What method to use? I cant decide. I have a fridge in which to cold crash but Biofine seems so alluring. Opinions?
I think I would do both. Btw I get great results with plain gelatin and I can get it at much better prices. In addition if I run out I can get it at any grocery.
Get your water chemistry under control, do a vigorous boil to get good hot break, rapid chilling to get good cold break, use Irish Moss and the beer will clear quickly on its own.
But cold crashing will speed that up if you are in a hurry to bottle.
Need to use it in combination. Cold crash for a couple of days to develop that chill haze you’re probably going to see (I know I do, still getting my whole process under control).
Then you use the biofine so it will help drop that chill haze as well.
I never have any problems when I use Nottingham, but this time I used US-05 and my beer is VERY cloudy. I would like to clear it up some. I will try the cold crash I guess.
I agree on doing both, although I have not been using finings after fermentation recently and have had good results.
Do you bottle or keg?
I have a Sam Adams Summer Ale clone ready to bottle later this week. Looks like the fermentation has hit the target gravity, so I was thinking of cold crashing it to clear it up some. How long should I cold crash it prior to bottling?
The recipe called for irish moss .5 tsp for 15 min, which I did.
[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Get your water chemistry under control, do a vigorous boil to get good hot break, rapid chilling to get good cold break, use Irish Moss and the beer will clear quickly on its own.
But cold crashing will speed that up if you are in a hurry to bottle.[/quote]
Sadly this has not been my experience and it depends on the yeast you use as well. If you want to spend the money, go Biofine. Otherwise, gelatin works wonders (even though I loath where it comes from).
And it all depends on what you mean by “clear”. Crystal clear and bright? I think a beer can be clear, but not bright like those wonderful German lagers.
Not every beer I brew comes out crystal clear and bright (I’ve got a Grodziskie made from 100% smoked wheat on tap now that has a persistent haze to it), but the majority of them do. I agree yeast has something to do with it, as can dry hopping, and to some extent base malt. YMMV, but this works for me.
As an update, I cold crashed for 4 days and then kegged. The result seems rather good. Not crystal clear but I am happy with it
Good to hear! As long as you’re happy with it, that’s what counts! 
[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Get your water chemistry under control, do a vigorous boil to get good hot break, rapid chilling to get good cold break, use Irish Moss and the beer will clear quickly on its own.
But cold crashing will speed that up if you are in a hurry to bottle.[/quote]
…Not always effective. Dependent on what yeast strain you use. For example, WLP 5770 / Wye 1388 may take a couple “months” to clear, even at freezing temp, due to low flocculation.
[quote=“Beersk”][quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Get your water chemistry under control, do a vigorous boil to get good hot break, rapid chilling to get good cold break, use Irish Moss and the beer will clear quickly on its own.
But cold crashing will speed that up if you are in a hurry to bottle.[/quote]
Sadly this has not been my experience and it depends on the yeast you use as well. If you want to spend the money, go Biofine. Otherwise, gelatin works wonders (even though I loath where it comes from).
And it all depends on what you mean by “clear”. Crystal clear and bright? I think a beer can be clear, but not bright like those wonderful German lagers.[/quote]
…Isn’t biofine “plastic fragments?” I’d rather have horse-hoof (gelatin) fragments in my beer.
[quote=“beermebeavis”][quote=“Beersk”][quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Get your water chemistry under control, do a vigorous boil to get good hot break, rapid chilling to get good cold break, use Irish Moss and the beer will clear quickly on its own.
But cold crashing will speed that up if you are in a hurry to bottle.[/quote]
Sadly this has not been my experience and it depends on the yeast you use as well. If you want to spend the money, go Biofine. Otherwise, gelatin works wonders (even though I loath where it comes from).
And it all depends on what you mean by “clear”. Crystal clear and bright? I think a beer can be clear, but not bright like those wonderful German lagers.[/quote]
…Isn’t biofine “plastic fragments?” I’d rather have horse-hoof (gelatin) fragments in my beer.[/quote]
Good point. I think I would too. It’s more “natural”. Wonder how they get it from horse hoofs…postmortem?
Was curious about biofine since I thought it was just colloidal silica but it is colloidal silicic acid. According to wikipedia perhaps we are better for consuming it. Would explain our fine memories and robust hair. :lol:
[quote]Silicic acid in health
Continuing research of the correlation of aluminium and Alzheimer’s disease has in the last few years included the use of silicic acid in beverages,[6][7][8] due to its abilities to both reduce aluminium uptake in the digestive system as well as cause renal excretion of aluminium.
Study has shown that physiological concentration of orthosilicic acid stimulates collagen type 1 synthesis and osteoblastic differentiation in human osteoblast-like cells in vitro.[9]
Choline-stabilized orthosilicic acid is a bioavailable nutritional supplement. It has been shown to prevent the loss of hair tensile strength,[10] have positive effect on skin surface and skin mechanical properties, and on brittleness of hair and nails,[11] abate brittle nail syndrome,[12] partially prevent femoral bone loss in the aged ovariectomized rat model,[13] increase collagen concentration in calves ,[14] and have potential beneficial effect on bone collagen formation in osteopenic females.[15][/quote]
Wow, I just like to do some what like rebuilt cellars does, and enjoy! I think trying to get too clear removes some of the residual yeast out of suspension. Now, you grab your daily vitamins and search the label…. Yes, right there, brewers yeast! Sooo much good stuff from the yeast, B-complex vitamins! Flip, thats some serious reading! I can’t pronounce some of dat stuff!! Sneezles61 :cheers:
