Brewers have been seeking methods to improve beer for as long as there has been alcohol. You may remove these fragments from beer before bottling or kegging by applying beer finings at the end of the boil or earlier in the alcoholic fermentation. Brewing beer is not just putting all ingredients in a pot and just allowing it to boil. But when is the right time for beer fining or whether it is necessary to use the fining at all? You can find most of the essential answers below.
What is beer fining?
Finings are ingredients that are frequently added at the end of the refining process for wine, alcohol, and a variety of nonalcoholic fruit cocktails. They’re used to eliminate organic molecules, either increasing transparency or changing the flavour or smell.
Why is it necessary to do fining?
You should think about it if you’re going to add inorganic or organic substances to your homebrew. The reasons lie in polyphenols’ presence in brewing substances, creating a loss of clarity in beer. Fortunately, beer finings will continue to work on polyphenols as usual. You don’t need them, but they enhance your beer’s tongue feel and overall flavour.
When is the perfect time to add finings to my beer?
Finings are typically added to the brewer 4-5 days before bottling or storing the beer to allow the fining to concentrate yeasts and proteins and keep them out of the final bottle or keg. The exact moment depends on the type of ingredients. Some fining ingredients can be added at the end of the boil, while others must be mixed after the beer has been cooled to maintain a constant temperature during fermentation.
How to filter fininings from the brew?
The most popular finings are employed in various methods, but most of them bond to undesirable agents and end up at the bottom of your fermenter; you’ll typically filter them out during the bottling process. Not too complicated, eh?
Types of Finings to add for your beer?
You can rely on clear, unflavored gelatin to prevent additional undesired tastes in your beer. Gelatin is a potent fining agent that binds to yeast and other particles in your beer, causing them to flow to the bottom of the ferment. There are some excellent options available for you to use. One week before you want to bottle, put one spoonful of gelatin in 2 glasses of lukewarm water and bring it to your fermenter. Note that if you use excess gelatin, it will change the colours and texture of your brew.
In addition, Isinglass is a typical ingredient in commercial brewing and is available in both powder and liquid form. The liquefied version is easier to use because it doesn’t need to be hydrated and could go right into the ferment. The convenient process also results in more effective and faster suspension, which reduces the amount of yeast in filtering and also shortens the filtering process. It certainly sounds like the solution for that time when you can’t wait to sip in your homemade beer.
