beer finnings

[shauno2000]

Never used it, just wondered how many people use it and if its worth it??
Have a packet of youngs beer finnings and may use it on my batch at the moment.
Do you just add it to the FV after beers finished then leave for a couple of days before you bottle?

 

[carl_saint]

Shouldn't really need to fine provided you have good yeast. I've never done it and all my beers come out crystal clear. Just make sure you leave in the FV for a couple of weeks!

 

[Moley]

It's finings, not finnings :evil:

Rhymes with "pining for the fjords" * and not "pinning the tail on the donkey"


And yes, I've tried using beer finings a couple of times.

If you want to keg clear beer for force carbonating in Cornies it might be worthwhile, but if you're bottling or using a pressure barrel I can't really see the point.


Edit:
* For the one forum member who doesn't know the Dead Parrot sketch

 

[shearclass]

I use finnnings. Even if using a keg, it means you will have less crap at the bottom of the keg, meaning less wastage.

Other people on the forum profess to have crystal clear beer without finings though. I am occasionally a little sceptical about this, but I am a sceptical person generally.

 

[ScottM]

I use finnnings. Even if using a keg, it means you will have less crap at the bottom of the keg, meaning less wastage.

Other people on the forum profess to have crystal clear beer without finings though. I am occasionally a little sceptical about this, but I am a sceptical person generally.

I had a very clear Cerveza and crystal clear cider without any finings. The first thing I used them on was the WOW and I have to say, they work REALLY fast.

On the first occasion, cerveza, I left it in the primary for about 10-14 days before syphoning into a bottling bucket. This meant that the yeasties were definitely finished and most of the crap had sank and packed well.

For the cider I racked into a secondary for a week before again racking into a bottling bucket. If you left it in the primary for 2 weeks then racked to a secondary for a week before racking to the keg I reckon that's about as clear as you would ever get without using any agents.

IMO finings aren't really necessary for anything, if recipes have been done correctly, but they do take a LOT of time out of the clearing.

 

[shauno2000]

Doing the Cerveza kit at the moment, its been 10 days, still fermenting a lot though. A lot more than other other beer ive done after 10 days!
Still looking very murky, will test again on sunday as i want to bottle really before the working week.
May use Finings on this if still murky after 12 / 14 days

 

[Hawks]

Instead of buying purpose made beer finings I use gelatine - either packet or leaf. Simply soak in a little cold water, then add boiling and mix up in a jug and very carefully pour into the FV with a very gentle stir.

This clears the beer in primary and then I move to cornies as clear as I can get it.

In my experience some yeasts clear well without it, but I am one of the people who struggles to get S-05 to clear well ( I dont have the ability to crash chill ) and find the gelatine works a treat :thumb:

 

[shauno2000]

I have some sheets i use them for cooking, didn't know you could use them, learn something new on here everyday lol.
Do you need to make sure fermentation has totally finished before you add??

 

[ScottM]

Doing the Cerveza kit at the moment, its been 10 days, still fermenting a lot though. A lot more than other other beer ive done after 10 days!
Still looking very murky, will test again on sunday as i want to bottle really before the working week.
May use Finings on this if still murky after 12 / 14 days

Wow that's a slow-un

My Cerveza was done in about 5 days, left it 10 though. How are your temps? I think I was brewing about 20 for the cerveza.

 

[Hawks]

I have some sheets i use them for cooking, didn't know you could use them, learn something new on here everyday lol.
Do you need to make sure fermentation has totally finished before you add??

Yep, I raid from the kitchen when I need some :whistle:

I would wait for fermentation to have finished. I usually ferment for 10-12 days, put it somewhere to cool as much as possible ( on concrete garage floor ) and add the finings for a day or two, then keg.

I have also added to the keg of conditioned beer when I had an odd one that I expected to clear on its own. :thumb:

 

[shauno2000]

Been keeping it about 25 for 1st 5 days then dropped it too about 18-20
Only difference is ive used spraymalt for the 1st time, so dont know if that makes it longer to clear?

 

[ScottM]

Been keeping it about 25 for 1st 5 days then dropped it too about 18-20
Only difference is ive used spraymalt for the 1st time, so dont know if that makes it longer to clear?

Clearing will always take a bit of time. My beers generally aren't clear till I have bottled & chilled them. I was really meaning the time taken to ferment is a bit long, especially if you started at 25.

I've got an extract brew going at the moment and it's much more progressive than all my kit brews have been. With my kits fermentation has taken off like a rocket, peaked after 2 days and then slowed by day 4 and usually finished by day 5. My extract is on day 6 and still bubbling away every few seconds. The extract is spraymalt though, so maybe you are onto something with the time factor :)

 

[shauno2000]

my last one took ages to clear though, which was when we had that 30oC heat, so maybe its actually been too hot.
Heater taken off now so will see if it clears

 

[ScottM]

my last one took ages to clear though, which was when we had that 30oC heat, so maybe its actually been too hot.
Heater taken off now so will see if it clears

Not sure if you are getting a little bit confused here or not....

Don't worry about the clearing stage until the fermentation is finished. The beer won't clear until the yeasties are finished their work and start to chill out. When this happens they fall asleep and all the heavies fall to the deck allowing your beer to clear.

For the fermentation you ideally want to sit around 20 degrees C, at a constant temperature until the fermentation is finished. Fluctuations in temps upset the poor little yeasties and they start to panic when it gets too warm creating all manner of off flavours and fusel alcohol. A good indicator for when fermentation has finished is when the bubbler stops bubbling. The only sure way to tell is to whack a sterilised hydrometer in there and see what you are reading.

Once you are happy that the fermentation has finished you need to decide what you are going to do with your beer as you have 3 options, bottling, kegging or cornying.

Personally I would rack to a secondary, allow to sit in the secondary for a week with a bubbler etc on and then rack, again, into a clean FV for bottling or rack into the barrel/keg with a sugar solution. Once bottled/kegged etc store it for another week and then get it as cool as you can for another week.

If it's not clear after all that there's something wrong

 

[shauno2000]

Yeah this one still has bubbles rising, i have a heat belt so its hard to maintain a totally constant temp.
And every beer i have bottled has been fairly clear at the bottle stage, this is still really murky thats all i was saying :) :

 

[shauno2000]

Took a reading was still stuck just below bottling point...
Adding the finings, gave the brew a stir, wow started up again with enough pressure to blow the airlock off.
Another 2 days later its bubbling away like it a few days old.. so wont be bottling today as planned...

 

[Mark1964]

you could add 15g gelatine 48 hrs before bottling. Dissolve the leaf gelatine in sterile (boiled) water then gently stir into the brew. Leave for 2 days then bottle. Thats when fermentation has finished though

 

[shauno2000]

was not expecting it to start up again, thought it had finished as its 2 weeks old :hmm: