Is it too late to add clarifying agent?!

[ktichenor]

So I'm usually big on trying to get my beer nice and clear. I know it's not necessary but I like it and it wows my other homebrew friends.

Well, this time around I forgot to add my clarifying agent, Biofine, (which does wonders by the way) to my secondary and I just remembered it after kegging it the other day.

Is it too late or can I add the clarifier to the keg?
I know what small cloud is left would settle in the keg, hub after the first few glasses it should be fine in theory.

Does anyone have experience with adding something like Biofine right into the keg?

Thanks in advance for timely responses. I'm hoping to get the Biofine in the as soon as possible to allow time to settle before its ready to drink.

 

[osagedr]

I haven't used Biofine though I just bought some and am looking forward to seeing how it does.

I recently used gelatin in a keg of cloudy pilsner and it worked like an absolute charm. I've attached a crappy iphone picture but even so you can see it is crystal-clear. I was worried it wouldn't work but it sure did. Your Biofine will likely work too.

 

[fletchsj]

I second the gelatin. I use it all the time and works like a charm. just prepare a bit in a pint of hot water (160-170deg) then toss it in the keg, close and shake. let it carb and settle. works for me anyway.

 

[RyanWeary]

When you use gelatin in your keg, does the first pour come out gunky? I always cold crash, add the prepared gelatin to cold beer, let it sit in the fridge for another week (give or take a day) then rack to keg, carb and enjoy. It seems like it'd be easier going straight to keg, but I don't want any junk in there, I want every glass to come out perfect.

 

[fletchsj]

i get maybe 6-8 oz of weird looking jello beer from the first pour. I guess that doesn't bother me for perfectly clear beer. It also cuts out a lot of time. I add my gelatin to the keg and rack my beer on top of it. don't really worry abut chill/cold crash it anymore cause the gelatin does the clarifying instead of cold crashing. it takes about 3 hours for the gelatin to do its thing. i usually give it a day since i'm force carbing it anyway @ 30-40PSI and it takes 6 hours to chill the beer anyway.

 

[RyanWeary]

i get maybe 6-8 oz of weird looking jello beer from the first pour. I guess that doesn't bother me for perfectly clear beer. It also cuts out a lot of time. I add my gelatin to the keg and rack my beer on top of it. don't really worry abut chill/cold crash it anymore cause the gelatin does the clarifying instead of cold crashing. it takes about 3 hours for the gelatin to do its thing. i usually give it a day since i'm force carbing it anyway @ 30-40PSI and it takes 6 hours to chill the beer anyway.

Interesting, thanks for your input. I was always under the impression that gelatin took at least 1-2 days to work its magic. I'll probably just keep doing what I'm doing though since I have a pretty solid pipeline and I can afford the extra time, but it's nice to hear that in a pinch I can rush it if I want to.

 

[ktichenor]

So I take a lot of steps to try and get things clear.

I always use Irish moss
I vorlauf a few times before boiling
I always use a cold crash near the end of primary
I use a secondary
I add my clarifying agent, Biofine, at the time of transfer to secondary
I cold crash again before kegging

It seems like a lot, but these simple, extra steps go along way for the appearance of the beer.

My concern is, that my keg has been hooked up to my CO2 tank for about 2 days now and is carbbing away, and i took a sample from the tap last night to check the carbonation levels and noticed a bit of cloudiness and remembered i forgot to add the Biofine to the secondary!

Is it to late to open it up, pitch in a clarifier, wait a few days and pull the sediment off from the bottom in the first glass?

 

[ktichenor]

Well I walk away from the computer in the middle of a post and the question I'm asking seems to have been answered before I finished my post.

I'll try adding in some Biofine when I get home from work today.

Thanks guys!

 

[RyanWeary]

ktichenor:

I would think you're fine. Under pressure your beer isn't releasing CO2, it's still. My theory is that the biofine would work, give it a day to settle out and pull off the junk from the bottom and enjoy.

Anyone disagree?

 

[ktichenor]

Update:

So I added 1 Tbsp of Biofine to my 5 gallon keg.
The next day I drew a pint of murky mud off the bottom.
A few hours later I poured a glass of crystal clear beer!

Make note: Apparently its never to late t add your clarifying agent!

 

[RyanWeary]

Awesome man - glad it worked for you.