Gelatin, BioFine or Niether?

[Mike at Bay]

Seems to me that beer is just fine without clarifying in the keg or fermenter but curious what the group thinks. To this point I have not used either. I depend on cold crash to help clear the beer. Sometimes it work and others with dry hops are harder to clear.

 

[Minbari]

Gelatin is super cheap and works really well, but can be a pain to clean if you melt it to oo warm and it starts to turn to jello.

Biofine is witchcraft. You will have crystal clear beer in a day. Downside is that it has a 2 year lifespan from the timeit is manufactured. So buying in bulk, at our volume, you will never use it up. It is also expensive. About $60 a liter.

 

[Megary]

Seems to me that beer is just fine without clarifying in the keg or fermenter

I agree.
I use a half tablet of whirlfloc in the boil, and that's it. With a healthy fermentation, cold conditioning (or crashing, if that's your thing) and time are all that is needed. In my opinion, anyway.

 

[J A]

Totally depends on the beer and the yeast. Yes, whirl-floc and cold crash plus a week or two in the keg will do in many if not most cases. Common yeasts like US-05 or S-04 tend to flocculate nicely and clear fairly quickly. Lager yeasts, for instance, not so much.
Personally, I use BioFine in most beers because I want to speed the process and get the beer running properly clear. Lagers, especially benefit from keg fining and it's not just appearance...getting yeast out of suspension allows the malt profile to come through.

 

[Zambi]

I don't use anything, but then I don't mind my beer not being absolutely clear
As long as it tastes good

 

[Donoroto]

I agree Mike, it’s fine without gelatin or biofine. I do use half a whirlfloc tablet in beers I want clear, but that’s it. Time and cold are typically enough.

For kegs, I cut my liquid dip tubes 1/2” short and that made a difference. Or you can get a floating dip tube for clearer beer.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I don't use anything, but then I don't mind my beer not being absolutely clear
As long as it tastes good

Ditto

 

[Dave Y]

I don't use anything, but then I don't mind my beer not being absolutely clear
As long as it tastes good

#MeToo.

 

[Bigbre04]

I dont use any finings. i have used a lot of biofine in the past. it works very well, but you have to be careful to let it settle all the way and not pull too hard or you can get clear jelly goobers floating in your beer.

i rely on time and temp generally.

overpitching also helps as the yeast doesnt need to grow as much to do the job.

Cylindroconical vessels(CCVs)(tanks with a cone on the bottom) that are properly designed help with getting clear beer as well. the cone helps to concentrate the yeast in the bottom where it is easier to pull clear beer off the top of it OR to dump it more effectively if that is your thing.

 

[Mike at Bay]

Thanks gang. I may try the floating dip tube at some point in the future (I have a CCV fermentor but only one and I am fermenting two at a time these days). I am trying to stay under the radar for a bit and not have a bunch of boxes of beer stuff showing up at our door everyday.

 

[Bigbre04]

Thanks gang. I may try the floating dip tube at some point in the future (I have a CCV fermentor but only one and I am fermenting two at a time these days). I am trying to stay under the radar for a bit and not have a bunch of boxes of beer stuff showing up at our door everyday.

i wont tell

 

[Sandy Feet]

i wont tell

Neither will I.

 

[Dave Y]

Thanks gang. I may try the floating dip tube at some point in the future (I have a CCV fermentor but only one and I am fermenting two at a time these days). I am trying to stay under the radar for a bit and not have a bunch of boxes of beer stuff showing up at our door everyday.

I have a solution for this. Have them ship to me, I'll do unboxing videos for you and use them gently store them for you.
Win / win !

 

[Craigerrr]

Time, temperature, process, and whirlfloc will give you good results. A good cold break helps with clarity as well, which comes from cooling quickly after boiling. I used gelatin a couple of times in the past but have produced some very clear beers without it.

 

[Bigbre04]

Time, temperature, process, and whirlfloc will give you good results. A good cold break helps with clarity as well, which comes from cooling quickly after boiling. I used gelatin a couple of times in the past but have produced some very clear beers without it.

i use whirlfloc(kick carrageenan) for all batches. hazy beers are still hazy with Whirlfloc, but it does help a lot with knockout and whirlpool. I dont know that it has much actual effect on final clarity.

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

I use Irish Moss with about 20 minutes left in the boil and focus on water chemistry and boil pH for a good hot break. I pump the entire kettle into the fermenter and crash slowly, but very low ≈30℉ for a few days after the yeast are done. Even a low flocculating yeast doesn't stand up to that. I haven't had need for a floating dip tube, but I wouldn't mind having one. I can reliably get gem-clear beer with this process.

 

[Dave Y]

I think the lowest I've seen on my setup is 34F between the tilt and kettle temp sensor and that is using the internal cooling coil as well as wrapping the outside of the kettle in pex tubing and connecting to the other circuit of the chiller, with an ambient of about 65F

For a good cold crash, I need to single stage my beers, even though I have 2 fermenters.

 

[Brew Cat]

I use Irish Moss but sometimes forget
beer still comes out clear
but I pretty much lager everything

 

[Bigbre04]

My tanks get down to 2.5-5C depending if on if they are a double batch or a single batch. both get very clear either in the tank or on the draft system w/o finings.

i know it sounds strange, but i think that overpitching helps alot with the final clarity of the beer as the yeast doesnt go crazy growing and gets to work more quickly and cleanly.

 

[Mike at Bay]

My tanks get down to 2.5-5C depending if on if they are a double batch or a single batch. both get very clear either in the tank or on the draft system w/o finings.

i know it sounds strange, but i think that overpitching helps alot with the final clarity of the beer as the yeast doesnt go crazy growing and gets to work more quickly and cleanly.

I know that ratios would be different given your batch size but assuming a small batch, would you go with two sachets of dry yeast or like 1.5?

I am "rebrewing" my SNPA clone next week. The batch in the keg is good but a little hazy. No big deal for me but curious.