polyclar question

[loopmd]

Wife was out and about today and picked me up some polyclar. My batch is just beginning its 2nd week in the secondary and is not clearing up like my other batches. Been reading up on here and it seems that polyclar can help. My question is...how do I use the stuff? Do I just dump it in my secondary in its powder form? How long do I give it before I bottle after adding?
Any insight would be appreciated.

thanks, dave

 

[loopmd]

Bump

Anybody?

 

[Majikcook]

Well, in my brew book "Homebrewing For Dummies" (aptly named I might add)
Polyclar is "to be used in the last few days of secondary and needs to be rehydrated in clean hot water for an hour before being gently stirred into the finished beer." "Use 1/4 ounce per 5 Gallon batch". It goes further to say that Polyclar is the same plastic used to make capsules for the Pharmaceutical industry, so you don't need to worry about it in your beer.

 

[NUCC98]

Wife was out and about today and picked me up some polyclar. My batch is just beginning its 2nd week in the secondary and is not clearing up like my other batches. Been reading up on here and it seems that polyclar can help. My question is...how do I use the stuff? Do I just dump it in my secondary in its powder form? How long do I give it before I bottle after adding?
Any insight would be appreciated.

thanks, dave

I picked some up this past Thursday for when my latest batch goes into the secondary. I've read a couple different things. One was, in fact, right before you bottle, like when you add the priming sugar. The other, which makes a little more sense, is maybe about the last week in the secondary. You do need to rehydrate it.

It looks like this stuff would work well for clearing up beer. Using Silica Gel looks like it'd work faster. With the cold weather up here, though, I tried cold filtering my last batch. I left the carboy in my attic for a week at colder temps....above freezing, but cold. Checked it every morning to make sure it wasn't frozen too. Bottled it this past Saturday, and I must say, that leaving it in the cold in the secondary seemed to clear it up better than leaving it in the secondary at room temp. Granted, it's a brown ale, so it's not supposed to be light, or anything, but you could definitely see through a glass full of the stuff.....

 

[loopmd]

Thanks for the help, fellas. I also contacted the resident "expert" at my local homebrew supply shop. He said to just take some beer out of the secondary and mix with 1/4 cup polyclar and stir back into secondary. Said to be careful because the stuff will clump if you don't mix it well. Just did it this morning, so we'll see how this stuff clears up my beer.

Cheers!, Dave

 

[homebrewer_99]

I just sprinkle 2 tsp on top of the batch in the secondary.

It's supposed to collect the negatively charged ions in the brew and fall out to the bottom with them attached resulting in clearer brew.