What do people use to help clear their beer?

[Horners]

Half a protofloc or teaspoon of Irish moss at 10 mins in the kettle.

Recently have resorted to using Kwik Clear which is two bottles - 5mls of kieselsol and then 5ml gelatine solution half an hour later followed by cold crash at 0C until I can be arsed to keg. Beers crystal clear in a couple of days normally since I started doing that albeit my palate is not refined enough to comment as to whether those finings strip flavour out as sometimes reported.

 

[BlackRegent]

Protafloc, cold crash and gelatine. I can read my laptop screen (albeit backwards) through the Czech pilsner I fined with gelatine. I also fined my Landlord clone with gelatine (heresy!) and while it took a bit longer to clear up, it now looks like those glowing pints you see in their adverts.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

Protafloc here too. I used to chuck a whole tablet in, and for ages struggled with 6 litres of fluffy protein at the bottom of the kettle. It came above the ball valve when I tried to drain. Real pain in the rear. Now I crush them and put in a bit less than a gram for a 23L batch. Do you want to try it OB, can get a couple to you to test?

Thanks chopps - may I take you up on your offer of trying a couple - I do 19L batches so how much would you recommend?

Not brewing until next week now so I could come round to pick up

 

[chopps]

About a quarter of a tablet-ish. Maybe 1/3.
They’re impossible to cut cleanly, they just crumble to dust. Just chuck 1/4 of the bits in.

 

[GeorgieV]

I use Irish Moss in the last 15 min. of boiling then gelatine for a few days after the fermentation is complete. The beer usually comes out clear after the gelatine but sometimes it gets slightly hazy again during the bottle carbonation.

 

[prog99]

Protafloc
time
brew stouts

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Irish moss plus gravity.

 

[Redwulf]

Protofloc in the boil and where appropriate I cold crash and fine with gelatine.

 

[UKSkydiver]

I use protofloc @ 15 mins and sometimes cold crash (depending if it's stouty or not)
I've added Wilko finings in a couple

Bottle condition carb for two weeks and
I wouldn't call the result clear or bright as I still get chill haze (I think)

Some of my brews are a few months in the bottle and they have cleared really well, but I still get a chill haze when they go into the fridge. I think that's because I BIAB.

When some mention 'time' are we talking a couple of weeks or +2 months here? I think I might, be expecting real clarity after a couple of weeks in the bottle.

 

[Rob Kerr]

I also add Claraferm or Clarex when pitching the yeast. It's supposed to minimise chill haze that can occur when cold-crashing. It also reduces the gluten content, often to the extent that people who only drink gluten-free beer get along fine with the low-gluten homebrew.

 

[CD]

Irish moss for last 20 mins of boil. Murphys Auxilliary Finings into fermentor 24 hours before racking into casks (usually 1 week after brewing). Isinglass finings added to most casks as they are filled. Clear and drinkable 2 days later, polished and very drinkable after a week.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

When some mention 'time' are we talking a couple of weeks or +2 months here? I think I might, be expecting real clarity after a couple of weeks in the bottle.

There are many factors that affect clarity and the time the beer takes to clarify.

For my own beers something like an English bitter or a lightly hopped pale ale takes almost no time at all - they’ve even come out of the fermenter already clear but I expect up to 2 weeks. Most of my more hoppy ales take longer though and 3-6 weeks is more usual although I had a mucky brown ale that took nearly three months!

There are also some of course that are designed (deliberately or not ) to be permanently hazy!

 

[HarryFlatters]

Irish moss at 15 minutes to go, a good cold crash at the end of fermentation and a bit of patience once it is kegged.

Once I had to use Kwik Clear, but other than that, nothing.

 

[Crappyfish]

Whitfloc tablet and cold weather bummer in the summer till the freezer in the outhouse packs up. Then if I'm allowed it will be a modded fridge to cool it.

 

[peebee]

I still use Irish Moss 10mins before the end of the boil

Am I a bit in the dark ages?

I think just about everyone has said Irish Moss (or the processed forms like Protofloc or Whirlfloc). All are "copper finings" (added in the boil) but these are only half the story! Irish Moss does not clear suspended yeast 'cos there isn't any in the boil! But Irish Moss cuts down on some of the work a "real" fining has to do later. It's probably essential if then relying on "cold crash" to clear the suspended yeast (have you notice many of those that state "cold crash" also say "and Time" - that's because "cold crash" is a popular fairy tale whereas time does the job eventually).

I may use Isinglass as a "real" fining (most - that work - are animal products unfortunately), but avoid it if able to keep the beer for longer because time will do its job and Isinglass is best only left in contact with beer for a short period (it's made from fish and will go off eventually!).


I use Protofloc now (In place of Irish Moss) and it is very effective, so much so it may bung up my hop filters! So I only use 1/2 a tab ... in 45L batches.

 

[Zephyr259]

I still use Irish Moss 10mins before the end of the boil

Am I a bit in the dark ages?

Same here, only difference is adding it at 15 mins, Irish moss works for me over pellet products since I can adjust the dose to batch size easier.

Most of my beers get a few days to a week at 3c before bottling then once carbed are stored in a cupboard that stays around 10c which makes everything crystal clear very quickly. Even my 2 wheat beers ended up as kristalweizens...

 

[NPi]

"cold crash" to clear the suspended yeast (have you notice many of those that state "cold crash" also say "and Time" - that's because "cold crash" is a popular fairy tale whereas time does the job eventually).

I disagree, once cold crashed my trub is typically firmly compacted at the bottom of my fermenter, with little to no debris is suspension.

I use protofloc in the last 15m of boil, whirlpool whilst cooling, filter my sypon through a hop bag and cold crash. I rarely have any clarity issues, or haze.

My understanding of protofloc is that it binds to proteins causing them to floculate (as in the name), and sink out of suspension. This then leaves less debris in the wort.

 

[peebee]

I disagree, …

Aye, but if you're disagreeing backup your disagreement with what we're disagreeing about! You've explained very well what copper finings (Irish Moss, Protofloc, etc.) do and I've been supporting copper finings, but only your first sentence covers "cold crash" and fermenter operations (although I would argue "trub" is debris from the boiler and needn't have made it to the fermenter).

Yeast and fermenter debris is firmly compacted at the bottom of my fermenter and isn't transferred to the kegs, but the beer is not subjected to less than 15°C to achieve this.

And I don't actually believe cold conditioning (I'll not continue to use the crass popular name) does nothing, I just gripe at the method being given such huge prominence by brewers yet what it can achieve is at best "subtle".

 

[NPi]

Aye, but if you're disagreeing backup your disagreement with what we're disagreeing about! You've explained very well what copper finings (Irish Moss, Protofloc, etc.) do and I've been supporting copper finings, but only your first sentence covers "cold crash" and fermenter operations (although I would argue "trub" is debris from the boiler and needn't have made it to the fermenter).

Yeast and fermenter debris is firmly compacted at the bottom of my fermenter and isn't transferred to the kegs, but the beer is not subjected to less than 15°C to achieve this.

And I don't actually believe cold conditioning (I'll not continue to use the crass popular name) does nothing, I just gripe at the method being given such huge prominence by brewers yet what it can achieve is at best "subtle".

Cold crashing changes the viscosity of the liquid, allowing solids to drop out of suspension. If you were to think of the yeast as fats in a water solution, when chilled they bind themselves together. This same principle is applied to yeast.

I agree that trub is part boil debris, but its also very much dropped yeast. This is why repitching slurry is so successful.

 

[foxy]

I cold crash for a couple of days at -1 or -2 C it definitely clears the beer. Here is Charlie Bamforth explaining why.