fining's

[carls]

Hi all, im new to this and was asked a question about fining's. I couldn't answer it because i didn't even know what it was, i have googled it but didn't get much info on it, can anyone tell me about it and if i need to use it, i am about to brew up a cider and a corona type beer, i will also be doing ginger beer and a honey lager

[Muddy Waters]

Carls - My limited knowledge of finings tells me they are used to clear the beer.

 

Any research I have done tells me don't bother with them. Just leave your beer in the fermentor for a few extra days and age adequately in the bottle and you will have a nice clear beer. You certainly don't need it for the beers you mentioned.

 

Patience is all the finings you need [biggrin]

[johng12]

Agree with Muddy, as well opening the fermenter after a few days to drop the finings in can be a little problemsome in my opinion. So i just leave that bit longer to clear. Worth it in the end plus no chance of spoiling the brew if you open the lid on the wrong day.

[PB2]

G'day Carl, you'll find a description of finings and other brewing terms in the Glossary, amongst the How To Brew section of this site. [wink]

[rossm]

G'day Carl,

I pretty much agree with the rest of the posts regarding finings...besides, why would you want to put ground up cows hoofs into your beer?[pinched]

[JohnS12]

I have always used Finnings and also rake my beer and have never had a problem I also botttle it in clear stubbies (stored in the dark) and end up with very clear beer drank straight from the stubbies. Different people different ideas. Give it a try.

[Matty A]

I kind of agree with John. I dont personally use finnings although its abit of an experiment and if it clears your beer up alot more and thats what you want, why not.

 

I personally like the idea of the cloudy beer but others have differant opinions. Why not try one batch with the finnings and then for the next batch dont use them and let it clear in the fermenter.

 

Then you can decide whether you think they are worth it.

 

Thanks,

[Kearnage]

Oh hell, my mother was an English teacher, that's my excuse.

 

Finings.

 

No apostrophe. One 'n'.

I'll stick that in the 'larger' file and go away now.

 

Continue as you were.

 

Dan

 

[Matty A]

I stand corrected (or is that corrrected) [lol]

[Kearnage]

mahahaha

 

 

I chekced my post 3 times for speeling and grammatical errors...[biggrin]

[Matty A]

i did that last one. I made sure the first corrected was spelt correctly[biggrin]

[JohnS12]

Yeah you are right people who drink Coopers would be wasting their time with finings if they are used to cloudy beer and the same thing with shout. Good finings should come from fish bladders and will not have any taste.

[Trusty1]

fish bladders and will not have any taste.

 

Is this a line from Seinfeld?

 

 

I have used finings previously, and asked a similar question on here and got the same answers, and have decided that finings are not needed in my ingredient cupboard. Wort spending longer time in FV, bulk priming and adequate storage time once in bottle (which means you have a good amount of beer in storage) have all combined to adequately provide me with beer that I deem clear enough to meet my rigorous QA. plus i don't know if the finings did more than the combo mentioned above anywho...

 

As they say in the classics, suck it and see.

[JohnS12]

Finings is only one thing and Raking is another if you want clear beer Rake it as this is better than Finings, this will fire up a few people but if you want clear beer you will do anything too get it and if you use both it is all the better.

[PB2]

John, I'm not sure what you are saying, exactly?? [unsure]

 

However, if you bottle your beer and you are in pursuit of clear beer, neither finings or racking is required. [rightful]

 

As James May would say, \u201cThis a beer fact!\u201d

 

[JohnS12]

Maybe a word or two about what Finings do. Finings encourage yeast still suspended to flocculate and drop to the bottom which helps clear your brew. As I have said before this is no for everyone but works for me.

[JohnS12]

Reply to Trusty 1 The finings that come from fish are called isinglass and are commonly used by commercial brewer and are sometimes listed on the side of the bottle or can, p.s I love seinfeld.

[JohnS12]

For those how don't want to use Finings but want clearer beer you can use the cheap trick of placing a fine paper back book under the front of your container (tap end) which will push the sediment to the back and away from the tap. It works.

[SunyJim]

I for one Love the Finings, for lagers and other clear beers it goes from ok clear to CRYSTAL clear in a few days,

If you think racking the beer, or just waiting a few days does the same thing you just haven't tried it.

I check hydrometer readings twice to make sure it's done fermenting. Then I mix up 1 package of KNOX gelatin as per package instructions, add to the beer and wait 4 days. As an added bonus, yes sometimes beer will get that clear in the bottle, but with finings there isn't a 2cm of settled particles that stirs up easily at the bottom, I get less than 1/2 cm and it still carbonates in the bottle just fine.

[Andris]

hmmm.. interesting.. gelatin

 

I've started being lazy and just cold crashing my ales - just toss the primary fermenter into garage (temp 9-10C at the moment) for 3-4 days after fermentation is done and then bottle straight from fermenter. Result - first 40 bottles (until I get to tip the bucket) get maybe 1mm of sediment and perfect carbonation within week for usual 4-5%ABV beer.

 

I wonder if gelatin +longer cold crash = no yeast = no bottle carbonation... but, might be really good for cornies and force carbed kegs alike.

[The Brew Master]

I get less than 1/2 cm and it still carbonates in the bottle just fine.

 

I would be lucky to get 1mm of sediment in my bottles, & I don't use finings or cold condition.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter