Fining and dry hopping

[Ian Burlison]

Hi,

My last brew was really cloudy when I transferred it to the fermenter and I am keeping the option open of using gelatine as finings at the end.

I have read how finings, and gelatine can strip some of the dry hop flavour and body of the beer and I dont really want this.

Can anyone comment on their experience?

I had thought of getting a corny keg to use as a brite tank and dry hopping in the corny after I had racked off the trub/gelatine. I would then siphon into fresh kegs when the hops had settled.

Anyone tried this? Can you get a U fitting for the outlet corney pipe so it sits above sediment?

Thanks in advance
Ian

 

[lancon]

Whats the problem with cloudy beer?

 

[Ian Burlison]

Just my personal taste, I dont mind a little hazy, but I am happier with it clear.

 

[LeeH]

You can dry hop in keg and get perfectly clear and bright beer without transferring.

I normally use a dry hopper and leave it in a undisturbed keg. The first glass is cloudy but it starts to clear. The hops stay in for the duration.

The beer is transferd from a conical after a cold crash, it’s hazy but clear if you get me.

 

[Ian Burlison]

Thanks LeeH, Ideally I want to be in the situation where there is very little sediment in the final keg. So that I can transport the keg and still have it clear.

I dont mind dry hopping in the fermenter if the beer doesnt need fining, my last beer was fine like this, and it was just a little hazy in the keg, but my last wort seemed very murky and I am just trying to think through my options when it comes to dispensing at the end.

I dont want to leave the dry hops in for more than 5-6 days, and I dont mind the 1 extra step to have that control.

I'm mainly intrigued at whether fining with gelatine affects the hops flavour and by how much.

 

[LeeH]

I have only ever used kettle finings so I couldn’t be sure myself.

 

[Drunkula]

I read some tests where they used loads of gelatine against a controls and nobody could tell the difference. Can't remember where.

 

[phildo79]

I've not been kegging long but after the first pull, when all the shyte comes out, every beer after that is perfectly clear. And I don't bother straining after the boil. Just straight into the FV with some cold water. Don't bother racking to a second FV anymore either, just straight from the primary into the keg with a 1/2" syphon tube. Never had any issues with haze. Sometimes I use Irish Moss in the last 10 mins of the boil, sometimes I forget.

 

[lancon]

If the beer was really cloudy then it could be due to something different done in the brewing, ingredients, mash, hot/cold break & etc, if you haven't been concerned before then I would look there first . And if you're heavily dry hopping then I would suggest that will provide some haze.

 

[Ghillie]

What you read, is complete myth and totally wrong. I'd bet some guy wrote it in a book 20 years ago and folk still regurgitate it now.

I fine every beer with gelatin and it doesn't impact flavour. Check out the guys at Brulosophy regarding their experiences with gelatin. IMO, that's one of the few online sources of home brew information which consideration should be given to. They debunk half truths and old hat beliefs in order to make beer both easier to make and better. Books I just don't entertain because they're so quickly outdated and incorrect.

You'd be better fining your beer in the FV as well, it would be such a shame to butcher a corny (or all your cornies if you end up fining all your brews). The latter is likely once you see the results!

 

[phildo79]

On the subject of home brewing myths, check out the boys from Genus Brewing on YouTube. Think they have 3 videos all about debunking myths. I found them really interesting and useful. After taking some of what they said onboard, I have drastically shortened my brew day with no ill effects.

 

[Ghillie]

Good point @phildo79.

I've found things like "90 minute mash for increased efficency" are both out of date and incorrect nowadays. Respective to modern modified malts.

Almost all conversion takes place in the initial 20 minutes, I mash for a further 40 minutes purely to improve the wort clarity.

So going on @phildo79's point about shortening his brew day. If you didn't care for clear beer, you could shave more than an hour off brew day simply by ignoring outdated theories.

It really is amazing what modern experimentation has found. No disrespect to guys like Palmer, etc - they wrote the literature when there was sketchy information. But things are permanently evolving and what may have been true in the 80's and 90's may not be so now.

 

[Drunkula]

I really like Genus Brewing, too. I like somebody that likes to test things just for themselves. I've got a side by side beer which uses the equivalent of a kit and a kilo but using a mash vs replacing the sugar component with more grain just to see if that sugar makes beer cidery myth is true. I'd say the one with sugar reminds me of Pedigree and no, it's not cidery. I'm going to side by side them with people, too.

 

[phildo79]

I am a firm believer that using table sugar with a kit gives off a cidery taste. First ever beer I made was a Cooper's Canadian Blonde. I forgot to buy dextrose and used 1kg of Tate & Lyle. 3 weeks later I opened one. My first thought was that it tasted like cider. And this was before I knew about the 'myth'.

 

[Ian Burlison]

Thanks everyone for your input, I have only just seen it as I havent been getting any more mails to say there was a comment.

 

[Petrolhead]

I think some of the guys above are far more qualified to comment, but I have sometimes moved a shed load of true from the boil into the fv, and then bottled straight from the primary fv with a little care in siphoning and always had clear beer.

Recently the shed was cold and following advice on here I left my fv out for a week before siphoning into my first keg and the beer was noticeably clearer.

When bottling I have had some brews which have taken longer to clear but patience is always successful.

 

[Tom Parsons]

Brulosophy have done a bunch of tests on the effect of gelatin on beer. It seems that is has no effect on hop character, so go for it!

http://brulosophy.com/2016/06/20/th...g-in-a-ne-style-pale-ale-exbeeriment-results/