out a lot of things that make an oatmeal stout an oatmeal stout. The head doesn't last and is tiny. The body is thin as well. It's almost like drinking a roasty, nutty and chocolatey flavored glass of water. Very strange.

 

[gaviga]

Not sure about oats, but I brewed a batch of "small" Denny Conn's Rye IPA (more of an APA, about 6.2%) and it turned out very well. I tested it with the EZ-Gluten test and it came through just fine (<5ppm) so I tried it with my celiac friends. They loved it! I have also had some with other people and all thought it was very tasty. My point is that Clarity Ferm seemed to work well with rye. I will try an oatmeal stout but I can't imagine why it would affect the body of that beer. Maybe there was something else? I know the straight barley and barley with rye beers that I brewed seemed fine.

 

[freshhoarse]

How has this worked for eliminating chill haze?

 

[gaviga]

I cannot say as I have never had issues with clarity in any of my beers. Sorry

 

[smokinghole]

On my high gravity beers this didn't do anything. I really think this needs to be used in conjunction with filtering to reap the benefits. Just dumping it into a fermentor did nothing for my clarity.

 

[cheier]

After trying the product on an oatmeal stout (with flaked oats) and a Belgian Blonde, I'll say I had mixed results. I do not doubt the effectiveness of this product in removing glutens from the finished beer.

The Belgian Blonde (an all-malt recipe) was exactly what I wanted. In fact, the keg was gone at the party in around 2-3 hours. People loved it.

The oatmeal stout was underwhelming. It seems the Clarex stripped out a lot of things that make an oatmeal stout an oatmeal stout. The head doesn't last and is tiny. The body is thin as well. It's almost like drinking a roasty, nutty and chocolatey flavored glass of water. Very strange.

From what I have researched thus far, the additive doesn't remove gluten from the beer, or break it down. This, at least according to one of the guys I've emailed at White Labs. It essentially renders the gluten protein inert, as well as the proteins related to chill haze. I don't think the additive had an effect on the body of your beer. That could be due to other issues in the process.

I had a pilsner that I brewed that turned out crystal clear in 4 weeks, had great body and mouthfeel and a creamy head on it. I used the Clarity Ferm in it. Since then, I've been using it in all of my beers without any noticeable effect on flavour.