clarification methods

Hello, just wonder to know which clarification methods do you use. I know that time and cold storage is the best way to do it, but when i am in a hurry i use to filter my beer with a 1 micron polydepth filter at 32F with great results.

Last week i talked with a friend that has been brewing for at least 15 years (a lot!) and he told me how he use to clarify his beer:

After fermentation is complete incluiding diacetyl rest he removes all of the yeast from the fermenter and chill it to 32F for about 48 hours to create chill haze. Then he stop chilling and return naturally the beer to fermentation temperature (68F) and inmediately returns to 32F for another 24 or 48 hours to precipitate all the proteins and haze the beer created.

He says that beer stays clear and saves a lot of money and time in filters. Has anyone tried this method? By the way my friend’s beer is awesome and VERY clear

thanks for your comments!

I have only used the “cool spaces and time” method.  Your friends process sounds perfectly reasonable if you have the equipment and the space.

Paul

Beers clear faster at 32F, as the particles are larger, and Stoke’s law says the larger particles will drop faster.

I’m curious to know if there are proteins (that are clumped together as a result of lowering the temperature) that could remain in suspension after a 48-hour crash at 32F that possibly could be “crashed again” in an attempt to complete the precipitation for clearer beer, or is one 48-hour period the best you’re gonna get?

To the best of my knowledge, the chill-haze proteins will come together to form larger particles when cold-crashing, and as already mentioned by hopfenundmalz; larger particles drop faster thus it is my understanding that if you crash long enough (48-hours seems to be the norm), most of those clumped proteins will have dropped out of suspension and as long as you rack carefully, you won’t bring them back into suspension.

Is there any benefit to warming the beer between crashings? Wouldn’t the clumped proteins return to their un-clumped form when the temperature is increased? Is there any real benefit to multiple crashings?

I throw some whirfloc in the last 5 minutes of my boil. I don’t cold crash or anything else.

The second one is a wheat beer.

+1.  Whirlfloc, cold-conditioning, and time are all I use, with good results.

Same here most of the time. If in a hurry or want something faultless for competition I will use gelatin.

Same here.  I like to use gelatin in my lagers to clear the beer over night.

Biofine clear A3 (silicic acid) is a wonderful fining agent if you can find it. If not ask your homebrew shop to order it. Drops beer nice and clear in just a couple days. I like Whirlflock in the last 10 minutes of the boil as well.

I use whirlfloc in the boil and then gelatin in the keg.  I recently picked up some Super Kleer for a couple ciders I’m doing.  If it works well, I may try it in my beers (mostly the lagers).

Gelatin does the job for me if I feel it’s necessary.  I bought a box of Knox gelatin some years ago and still have plenty left.

Most of the time, patience will do just as well.  But I have had a few beers that just refused to clear.

Listen to the Brew Strong show on Finings - it cleared up a lot of the specifics for me (GET IT. HA.)

Especially after fermentation, its important to think about what is the cause of haze/turbidity in your beer before selecting a clarifier.

Yup.

i use a little irish moss at the end of the boil. mostly just to use up what i have. most of my beers clear brilliantly with just sitting in the cold

Irish moss, cold temp and time.