Best clarifying agent?

Northern Brewer General
1

Any thoughts as to which one(s) is/are the best? I know Whirlfloc and Irish Moss are added during the boil, Gelatin finings added to secondary, clarity ferm added at the beginning of fermentation to prevent chill haze, etc…

I’ve never used any of them as of yet, and I was curious to see what people thought. Is one better than another? Should I use more than one? Any disadvantage to using them?

2

Time is actually the best clarifying agent…but homebrewers are usually not down with that option. Gelatin, such as Clearfine (from your local LHBS) or Knox Unflavored Gelatin (from your local supermarket) along with a little bit of time is the best option I’ve found.
When I’m concerned about clarity and need it to happen more quickly I use Whirlfloc at the end of the boil and gelatin after the ferment is completely done (and after cold crashing for 2-3 days).

Filtering is too much of a pain in the arse and not worth the trouble (and it doesn’t even yield a better result).

3

I use Whirlfloc in the kettle as SOP and Biofine Clear in the keg to speed the process, but time (as the Professor indicated) and cold storage are the real keys.

IMO gelatin is a PITA to use and no more effective than Biofine.

4

Thanks for the feedback. Do any of the aforementioned clarifying agents affect yeast attenuation? I only ask, because I’ve heard on some discussion boards that certain products (can’t remember which ones) can cause the yeast to flocculate prematurely, and not fully attenuate. Anybody ever have this experience?

5

Well Whirlfloc and Irish Moss are the only ones that are added before fermentation. The others are added well after the yeast is done with it’s job.

Unless you are concerned with bottle conditioning?

6

[quote=“mattnaik”]Well Whirlfloc and Irish Moss are the only ones that are added before fermentation. The others are added well after the yeast is done with it’s job.

Unless you are concerned with bottle conditioning?[/quote]

Not necessarily. Like I said, I don’t remember exactly which products were being discussed, but, to your point, I would assume would have been either Whirlfloc, Irish Moss or something similar. Just curious to see if anybody has had issues with poor attenuation caused by a clarifying agent.